Matahi Drollet is always one of the best — if not the best — at Teahupo’o. Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
Teahupo’o was berserk for a few days in August. The Tahiti Pro and the days leading up to it were some of the best days anyone’s seen there in years, and when a big wave is facing great conditions, Tim Bonython can be trusted to be there with his camera in his hand. But his trip to Tahiti was too full of incredible footage for just one release.
“You’ve seen the carnage of day one, he wrote. “Now welcome back to Teahupo’o, where the slab of slabs refuses to let up.”
After a truly wild first day, surfers awoke to something even better. The unruliness calmed down and things took better shape.
The reef still alive and the swell was still massive — only now the conditions were cleaner, sharper, and more perfect than ever,” Bonython continued. “Local Teahupo’o prince Matahi Drollet put on a masterclass, towing into mutant bombs alongside powerhouse Lucas Chumbo, with a stacked crew of Tahitian chargers — Kauli Vaast, Lorenzo Mateia Hiquily, and Gilbert Teave — pushing deeper and faster into the pit.”
Since the WSL was in town, some of the world’s best surfers were there, too, as well as a pile of Hawaiians.
“Griffin and Crosby Colapinto, Leonardo Fioravanti, Seth Moniz and Italo Ferreira all tested themselves against the beast,” Bonython remembered. “The Hawaiians were out in force too — Koa Rothman, Eli Olson, Kala Grace, Barron Mamiya, and Tiger Doerner — all locking into giant, heaving caverns. And just when the tow frenzy peaked, the paddlers struck back. Rising talent Jacob Turner led the charge, proving the future at Teahupo’o is just as fearless as the present.”
Bonython added a bit more than just surfing into this edit, as well. He spoke with legendary lensmen Ben Thouard and Ted Grambeau, and did a little interview with Matahi Drollet and his brother Manoa.
Having seen and surfed out there for 30 years, that was in the top 10 days,” Tahitian icon Vetea David said. “Some of the biggest XXL swells ever at Teahupo’o.”
See more from Tim Bonython on Surfing Visions.
