Michel Bourez survived a double shark attack

Tahitian world tour member Michel Bourez survived a double hammerhead shark attack while foiling downwind between the Mahina Islands and Moorea.

“He broke the tail of my Signaturefoils so I couldn’t go any further. I then sat on one of my Firewires surfboards and called my friends on the boat to come pick me up. After two or three minutes, I felt something wasn’t right, so I looked around and kept an eye out for the shark coming back again. I was right!” he says.

He added: “The three or four metre hammerhead attacked me again, so I put the foil between me and it to protect myself. It bit my foil for the second time after realising that it was definitely not edible and swam away from me. The boat picked me up a few minutes later and I was safe.”

The Tahitian concludes his story by saying that he is used to seeing hammerhead sharks and that he is aware of the risks that their journeys entail: “The ocean is a world and I respect it! I have no resentment at all! It just owes me a new foil,” he concludes.

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What an incredible day! Different emotions in just a few minutes. I was doing a down wind from tahiti (mahina) to moorea(vaiare) when a hammer shark chased my foil and bit it. He broke the tail of my @signaturefoils so I couldn't keep going. Then I sat on my @firewiresurfboards and waved at my friends on the boat to come and pick me up.After 2-3 minutes by «myself», I felt something was wrong so I looked around me and stayed in alert just in case the shark would come back again. I was right! The 3-4 meters hammer shark came back again at me so I put my foil in between him and I to protect myself. He bit my foil for the second time realizing it was definitely not eatable and swam back away from me. The boat picked me up a few minutes later and I was safe. 15 minutes later I decided to go foil again and finished the race we had. I felt like surfing at teahupoo when it's 10-12 foot ! We know the risk to get hurt or even dying but the love of our sport is too strong. EVERY TIME I go foiling in the deep blue, I've seen hammers sharks cruising around so I know the risk since the beginning.The ocean is their world and I respect that! No bad feelings at all! He just owe me a new foil 😜. #PlusDePeurQueDeMal #WrongPlaceWrongTime #ParataMode #Anaa

A publication shared by Bourez Michel (@bourezmichel) the 1 of Jul from 2020 to 1: 15 PDT