Andrew Cotton and Al Mennie Acknowledged by Former World Champ at the XXL Awards

Former World Champion Surfer, Mark Occilupo of Cronula, Australia has congratulated Andrew cotton and Alastair Mennie for bringing Irish Surfing into the world arena.

Mr Occilupo or 'Occy' as he is more commonly known, hosted the annual Billabong XXL awards ceremony for big wave riding across the globe. The competition displays footage of the biggest waves ridden around the globe on an annual basis. Andrew cotton of Croyde Devon and Alastair Mennie of Portrush have received nominations in two categories over the past two years. The surfing duo, along with local photographer and lifeboat crew member Kelly Allen, attended the awards ceremony in California last week, where the audience of the world's craziest surfers and surfing media were treated to footage of all the big wave sessions from around the globe. The show included footage of Alastair and Andrew surfing 40 foot waves at the cliffs of Moher and 60 foot waves at Mullaghmore Head.

Alastair said " I must admit, the waves we are riding in this country did not look out of place on the screen amongst other rides in Hawaii, California and Tahiti"

The crowd also saw footage of the wipeout that nearly ended it all for the pair when Andrew drove the jet ski off a 30 foot wave whilst training two years ago.

After the show of terrifying big wave surfing from around the globe, the former world number one appeared back at the microphone.

Occy said " I just want to say congratualtions to Alastair, Andrew for bringing Irish surfing to the world stage, it truly is amazing how big wave surfing is now not confined to the waters off Hawaii and California"

Alastair said "To have Occy say that in front of such an elite audience was quite remarkable. It made me realise that outside of our little world other people are starting to take note of the potential our waves and surfers have"

Andrew said " Occy is a super star in surfing. He is an iconic figure in the sport and to have him comment on what we are doing is something we have never dreamed of"

The eventual winners this year were Mike Parsons of San Clemente, California for riding a 70 foot wave and Shane Dorian of Hawaii for riding a mutant wave in Tahiti. Event orgainser Bill Sharpe said "The Irish entries this year were very close to making it into the top five"

Alastair and Andrew are confident that they will again post rides in contention for the awards within the coming season. The team have been invited to compete at the APT pro tow surfing event chile in the next few months. The event is subject to waves in the 50 foot range. They are the first European teams to have ever been included in an event of this nature.