TEAHUPOO BECKONS
Tahiti was our final destination and Teahupoo was my only goal. With this huge swell combined with the strong wind that was forecasted hopefully I would be able to windsurf. I was so anxious I could not really sleep during the crossing just thinking about the famous wave and the consequences involved.
I’m not sure how it all came together but I think I’m probably the luckiest guy on the planet! You can count on your hand how many days you actually get wind in the correct direction to sail Teahupoo, but we scored two days in a row! The first day was smaller but really fun to get dialed in with the wave and the spot. There were no paddle surfers out, just a few tow in guys. I took something like 50 waves until I was exhausted. Then I saw a little boat approaching on the outside. It was Charlie, a local sailor, asking me how it was and told me that tomorrow was the best forecast he has ever seen for windsurfing Teahupoo. So I decided to take just a few waves more and rest for the next big day.
After an anxious night, dawn finally arrived and I have never felt so excited about windsurfing conditions in my life. The wave was looking better than any Cabo Verde session I had scored before and I thought those conditions were unbeatable ! Teahupoo has incredible speed and at the same time the volume of water that is moving over the lip is so crazy. You can clearly see the deep blue water on the outside and the super shallow reef inside. This is what makes it such a unique wave because the wave face grows under sea level and the entire ocean is behind the wave. If you look from behind you can’t even see the swell.
I was like a kid in a candy store; there were so many sick waves with just Charlie and I to share them. I used my 4.6 KS3 and 83 litre JP radical quad which were the perfect toys for the conditions.