A Visual Testament To The Progression Of Tahitian Surfing

Just a few days ago, I was speaking with former Surfer Mag editor Jim Kempton, while this clip of Mihimana Braye glowed on my screen. Inevitably, the topic of Teahupo’o wormed its way into the conversation.

Jim laughed, while he spoke of time spent in French Polynesia through the early years of surf exploration. Smiling, he remembered a day that he and his friends — gripping 7’6 pintail single fins — watched Teahupo’o do its thing from the end of the Tahitian road.

They stared, awestruck, as the South Pacific folded over itself, releasing a stormfull of aggression with each spit of foam. Nobody would ever surf this wave, they told themselves, it’s impossible.

40 odd years later, and not only are there people who surf that wave, there are people who paddle it. 20 or 30 people every time it breaks, actually.

Mihimana Braye is one of those people, and, what his latest edit lacks in variety, it makes up for in magnitude. Have you ever gotten so fucking kegged you had to unbuckle your helmet and sit in the channel wondering what happened? 

Mihimana has.