PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT

Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i

PAPEETE, Tahiti (Tahitipresse, October 4) – Teahupoo, the world famous Tahiti surfing site, provided a test for some big wave riders on Sunday when a big swell produced giant waves of five to seven meters (16 to 23 feet).

The top surfers included Laird Hamilton of Hawaii, Garrett MacNamara of Hawaii, Strider Wasilewski of California and Malik Joyeux, Vetea David, Arsène Harehoe, Raimana Van Bastoaler and Manoa Drollet from Tahiti.

"The liquid monsters were there," exclaimed Jalil Sekkaki, one of several photographers specializing in surfing photos who turned up at Teahupoo at dawn on Sunday.

Ikaika Kalama, winner of Big Wave Riding 2003, set out with teammate Garrett MacNamara by boat at 7:15 am for a festival of the most powerful waves of the surfing season.

"The swell developed during the morning with a series of monsters," Sekkaki told Tahitipresse.

Jet Skis were used at a frantic pace to try and bring each surfer at the top of a wave ready to ride Teahupoo’s famous tube waves off Tahiti’s peninsula. This is where the Association of Surfing Professionals holds each year the Billabong Pro Teahupoo, one of 12 worldwide surfing competitions and one of nine competitions on the women’s worldwide circuit.

This is also where the best surfers from around the world gather to challenge what has become known as the most colossal left-hand reef break wave on this planet. The waves break about 400 meters (more than four U.S. football fields) offshore from the village of Teahupoo.

The wave unrolls along the Hava’e pass through the coral reef. When the swells are big, each Teahupoo wave has a blue turquoise color as it swells up in size and crashes down on the reef - the noise of the explosion bounding off the faces of the surrounding mountains.

But the Teahupoo wave is dangerous as it is beautiful. A young Tahitian surfer once lost his life there. And during each Billabong Pro competition, observers eventually stop counting the number of smashed and broken surfboards.

That beauty and danger were evident on Sunday. As the world’s top big wave surfers were drawn to the site, one did not escape the danger. Tahiti’s Raimana Van Bastoaler took a bad fall, opening up a cut in his ankle that required 10 stitches to close.

For those who watched in admiration as these surfers enjoyed this exceptional day of surfing, the best rides were turned in by three of Tahiti’s surfers—Malik Joyeux, Manoa Drollet and Van Bastoaler.

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