The Wave At
THE END OF THE ROAD
Words by Steve Dickinson
The Wave At
THE END OF THE ROAD Images by Steve Dickinson
As the boat drew up to the line-up on the first day of the Billabong Pro in Tahiti I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Firstly that we had made it along the Teahupoo road, a terrorising hour of sphincter snapping bends, cars, dogs and little old ladies on bikes with baguettes, and secondly that we had made the right call to come a week early. We had looked at weather patterns, wind, swell, rain, more swell and we had made the call to go.
Fredrick Patacchia
It could have gone horribly wrong and we could have had to spend the week by the pool drinking cocktails and eating Poisson Cru, but no, our luck had held. Here we were, bobbing in a small tin boat, with what seemed like hundreds of other small tin boats, watching one of the world’s most notorious waves been ridden by the pre-eminent surfers in the world. As we nudged our way forward, Kelly Slater paddled past, the sun glinting off his kingly dome. I pointed him out to our driver as it would not have gone down so well with Quicksilver if we had run over the eleven times world champ, but no doubt would have got a roar of support from the other competitors. At 43, Kelly brings a smile to all older surfers. Despite the sport being dominated by the brat pack; fuzzy faced little kids in skinny jeans making millions and trying to set the world on fire, there is nothing they can do to compare to Kelly. And we, (that is anyone over the age of 40 who is internally derided, abused and ego slapped each time they walk to their local beach with board in hand and gut sucked in, where the ever-decreasing-in-age brat pack feel they dominate the waves), get to bath in the reflected glory of our bald yet ever triumphant Mr Slater.
Jordy Smith
John John Florence
Nathan Hedge
Matt Wilkinson
Damien Hobgood
Although we can’t compare to his skill and ability, he is without a doubt on our team (the older guys) and remains the bench mark, and embodiment of the phrase “age still has it.” Surf competitions are a roll of the dice. Two years ago the Billabong Pro grew to gigantic proportion with waves well over 20ft, but for every year prior to that there had been days of no swell and competitions held in less than perfect conditions. It got to the point that they were looking at canning the event due to poor showing of waves. This year was different – there is a two week waiting period and for the first time in years there was a pulse in the swell at the beginning of the event. From day one, although there were long lulls between sets there were plenty of fine waves. Within a three day period the competition flowed smoothly with fine weather and light winds. There was the usual amount of controversy on wave scores and priority.
Adrian Buchan
Mick Fanning
Adam Melling
Anthony Walsh
C.J. Hobgood
Kolohe Andino
Kelly Slater
Travis Logie
Paddle battle Otton VS Wilson
There were great barrels ridden and the usual crop of nasty wipeouts that brought ‘whoas!!’ from the crowd. One of the main features of Teahupoo is the proximity to the surfers, it is a very intimate environment and you can literally hear the surfers talking with each other. This is brought about by the way the coral reef is configured. There is a large deep water V close to where the waves break, making it (in most cases) perfectly safe to sit and watch. In the ever increasing need for photographers to get that unique shot, there is a lot of pushing closer to the wave to get an image without anyone sitting in front of you. This has ended in tears and there have been a number of incedents where people have got hurt, but most of the time it is safe and well patrolled. It is this proximity which makes Teahupoo so specal, along with the party atmosphere, the girls in bikinis, the kids floating on tyre tubes and the famous surfers just sitting around waiting for heats. It all intertwines to make a magical and sometimes amusing place to be.
Kelly Slater
Kai Otton
Joel Parkinson
Freddy P
Kai Otton
Kieren Perrow
Kolohe Andino
Kelly Slater
Adrian Buchan
When the horn blew at the end of this year’s event, Ace Buchan’s smile could be seen from the land. He was the first guy to beat Kelly in a final at Teahupoo. Like two boxers in the ring, they traded blow for blow, with Kelly posting a 9.10 and 8.8. But in the end Ace won out (it wasn’t all for nothing for Slater, as he still moves into the number one position in the ratings with this result. You can’t complain too much about losing if you’re number one in the world). Ace did well himself as he headed into the next event ranked number ten in the world. There was a lot of talk about Ace being the underdog but his surfing on the final day said otherwise. In his quarterfinal match-up against John John Florence (who was the winner of the Andy Irons award), Ace won despite John’s perfect 10 on the wave of the day. His consistency was lethal, but Ace himself said before the final that he thought he hadn’t surfed his best heat yet. Immediately after the heat the announcer told him, “I think you just surfed your best heat,” the crowd went wild. Almost every wave he took off on was a thick-lipped bomb and he packed tube after tube all day. In the final it was Ace’s wave selection which topped Slater. At one stage Slater chose to go right which is almost unheard of at Teahupoo, it put him in a difficult position to get back to the line-up, wasting valuable time. Everyone loves the underdog and as a tearful Ace stood on the back of the Jet Ski it was obvious it meant a lot more than just the prize purse. During his speech, Ace immediately dedicated his trophy to his host Tahitian family. It looked as though he choked back a tear or two. It speaks volumes about how much the top surfers love the Tahitian host families they stay with for the duration of the event and how much they love being in Tahiti. At most other events they stay in swanky hotels and rental homes, but in Tahiti, things are much simpler. From the closeness of the spectators, to the relationship with the host families, Teahupoo offers something unique on the surfing world tour; it kind of brings surfing back to a grounded level, the way surfing used to be!
Thanks to Air Tahiti Nui, Tahiti tourism and Manava hotel.