Devon surfer Andrew Cotton was key in helping American Garrett McNamara attempt to ride the world's biggest wave yet. The feat, using a powered personal watercraft, earned Cotty a half share of the $15,000 (£9,300) prize money at the 2012 Billabong XXL Awards for big wave surfers.
Cotty, who has been surfing since a childs, did not begin his wave hunting odysseys until 2005 when Al Mennie, a friend from Northern Ireland, invited him over.
"I had always believed as much as anyone really that if you want good, big surf you don't go to England or Ireland, you have to go further afield.
"But it opened my eyes that you could get bigger waves than anywhere in the world, in Ireland."
