Presents Vissla 

The details of one of the best waves ever surfed in the history of Todos Santos were shared today by its protagonist, Gabriel Villarán in a colorful Instagram post.

Todos Santos had that Taylor Knox wave in 1998 and this one from Gabriel Villarán in 2009. It's hard to find two better waves on that wave than the ones mentioned.

“I don't know exactly why I was invited to this event, but I remember that Gary Linden was working on a possible Big Wave Tour. I was in Hawaii, having fun with my girlfriend, Andrea Dibos, waiting for swells at Pipeline, until the terrible email arrived: 'Todos Santos - Green Light!'” says Villarán in his post.

And he adds: “When I was in my twenties, I thought I was invincible. I had a good physique and I wanted to plant my Peruvian flag high up! I didn’t hesitate and we flew to Los Angeles with the mission of renting a car, picking up my Super Brand gun and crossing the border to Ensenada, Mexico.”

 

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A post shared by GABRIEL VILLARAN (@gabriel.villaran)

“(…) We had the classic meeting of the event and only then did I realise the level, with pure living legends: Garret, Skindog, Mel, Burle, Dorian, Healey, Wassel, the Long brothers, Twiggy, Coco, Oscarín, Ramon. I slept little and almost at night we got on the smallest boat of all, the trip was heavy, I arrived at the canal and in a few minutes the event started,” he says.

“Luckily, I was in the fourth heat, I felt lost, I had never surfed that wave. I managed to put on my rashguard early and watch the previous heat from the water, Andre told me: 'Grab the biggest one!'. Before the end of heat 3 I saw Greg Long in a spectacular ride, I was left with that reading, I said: I have to be there!”, Villarán continues.

“The peak of the swell was at that moment, the cacanons were coming in. My first wave with Dave Wassel was solid, the 9 felt good, I returned to the point and the horizon went black, I paddled for my life, I passed the first one and the one behind was huge. The boats were shouting: “Go, go, go!” That was the breaking point, I turned around and rode one of the biggest waves of my life, with pure lung power, without a life jacket and with a lot of faith. The ride was crazy, controlling tremendous speed, getting the bottom, not falling, it felt special. Although I didn’t make it to the final, that night I was awarded with the biggest wave of the event, in front of my heroes,” says Gabriel.

“There was no prize money, just passion and glory,” concludes the Peruvian.