Most Riders On A Surfboard! New Guinness World Record Set At California’s Huntington Beach

A new Guinness World Record was set by a group of surfers in Huntington Beach, California after 66 people crammed together on a single 42-foot, giant surfboard that rode a wave. The record breaking spectacle was watched by over 5,000 spectators who had gathered by the beach to see the 66 people in action, reports OC Register. The previous record for the most people riding a surfboard was set almost a decade ago in Queensland, Australia when 47 people rode a single surfboard for over 10 seconds.

The record breaking surfboard attempt at Huntington Beach was part of the city’s celebrations marking 100 years of surfing, reports USA Today. It was back in 1914 that George freeth from Hawaii showcased his surfing skills at the beach for the first time. This eventually led to a boom in the real estate and the tourism sector at Huntington Beach.

While the organizers of the event had originally planned to have this record-breaking attempt done last year, they were not able to pull it off due to logistical and other issues. An attempt was also made back in 2009. However, a year and lots of preparations later, they were finally able to execute the project.

Several well-known surfers from across the world were witness to the record breaking attempt – including two-time U.S. Open Surfing champ Brett Simpson. Brett, who is ranked among the top 40 competitive surfers on the planet today was amongst the 66 people who participated in the mega event

Officials from the Guinness World Records were also present at the beach to adjudicate the event and to certify that the record was convincingly broken. The adjudicators apart from checking whether the record was broken are also planning to confirm whether the surfboard used by the 66 people was indeed the world’s biggest.

The previous record for the largest surfboard ever built is held by Australian Nev Hyman – who has to his credit a massive 39-foot board. This was the same surfboard used by the 47 people in Australia who set the previous world record. Meanwhile, Hyman reportedly told he was more than happy to give up his decade old record to Surf City.

“It’s all about fun. Surfing is fun, here we are just emulating surfing on a grand scale. This is the heart of surfing, globally. Everyone known in professional surfing has made their mark in Huntington Beach.”

[Image Via Mindy Schauer, OC Register]