Teahupoo is recognized as one of the meanestand thickest big wave on the planet.
August 17, 2000 : Tahiti The Tahitian Reef Break of Teahupoo is recognized as one of the meanestand thickest big wave on the planet. It has already claimed one life in the past few months.
The European Sportswear company Oxbow recently journeyed to the reef with it's team rider and big wave surfing legend Laird Hamilton to film him training for the upcoming winter surf in Hawaii. Little did we expect the incredible surf session that we where confronted with.
The trip started off with a week of perfect 10' feet waves at a right hander up the coast. As the swell kicked in even stronger our team decided to challenge the famous Teahupoo break. Laird's fascination with the wave was obvious after his first few rides. For two days he pulled into some of the deepest and biggest tubes ever ridden.
As the swell dropped and the films where being processed it gave us time to reflect on the possibilities of this wave. As Laird scrutinized the slides I could see that he was still not satisfied with his performance. He wanted to go bigger and deeper now that he had a better comprehension of the mechanics of the treacherous wave.
We where ready lo leave Tahiti as news of another bigger swell was approaching and we decided to stay We knew it was going to be heavy but never expected anything like this. We set off at 4h30 that morning amping with anticipation. Our 2 filming boats and 2 tow-in jetskis cruising through the Teahupoo reef pass at dawn.
The swell was big and dangerous due to it's west direction. Every glassy tube was spitting and imploding on the last bowl section. Before they headed off into the line up Laird Hamilton and his tow-in partner Nelson Kubach toke a few minutes to pray. They knew that they where going to be up against the most dangerous conditions ever surfed.
At 8 h30 the first big set rolled in. Nelson drove the jetski into position but at the last moment Laird called him off the wave. It was low tide and the massive amount of water dredging on the reef was warping the wave. A split second decision that probably saved his life. He decided to start off on some smaller waves just to get some rides under his belt. A couple deep barrels and Laird was ready for the big ones.
At 11h 38 a 'rogue' wave twice the size as the regular waves rolled in. Laird dropped the tow rope and started to speed down the face of the wall. The 20' foot face created a huge perfect tube as laird positioned himself in the caverne. His line and survival stance was perfect. The spit of the wave made him disappear as all the boats and film crew scrambled out to sea so not to get hit by the monster. As we where speeding out of the impact zone we saw Laird appeared out of a cloud of white water right next to us. He had just pulled in and survived the meanest tube ever surfed.
The 20 or so privileged spectators screaming in horror and joy. It's the most amazing surfing performance I have ever witnessed. After that wave Laird went back to one of our boats to rest. Realizing what he had just accomplished he sat down, put his head in his hands and meditated. Some say the big wave legend even spilt a tear of emotion.
Looking back I am glad we all left the beautiful island of Tahiti with no serious injury and just unbelievable visions in our minds.
Tim McKENNA