To the average surfer, when waves reach a life threatening size this affects them emotionally so much that they put it in a different realm. In reality that's just another example of spurious information, of 'clutter' which has no design use whatsoever.
To most surfers the design factors which determine whether or not a surfboard is good for big waves are social and or emotional... in other words almost completely irrelevant in design terms.
Surfboards react according to the laws of physics... how the board came into being has no bearing on how it works, it works entirely as determined by physics.
Waves don't care about the social standing or reputation of the person who built the surfboard, nor does the surfboard. The rider sometimes does, and that can be the proverbial spanner in the works. . . the operator error.
The bottom line is, boards react to water flow, not the ladies gossip circle.
There are one or two other differences on bigger waves, mainly the need to move faster to get into the faster moving swell, but that's about it, and the awe and mystery surrounding big wave boards in the minds of Joe average is based only on fear. Fear isn't a hydrodynamic factor.
