“I looked at the wave coming towards me and I thought I was going to die,” Benjamin Sanchis told Mpora about his near death encounter at Nazaré last month.

Through a combination of good fortune and good jetski driving by his partner Eric Rebiere, he survived, but only just. In 2015 another surfer might not be so lucky.

The increased big wave safety technology such as flotation vests and better jet ski assist techniques is somewhat of a double-edged sword.

The inflatable jackets undeniably make the sport safer, but it has also led to the elite big wave surfers to push harder than ever before.

A massive swell at Mavericks just before Christmas saw Australian surfer Jamie Mitchell paddle into the biggest wave ever at the Californian big-wave spot, and then suffer the biggest ever lip to the head.

Jamie survived, but at some time in 2015, sadly, one surfer’s luck will run out.