MILLENIUM WAVE - Laird Hamilton

LAIRD HAMILTON AND THE MILLENIUM WAVE

August 17, 2000 "Millenium Wave"

23 years ago, Laird Hamilton, then sponsored by Oxbow, made surfing history when he surfed the "Millenium Wave".

On August 2, 2000, Laird arrived in Tahiti with over 400 kilos of equipment: 3 wake boards and foils, a launch trailer for the jet ski, 4 tow-in boards, a rescue float, two pairs of snowboard boots and bindings, two or three traction sails... the objective was clear.

The team is lucky, and the "Mana" accompanies them throughout the trip, with a consistent swell reaching 4 meters on some days.

As the swell builds, the fine team decides to go to "the end of the road" to challenge the famous reef. Laird was immediately fascinated by this perfect tube, and for two days surfed some of the biggest and deepest tubes ever made at Teahupo'o.

On August 16, Laird had to leave the archipelago for Hawaii, but the weather charts predicted a new, more consistent swell. But the team didn't yet realize just how bad...

On the morning of August 17, the team crossed the Teahupo'o reef just after daybreak. The swell is large and dangerous due to its westerly orientation. The first big series arrives at 8:30 a.m. Nelson (Kubach) pilots the jet and tows Laird, but at the last moment Laird knocks him off the wave. The tide was low and the mass of water on the reef was distorting the wave, so this ultimate decision probably saved his life. Laird decides to warm up with smaller waves. After a harmless fall and a few tubes, he's ready for the big series. As the morning progressed, the water became cleaner and cleaner. Thanks to the jet ski, he was on virtually every wave of the series, sometimes surfing the first and last wave. It soon became clear that he had mastered the wave perfectly. By daring to take on these conditions, he paved the way and showed the way to the local surfing team, who were in turn being towed out to sea.

After a break, Laird set off again for his second session of the morning... To recount this historic moment, we'll quote Tim McKenna, the photographer of this mythical wave.

« Darrick had been lounging on the jetski while Laird lay flacked out on the rescue sled enjoying the sun. Twenty minutes must have ticked by when suddenly a line of swell of abnormal amplitude passed under them and they are galvanised into action. The jetski set off after the wave. At 11h38 precisely a « rogue » wave twice the size and thickness of the regular waves was rearing up in front of us. Laird once again true to his reputation as a wave magnet, dropped the tow rope and started to speed down the face of the wall. The 20’s foot face created an enormous, perfectly formed tube as Laird positionned himself in the cave. His line and survival stance were perfect. With his front leg totally extended, all his weight was concentrated at the back of the board to prevent himself being sucked up the face of the wave. The beast looked more like the end of the ocean than a wave. The whole ocean actually twisted and was thrown over the reef creating what must surely be the thickest wave ever thrown at a human being riding a surfboard. The entire horizon disappeared as simultaneously all the boats and jetskis scrambled out to sea to avoid being swamped by the monster. Emile our trusty boat driver managed to zigzag through the pass to avoid the feathering claws of the monster. As we sped out of the impact zone in an explosion of fine droplets, I devoted myself to protecting our material which could easily have landed up in the ocean while at the same time holding on to Gilles Hucault who, impeturbable as always, was still busy filming. Then Laird appeared, to our great relief, propelled out of the cloud of white water right behind us only a few feet away. He had just pulle in and survived the meanest tube ever surfed. He didn’t have much time for relief as the second wave of the set was looking like it would close out the whole pass. Laird looked around for the jet ski, ordered everyone to get out of where he was and prepared himself to duck dive through the massive wake of the 2^nd wave. He just survived the biggest tube ever surfed. »