Hispanic American Peahi

Manny Resano recounts a historic day at Jaws in which Andrés Flores, Miguel Tudela, Álvaro Malpartida, Gabriel Villarán and Izzi Gómez were also present


January 27, 2020
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Chronicle of a storm presented by Maui and Sons - On the cover photo: Colombian Isabella Gomez landing a bombshell in Jaws. Photo: Ryan Craig

What this particular swell had that almost never happens in Maui was that it came in with good wind conditions, they said they hadn't seen it this glassy in a long time.

It looked medium to large, but in Peahi everything is always magnified, size is almost never a problem because there are always some bombs coming in.

I imagined that everyone would be there, but in the end I think there were about 40 of us, including locals and visitors.

At Peahi there are two very defined peaks, one is the north one, which is where Shane Dorian and Greg Long go for surfing, it is the peak further back, it has a slightly easier descent, the wave is higher and then you connect with the west bowl, you get in from behind, you go down with a wall in front of you of 30 or 40 meters.

Then there is the West Bowl, where you dive straight into the tube, the wave is always crossed, it seems to close, it is like a giant backdoor, Albee Layer was not there because he is still injured from the championship, there was another group that are specialists in the West Bowl.

The author of the article, Manny Resano, stuck in a Hawaiian train. Photo: Alejandro Vaneta

At Peahi no wave is easy, even though the wind conditions were good. There is always so much water and so much power, there are always bumps, you are always passing cornices, you are never on a line. The people there are very good and make it look easier, but in reality you are always out of control.

To surf Peahi, the locals always recommend that you have a ski to rescue you. Most of the skis have people assigned to them and they can't go looking for just any surfer because one of the surfers they're looking for can fall in the wave behind you. You always have to have a ski that's watching you, that's responsible for you, and it's super important to never go in pairs on a wave because you have to get into the tube, you have to do the bottom turn. It's not like Waimea where they go in pairs because they go straight down. Here it's one person per wave.

Another characteristic of Peahi, since the court is so big, is that you have to be prepared for a set to catch you in the head, because in the end it always catches you.

In fact, there was one set that caught us all, that broke about 10 boards at once and leashes, it caught me, my leash and board broke, it took me to the bottom. A friend of mine who was next to me and was also caught by the set, had a watch that marked the depths and I don't know if the watch was wrong or what, but it showed that we went down 28 feet, almost 9 meters, during the tumble.

The level of the locals was impressive, the confidence they have, how they turn around at the last moment as if they were surfing a 3-foot wave, how they dive off the other side of the wall with 30 or 40-meter walls, they look like big waves and the guys go into the tube. The truth is that everyone surfed very well, Kai Lenny, Billy Kemper, I really liked the way Tyler Larronde surfed who was surfing at West Peak, Torry Meister, and also other locals who killed it. Among the Latins I saw Miguel Tudela and Álvaro Malpartida surf very well, they were both at North Peak and I saw them get some great waves.

There were surfers from California too. I saw Nick Lamb getting some good tubes. I don't know how many he got, but many were very deep. I really liked Greg Long's wave. He went to North Peak where he normally goes. He waited for 40 minutes. When the right wave came, he grabbed it and got a good tube. This was at 8am. The guy said: "Thank you very much" and went to the boat to watch the others surf. He was truly a gentleman.

The wave in the water was very good, everyone knew what they were doing, the locals were very cool sharing, although they catch more it is because they know the wave very well and have an impressive technique, where they go down no one can go down. The truth is that it was an incredible day, we were all very happy, I then got on a plane and luckily I was able to connect with the same swell in Mavericks which was also very good, so I am very happy to be honest.

I think it's important to mention Colombian Izzi Gomez, who surfed incredibly and has a lot of merit. Of the photos published in this article, she seems to me to be the best. I didn't have the chance to meet her personally, but I congratulate her, she's an inspiration, I hope to find her in the water in another swell soon.

And I must also mention the Latinos, Andrés Flores from the Dominican Republic, a great friend, who took down two bombs and on the same set that caught us all, everything broke as well. Two other Latinos who were doing rescues were also important, very attentive, the Argentines Daniel Silvagni and Nano Messera, they are very well-known rescuers in Peahi, they have lived there for years and the truth is that they were doing an incredible job.

 

 

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A memorable day at #Jaws ⚡️! #KnowTheFeeling 📷 @chachfiles / @surfer_magazine

A publication shared by Miguel Tudela (@migueltudelach) the

 

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Yesterday was another memorable day for the band 🇵🇪 at Peahi, the crew's vibe was key to making it a luxurious experience, it became a reality thanks to @tubos_surf_school 🙌🏻 Here is the story of what could have been the worst wipeout of my life 😬 We set up the bikes early with our rescue 🥋 @daniel_silvagni and we jumped into the water off the rocks with @malpafish @cristo_decol1 @joaquindlcastillo #ozzy. We arrived at point 830am, saw a couple of mega epic waves and the Rock&Roll began! As soon as I touched it, #Malpa threw down a wave that I literally saw him ride, the session started off with the bar set high! I broke the ice with a small one. Returning to the point I saw a couple of tubes from another dimension that motivated me to the max. The west appeared, I was in position, dropped, I saw Malpa go down the left, I tried to Knife (turn while dropping) but the board didn't go in, I corrected it, tried again and was able to turn, I looked up and realized that I was late to enter the tube, so I straightened the board, avoiding the guillotine on the neck, the wave broke super close to the tail of my board, the explosion was huge, I knew the avalanche was coming and I took a deep breath. From the beginning it was violent, as soon as I touched the water I pulled the vest, it inflated and I relaxed, but instantly it took me deep, without realizing it I was already hitting the reef, that crazy me, the situation was really serious. Luckily I only hit my knee, the rest of the blows were absorbed by the impact vest, at that moment I pulled the vest again to get out as quickly as possible. The vest doesn't float the same in the foam, I was in limbo a few meters from the surface and the second wave was coming for me, I remembered my brother @surfnavarro's technique of taking a little water to delay the contractions and it worked! I fought to stay afloat until I managed it, I had 1 second to take a breath and pass the next wave, #VictorLopez rescued me and the worst was over. I went to the boat, cleaned the wound, changed CO2 cartridges and into the water! Bleeding 🦈 but confident in a few moments I connected with my best wave of the day. Without the #BeastPoolTraining I would not be prepared to make these decisions 🙏🏻 Thanks @martincaprile for the 📸 #DontCrackUnderPressure ⚡

A publication shared by Gabriel Villaran (@gabriel.villaran) the

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