There’s not a lot of surfers who can say they have a section of Pipe named after them, but Takayuki Wakita is one of them. Thanks to YouTube channel Off Da Lip, we get to see Wakita take off on a standout ride from a massive set at Pipeline.
Takayuki Wakita was born in Japan in 1971, but started coming to Oahu in the late ’80s and eventually made the North Shore his home. Since then, he’s spent decades putting in the grueling work of mastering the wave that, in many ways, serves as the surfing world’s main stage.
Earning a spot in the Pipeline lineup is in itself no easy feat, but his reputation for fearlessness and deep takeoffs has even led to the aforementioned piece of the wave being named after him. Takayuki’s eponymous break is Wakita Bowl, a deep inside patch of reef, between Backdoor and Off the Wall, where he is known to sit.
Wakita’s been in the game so long, he’s even spawned a new generation of Pipe riders. His son Taichi competed in the 2023 Pipe masters and his daughter Sara has been making a name for herself on the WSL Challenger Series.
However, Takayuki seems far from ready to hand down the crown to either of them just yet. As you can see in the video, the 52-year-old is still charging hard enough to earn his section of the seven mile miracle.
