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On a Mission
Surfing an 18-metre wave isn’t everyone’s idea of a sane recreational activity. But for some, it’s the moment when every cell in their body is really alive. And for that sense of truly living, they’ll search far and wide for a big wave. Up until recently New Zealand didn’t feature on the big wave circuit. That was the case until New Zealand’s surf champion Daniel Kereopa joined storm surfing’s elite and set off in search of big Kiwi waves. He’s keen to emphasize that he didn’t plan to be a big wave surfer. “I never thought I could do it – it was out of my league,” he says. “But as I was competing, I realised that if I wanted to be the best that I could be both in NZ and the world, I needed to adapt.” So, he did what every big wave surfer does and at the tender age of 17 he gathered a team of good friends around him, then buried the fear and set off for the legendary big waves of Hawaii. There, big wave surfing is just surfing. Hawaiian geography means that the huge swells coming in from the ocean aren’t slowed by any submerged continental shelf, creating the giant waves that make a big wave surfers dream. Other key spots around the world include California’s Maverick, Pedro Branca, south of Tasmania, various spots in Chile and Ireland. Most are inaccessible making this a difficult spectator sport. But for Kereopa, the dream was to experience big wave surfing in New Zealand. He suggests that the reason it took so long to get surfers here interested is to do with the unpredictability of our coastline and New Zealand’s isolation. It’s not just geography that’s important for generating the big waves. Big storms out at sea create the swells needed. These waves then have to be able to reach the coastline without getting caught up in any undersea land mass. Then finally you have to be able to get the surfers and their teams to the area to catch the big waves. Bringing these threads together to stimulate big wave surfing in New Zealand didn’t come easy and it was thanks to some corporate sponsorship from Hyundai Motors NZ Ltd and Media specialist NZ Greenroom Productions Ltd that the Hyundai Big Wave Mission was launched. There have been two expeditions so far. The first documented and rode a huge wave just outside of Milford Sound at Yates Point. Celebrity big wave surfers Doug Young, Kyle Davidson, Shane Baxter, Miles Ratima, Todd Robertson and a couple of other Dunedin surfers took part in this first trip. The second trip which was a last minute, spur-of-the-moment thing, took Kereopa and ex-pat New Zealander Campbell Farrell (usually a resident of Hawaii - to be close to reliable big waves) to the South Island’s West Coast to search for the ultimate Kiwi big wave. Brand Manager of Hyundai Motors New Zealand, Darren Kirkland stresses the high level of planning and effort that goes into a mission like this. “We have long worked with several key people such as Campbell to formulate a strategy to safely tackle this region of coastline. As a New Zealand company we are proud to be associated with the mission and get New Zealand surfers riding the biggest waves this country has to offer”. To date, the best big waves to be ridden in New Zealand are at South Otago’s Papatowai where waves up to 13-metres make regular appearances. But for the Hyundai Big Wave Mission the hunt is for something more, something bigger, perhaps even up to 18-metres. Yates Point promises to be good with Farrell and Kereopa hinting at further discoveries in their second trip. “It’s been tough to predict when we would get a green light on this project” Farrell commented in a recent interview. “Global weather seems more and more unpredictable these days. Last weeks conditions looked ideal for producing the kind of wave we are looking for (60-80ft) so we all jumped into action.” The results of this second expedition are being kept secret at this point but the challenge now is to find a way to get the teams to these new locations. Given that the best storms are during winter, an educated guess would be that actually surfing these potential waves might have to wait for a few months until Winter ‘09. “There’s always a plan,” says Kereopa. “But it’s a combination of the right tides, the right wind, the right waves, getting the jet skis and boats there and lots of organisation. And all for a pretty short window of opportunity….. the storm can always change direction.” Big wave surfers share not just a love of big waves, but also a camaraderie that helps them avoid the pitfalls of mistakes made in the heat of competition. For this is a sport that takes the surfer tenuously close to potential fatality. Skimming down the side of an 18-metre wall of water does put the fragility of human life into sharp relief. For Kereopa, even his new role as a father isn’t a reason to stop; instead it makes him more determined than ever not to fail. “I don’t ask my family how they feel about me doing this. But when I’m out there I keep my ancestors and family in mind. I hold on to something that’s real.” He’s had his close scrapes when he’s misjudged a wave and been sucked under for two or three waves. He’s even blacked out under a wave. In situations like that it’s the close team structure that makes the difference between survival and tragedy. And while there’s a status in riding the biggest wave, for Kereopa the team is everything. “When you see someone doing it, the whole team buzzes. We’re all part of it. But some days you just don’t feel right and you have to listen to that. When you get into trouble, you get others into trouble because they have to get you out.” Kereopa might seem like a hero in New Zealand but he has set his sights high. His idols include the legendary “alpha-male of surfing” Laird Hamilton, “I want to be like him” and professional competition champion Shane Dorian. But for now he recognises that experience is everything and to build that experience he needs to find some really, really big waves right here in New Zealand. http://www.nzgreenroom.co.nz http://www.surfingnz.co.nz/ 
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