TAHITIAN SURFER TAMES TEAHUPOO TERROR
\n3 August, 2006 : <\/p>\n
28-year old Tahitian Manoa Drollet has ridden what is being dubbed the biggest wave ever to be surfed at the death defying break of Teahupoo. Drollet joined Billabong Adventure Division surfers Shane Dorian (Haw), Dylan Longbottom (Coolangatta) and 19-year-old Laurie Towner on July 28th during the largest swell to bombard the Pacific Island in over 12 months.A renowned Teahupoo charger, Drollet has set the benchmark for tow-in surfing at the worlds heaviest break, riding a mountainous wave two years ago which was originally claimed to be the largest ever ridden. The latest 10m giant is believed to be bigger and any mistake could be likened to having a five-story building land on your head.<\/p>\n
\u0093When I took off on that wave I was pretty worried because Peter Mel was on the inside trying to pick up Mark Healy who wiped out on the wave before,\u0094 said Drollet. \u0093I was thinking that the wake of the Jetski was going to make it bad for me.\u0094 \u0093Once I bottom turned, he got out of the way and I was just trying to make it to the shoulder,\u0094 he said. \u0093I was happy to have caught a big one.\u0094<\/p>\n
\u0093I haven\u0092t seen all the shots and it\u0092s hard to tell because when you are on it, you just want to make the wave,\u0094 said Drollet. \u0093I want to see the pictures, and then I\u0092ll judge from there, but I\u0092d be stoked if it is the biggest one ever at Teahupoo.\u0094 The natural footer was put in poll position for the mammoth ride late in the afternoon with the help of experienced PWC (Personal Water Craft) tow partner Dorian.<\/p>\n
Surfers require PWC assistance to catch the waves, which break with freight train speed across razor sharp coral reef, making traditional paddle surfing impossible. \u0093When you have got guys like Shane Dorian in the water it makes you feel more secure because they really know what they are doing and what is going on,\u0094 said Drollet.<\/p>\n
\u0093I compare it to driving fast in a car through a corner and making it around,\u0094 joked the quietly spoken Tahitian. \u0093When you have got your thoughts together and you are going good, then you feel great.\u0094 Gold Coast surfer Longbottom witnessed Drollet\u0092s monster wave in 2004 during his first tow session at the break and testifies to the record breaker.<\/p>\n
\u0093It\u0092s definitely one of the biggest waves I have seen at Teahupoo,\u0094 said Longbottom. \u0093It\u0092s always hard out there to measure the difference in the waves because of the shape but that one was just easy the biggest of the day, it was crazy.\u0094 A former XXL Monster Tube Ride award winner, 32-year-old Longbottom has ridden colossal swells across the globe, including Australia\u0092s heaviest wave Shipsterns Bluff in Tasmania, but said nothing compares to the sheer force of Teahupoo.<\/p>\n
\u0093It\u0092s pretty hard to put into words, it was really scary and so special to be back there and doing it again,\u0094 he said. \u0093I\u0092m grateful to be alive because I had some heavy wipe-outs.\u0094 \u0093It just try\u0092s to rip your arms and your legs off, it\u0092s heavier than Shipsterns and all those kind of waves,\u0094 said Longbottom. \u0093Like Shane Dorian said, it\u0092s the heaviest wave in the world and we were blessed to survive it.\u0094<\/p>\n
Longbottom is an integral part of the Billabong Adventure Division team spearheaded by Gold Coast free surfer Brendan Margieson. The project aims to find and surf uncharted breaks around the globe, using PWC assistance, traditional paddle in and long-range swell forecasts. When a monumental swell lands at any break around the world, you can guarantee Longbottom, Dorian and Drollet are likely to be just around the corner.<\/p>\n
Junior surfer Towner also joined the Aussie contingent for the Tahitian tow in session. In an initiation by fire, Towner was also charged with the responsibility of driving the ski and putting Longbottom in the perfect position to catch the waves, something he had never done before.<\/p>\n
\u0093It was pretty intimidating being out there and towing with those guys, I was more or less the last in line for a wave,\u0094 said Towner. \u0093It the first time I had ever used a Jetski and I had to tow Dylan into some big ones, it was the scariest thing I have ever done.\u0094 The lanky natural footer from the NSW North Coast currently leads the ASP Australasian Junior Series and has forged a solid reputation as Australia\u0092s next big thing.<\/p>\n
Paddling in to a terrifying tube at Shipsterns Bluff Tasmania in March, which earned him a nomination for a Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Award, Towner rates the Teahupoo swell as his heaviest to date. \u0093It was pretty amazing, it\u0092s one of the craziest waves I have ever seen in my life,\u0094 said Towner. \u0093It was an awesome experience to see some of the evil things that break out there.\u0094<\/p>\n
\u0093Sitting out behind the wave is pretty scary, you just wait out the back for your turn and you don\u0092t know how big it is going to be,\u0094 said Towner. \u0093I saw another big wave that Manoa got during that session and it was the biggest wave I have ever seen ridden.\u0094<\/p>\n
The next mission for the Adventure Division is a recently discovered right-hander in the Southern Ocean, expected to fire over the next two months.<\/p>\n
www.billabong.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TAHITIAN SURFER TAMES TEAHUPOO TERROR 3 August, 2006 : 28-year old Tahitian Manoa Drollet has ridden what is being dubbed the biggest wave ever to be surfed at the death defying break of Teahupoo. Drollet joined Billabong Adventure Division surfers Shane Dorian (Haw), Dylan Longbottom (Coolangatta) and 19-year-old Laurie Towner on July 28th during the … Continue reading “TAHITIAN SURFER TAMES TEAHUPOO TERROR”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-13518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-surfing-news-archive","tag-surfing-news-archive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13518\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}