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.
1:29:14
Teahupoo's reputation was fearsome,
but neither Laird nor Doerner...
1:29:18
...could've imagined
the once-in-a-lifetime wave...
1:29:21
... that eventually appeared
on the horizon.
1:29:25
I towed him onto this wave.
1:29:28
It was to the point where
I almost said:
1:29:31
"Don't let go of the rope."
1:29:33
When I looked back, he was gone.
1:29:58
I think it's the single heaviest thing
I've ever seen in surfing.