1:27:00
...that comes close to his abilities.
1:27:06
He has the ability to actually
slow himself down...
1:27:10
...where everybody else just wants
to run like hell.
1:27:23
The reason why I'm able
to ride waves the way I do...
1:27:26
...is because I have partners
like Dave and Darrick.
1:27:30
I'm only arriving at this level...
1:27:31
...because I'm being driven
by these guys to this level.
1:27:41
There's no question this guy is the best
big-wave rider the world has seen.
1:27:52
In August of 2000...
1:27:54
... Hamilton took another giant leap
by riding a wave so treacherous...
1:27:58
... and so outrageous...
1:28:00
... that it affected the course
of big-wave surfing history.
1:28:05
The wave broke 3000 miles
south of Maui...
1:28:08
... on the French Polynesian island
of Tahiti...
1:28:10
... at a reef pass known simply
as Teahupoo.
1:28:25
Who ever thought that a wave
could suck so much water off the reef?
1:28:29
That a wave could be so powerful
and cylindrical?
1:28:35
The wave Laird encountered
at Teahupoo...
1:28:37
...is a freak of hydrodynamics.
1:28:39
Unlike the deep-water
big-wave breaks of Waimea...
1:28:42
... Mavericks and Peahi...
1:28:44
... Teahupoo explodes laterally...
1:28:46
... onto an extremely shallow,
razor-sharp reef.
1:28:53
The result is an extraordinary wave...
1:28:56
... that, while not as high as Peahi...
1:28:58
... is almost unfathomable in its mass,
power and ferocity.