The giant board will be used to raise money for a tsunami appeal

More than 5,000 people gathered at Snapper Rocks, on the Gold Coast in Queensland, to watch the riders crowd onto the 12.2m-long (40ft) board.

The 3m-wide (10ft) board arrived on a trailer truck and needed more than 20 people to carry it to the surf.

Another 100 people spent the morning waxing the A$50,000 ($39,600; £20,500) foam and fibreglass super-board.

'Best ride'

"It was the best four minutes of my surfing life. It went in strong and straight," head board-builder Nev Hyman told The Sunday Mail newspaper.

"To be out there with those guys - they're my best friends and pro surfers whom I've known for a long time - to be just laughing our heads off without a worry in the world, it's what surfing is all about," he said.

I don't think anyone has had more fun... since the dawn of time

Nev Hyman

Surfer and board-maker

"I don't think anyone has had more fun on a wave like that since the dawn of time." Newspaper reports of how many riders took part varied between 44 and 47.

The Guiness World Book of Records will not make the record official for a few days, the Reuters news agency reports.

However, the ride exceeded the existing record of 14 achieved by a British team in Cornwall, south-west England, on an 11m (36ft) board in 2003.

The surfboard, nicknamed Nev after its creator, is due to leave for a world tour to raise funds for the Indian Ocean tsunami relief effort.