North Devon's Andrew 'Cotty' Cotton has had a very busy winter. Un-like many pro surfers he goes to somewhere colder, wetter and darker than his home country, Ireland. 

Now to many that seems odd, but to Cotty its just another winter of charging big waves. On March 8th, just as he was supposed to be heading home to his then pregnant fiance, a swell popped up on the charts which made him stick around for a few more days. Sticking around was a great decision as one of the waves Al Mennie (his tow partner) towed him into was nominated for the Billabong XXL Biggest wave Award 2012.

Aswell as being nominated for the award, the photos and videos of this wave went spiraling around the internet like no UK surfing news before. It was in every surfing mag, newspapers through out the world and in the weeks after more and more videos appeared on youtube and in our inbox.

Sadly Cotty didnt win the Billabong XXL Biggest wave award, however, Garrett Mcnamara, on a wave that Cotty towed him into!

This was not just big news for Cotty, as yet again he was on a tow board that we made him. Very similar to his last one it is 5'11'' x 16'' x 1 7/8'' and is weight with lead strips. Any one interested in seeing this board can pop into our Braunton shop, as it is on display there for most of the summer. It really is worth a look as it looks so different to the average board. The template looks very similar to that of a monoski being narrow with parralell rails....  

Im sure you will agree that it is one of the heaviest waves ever surfed especially in such cold water. Keep up the good work Cotty, you're doing England proud....

Sequence of photos taken by David Olsthoorn. Andrew Cotton on 'The Wave' at Mullagmore Head, Ireland.