Oxford Scientists generate freak waves!
The Draupner wave was one of the first confirmed observations of a freak wave in the ocean; it was observed on the 1st of January 1995 in the North Sea by measurements made on the Draupner Oil Platform. The team of researchers set out to reproduce the Draupner wave under laboratory conditions to understand how this freak wave was formed in the ocean. They successfully achieved this reconstruction by creating the wave using two smaller wave groups and varying the crossing angle – the angle at which the two groups travel.

It was the crossing angle between the two smaller groups that proved critical to the successful reconstruction. The researchers found it was only possible to reproduce the freak wave when the crossing angle between the two groups was approximately 120 degrees.


See
http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2019-01-23-famous-freak-wave-recreated-lab-mirrors-hokusai%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98great-wave%E2%80%99