During 2006 the CT was in arguably one of its best periods with an extensive list of heavyweight names all battling it out for a World Title. Andy Irons, Kelly Slater, Taj Burrow, Joel Parkinson, Mark Occhilupo, Bobby Martinez and Cory Lopez were amongst the crew of travelling elites.
Whilst on the European league of the tour during that year, the Quiksilver Pro France was called off due to a huge swell and unfavourable winds. However, just across the boarder in the Basque Country, that same swell lit up Mundaka for what is considered its greatest ever day.
Oxbow’s ‘Mundaka: The Legendary Day’, recently released on Youtube, tells the story of the session that went down at the famous left hand river mouth with the world’s best surfers on hand to get a taste, along with a hardcore local crew that included Aritz Aranburu, Kepa and Eneko Acero.
As per Oxbow: “On September 22nd, 2006, the global surfing scene was concentrated in Hossegor for the first European stop of the World Championship. Bad wave conditions forced the organisers to cancel the competition. All looks turned then towards the village of Mundaka, where an unforgettable freesurf session was about to take place.
“Kelly Slater, Andy and Bruce Irons, Mick Fanning, Joel Parkison… never before in surf history had such a concentration of world champions been seen together in the water, at the same time, surfing perfect waves. But these legends had to share the Basque sands with locals such as Eneko and Kepa Acero, or Aritz Aranburu, who were also decided to surf the swell of their lives in their own backyard.
“Produced by Oxbow and directed by Jon Aspuru based on an original idea of Greg Rabejac, the film “MUNDAKA, THE LEGENDARY DAY” tells the story of this magical session that would leave a permanent mark in European surf history.”
Click the link above to watch.
