Visit Huntington Beach and the Epic Big Board Ride (USA) have broken the world record for the Most people riding a surfboard after cramming 66 people onto 1 giant board as part of their ‘100 years of surfing’ celebration.
The record-breakers included people aged between 15 and 79, professional and local surfers, and even a local congressman.
Huntington Beach needed more than 47 people to out-surf the previous record-holders that attained the record in 2009 at Snapper Rocks, Queensland, Australia – Huntington Beach blew them out of the water with 66.
Hundreds of spectators cheered the group on as they balanced for an impressive 13 seconds – 3 seconds longer than required to break the record.
Taking place on International Surfing Day, the record attempt was intended to promote the city’s iconic status as Surf City.
Following examination of evidence, Guinness World Records can now also confirm that the super-sized board used in the attempt has also set a new record for the Largest surfboard.
So enormous that it had to be lifted into the sea by a forklift truck, the mega surfboard measures 12.83 m (42’ ft 1.5 in) long, 3.37 m (11 ft 1 in) wide and 0.41m (1 ft 4.4 in) thick – again outdoing Snapper Rocks’ 12 m (39 ft 4 in) by 3 m (9 ft 10 in) board.
Speaking after the attempt, a spokesman for Huntington Beach’s mayor Jill Hardy said that the record achievement was “great for Huntington Beach”,. The huge board is now set to go on display at the nearby International Surfing Museum, were it will remain as an iconic cultural tribute to the region's surfing tradition.
