Plumber surfs 'biggest wave ever' in Nazare, Portugal

Notorious big surf fiend and Devon plumber Andrew Cotton has conquered what many believe is the biggest wave ever surfed.

Off the coast of Portugal near the town of Nazare, massive storms delivered unbelievable swell on the notorious stretch of ocean.

The 23m wave record previously held by Garrett McNamara, who actually towed Cotton out onto the wave on a jet ski, had his record beaten in front of stunned onlookers along the shore.

"I've never ridden a wave like that," Cotton told Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight.

"I was hurtling down it so fast, but I couldn't get near the bottom. It was pushing me up all the time.

"It makes you wonder how far we can push it, how high can you go? It was scary. But you're always in the hands of mother nature and that's what's exciting."

Prior to taking on the giant 24m wave Cotton nervously called his wife to talk about the rough conditions he would be facing.

"He never says he's nervous about a wave or the height, but this time he called me saying it was looking dangerous," Katie Cotton told News Ltd.

"He just deals with it. I don't know how I deal with it - I just wait for his phone call afterwards. As long as I'm sure that's coming then it's fine.

"It's what he loves doing and trains so hard at so it would be wrong not to be happy that he's managing to surf these waves," she said.

While surfing the wave, Cotton can be seen falling, and was lucky to escape any serious injury. An inflatable vest helped him stay afloat amongst the whitewash.

The father of two has been nominated for the Billabong Big Wave Awards, where the judging panel will review footage of the ride and confirm the new record.

In October last year Cotton landed another massive wave in Nazare. The 34-year-old is in the process of making a documentary about surfing big waves in the region.