Some Insane Teahupoo Footage! 1

Pretty Incredible :!: Looks like a scary place to be in a boat. Jet ski, on the other hand could be fun.

Where is this place?

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Teahupoʻo is on the south-west coast of the island of Tahiti, French Polynesia, It is the site of the annual Billabong Pro Tahiti surf competition, part of the World Championship Tour (WCT) Notice in the one interview the surfer is speaking in French--the official language of Tahati.

Teahupo'o means place of skulls--and rightfully named--there have been at least 5 surfing deaths in the last 15 years.

I kept looking for Foggy's Porsche in the video.

I have a friend who films this sort of stuff at the major surf breaks and competitions all over the world. These boats are specialized for this type for photography work. Looking at the lime green and several other of the boats, they have a vertical tiller steering, way up in the bow. I suspect that they are self bailing and have some freeing ports. Some of the boats are jet drive--and others seem to be conventional outboards. The practice of towing the surfers behind the PWC is a relative new part of the sport--although I have seen in California a few years back. I suspect that some of the PWC work is rescue of surfers who are injured.

These surfers are obviously world class--even then lots of wipe outs. This is one of the best and probably most consistent pipelines. Of course a lot of the guys wipe out. To me what is so impressive is the number of people in the water--it is also the first time I have seen stand up paddle boards used in this type of pipeline huge surf.
 
thataway":1iajg9k6 said:
Teahupoʻo is on the south-west coast of the island of Tahiti, French Polynesia, ...... Stuff clipped...... I suspect that some of the PWC work is rescue of surfers who are injured.

These surfers are obviously world class--even then lots of wipe outs. This is one of the best and probably most consistent pipelines. Of course a lot of the guys wipe out. To me what is so impressive is the number of people in the water--it is also the first time I have seen stand up paddle boards used in this type of pipeline huge surf.
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Thanks Bob. I noticed the video came from a StandUp Paddle journal. Can't say I recognized the dialog as French. Interesting to me too, so many people in the water and so many boats so close to each other and to the wave where it changed from a breaker to a roller.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Some fearless behavior there! We could blend this thread with the one about wake from ships... Surf's up, dude!! :twisted:

I have been learning SUP... it is interesting to see what I have in common with those surfers: nothing... absolutely nothing. :lol:
 
The closeness of the boats and surfers to each other is at least partially an affect of using telephoto lenses on the cameras, which give the views a "stacked up" appearance.

Wide angle lenses do the opposite: exaggerate the depth/distance separation of the elements in the photo, but they wouldn't work in this application.

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
I surfed my entire life and I would never be caught near that break on a board. Those guys have serious experience, skill, courage, confidence and training. The break is only a left, as you can see. The reef creates a huge bowl shaped break with a steep, thick. unbelievably powerful wave. There is a natural channel to the left, where all the boats are positioned; there is none to the right. Waves need underwater structure to "break".

http://www.surfcamppeaksnswells.com/tag/surf-skills-for-surfing-teahupoo/

As to the tow-in, that was "invented" by Laird Hamilton and his friends. They observed Hawai'i life guards using jet skis as rescue aids (idea also started in Hawai'i) and adapted it for surfing. They added foot straps to boards and used jet skis with large rafts/platforms attached to the back with handles to pull upright surfers. It allowed the necessary speed to catch HUGE waves and recover surfers in the break area. They have perfected it over the last two decades or so. It allowed them to catch the waves at Peahi aka "Jaws" (Mau'i), Mavericks (CA) and off San Diego at Cortes Bank. Hamilton is in the video, driving one of the pwc's.

The stand-up style has re-gained interest & popularity in the last decade or so. Growing up, I had NEVER seen it. Now it it everywhere. It's a cool form of exercise too.

Anyone interested can read:

http://www.thebigwaveblog.com/surf-spots/cortes-bank-san-diego
http://www.thebigwaveblog.com/?s=jaws
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tow-in_surfing
 
Localboy's analysis of the break at Teahupo'o, and the skills required to ride that left, are spot on. Have not surfed since 1962; yet the principles are the same today, but board technology, the use of tow in, and the cojones demonstrated by top surfers far exceed anything even world class boardheads did in the 1960's.

Looked to me like stand up paddle gear allowed paddlers to catch the swell before it went critical. The guys using short boards, even Malibu length boards have to hit it just right to avoid an over the falls thrash. Their greater maneuverability once up is an advantage, but there is only one line on that left break.

That green boat appears to have lost a couple passengers, one visible as a swimmer. A bad place to be swimming, with outboards at close quarters, and that almost a slab break at your back. Watching that video gives me the chills.
 
have to hit it just right to avoid an over the falls thrash
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We used to call it a T.O.A.D. It stood for "Take Off And Die".... :lol:

I surfed Pipeline once in my life. I was 19 and in the best surf shape of my life. It was breaking around 5'-7'...scared the living bejeeezus out of me. Never attempted it again. The face was just so steep/fast compared to anything I had ever ridden and the lip had so much water and power....it was like the bottom of the wave stopped and the top just kept going, and it brought the entire Pacific Ocean with it. :lol:
 
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