Matt Bevilacqua becomes first to paddleboard Shipstern Bluff

TASMANIAN ironman Matt Bevilacqua has become the first person to paddleboard down notorious Shipstern Bluff — but he also paid the penalty.

TASMANIAN ironman Matt Bevilacqua has become the first person to paddleboard down notorious Shipstern Bluff — but he also paid the penalty.

Bevilacqua, 25, had his fair share of wipe-outs before conquering Australia’s heaviest wave as part of a promotional shoot for Kellogg’s.

“It was terrifying, it was really scary,” Bevilacqua said.

“Those guys that surf that day to day are something else.

“I’m on a ‘clubby board’ [paddleboard] that weighs 10kg.

“We don’t have that compression of length when we are standing up on a surfboard, we can’t compress to our knees.

“Our centre of gravity is a lot lower, it is a lot more dangerous as you are closer to the board. That’s the main danger.

“No one had ever done it before. It was terrifying.”

Matt Bevilacqua drops into a huge wave at Shipstern Bluff. Picture: Andrew Chisholm / www.andychiz.com

The adventure was 2½ years in the waiting with the help of local big wave rider Marti Paradisis.

A three-time world paddleboard champion, Bevilacqua, who grew up at Clifton Beach but is now based on the Gold Coast, is used to big waves and pain, but even he was taken aback by the waves’ power.

“Shipstern is a slab,” he said.

“We get some big waves on the Gold Coast that break out deep water with big faces, but it is just the power behind that wave.

“It is so incredible. It is nothing like I have ever felt before.

“That impact was just insane and very painful.

“I don’t know how those guys [the surfers] can cop those slabs at 20 feet [6.1 metres].

“My wave was 12 foot [3.7m] and it was like being hit by a bus.”

Matt Bevilacqua wipes out under a huge wave at Shipstern Bluff in Tasmania. Picture: Andrew Chisholm / www.andychiz.com