Teahupo'o (pronounced Cho-pu) is a world-renowned surfing location off the south-east of the island of Tahiti, French Polynesia, southern Pacific Ocean. It is known for its heavy, glassy waves, often reaching 2 to 3 m (7 to 10 ft) and higher. It is the site of the annual Billabong Pro Tahiti surf competition, part of the World Championship Tour (WCT) of the ASP World Tour professional surfing circuit and used to be one stop in the World Tour of the International Bodyboarding Association. This is a list of areas associated with surfing. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Ocean waves Ocean surface waves are surface waves that occur in the upper layer of the ocean. ... Billabong is a clothing brand and public company (ASX: BBG) traded on the Australian Stock Exchange—as Billabong International—since August 11, 2000. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... The World Tour is the mens international bodyboarding tour, which started at 1994 and has undergone a few changes in names and regulations since. ... The International Bodyboarding Association is the governing society of international bodyboarding. ...

Teahupo'o (or 'Chopes as it is sometimes called) is a reef break. It is mainly left-breaking, but the outer reef also creates right breaks that surfers must be cautious of when paddling out. Teahupo'o is also renowned for the consistent number of "barrels" it delivers. It is a rewarding location and is widely regarded as being on the 'must-surf' list of every enthusiastic surfer. However, only experienced surfers in peak physical condition should attempt Teahupo'o; heavy waves combined with a shallow shoreline can result in serious injuries and even death in a wipeout. A reef break, in surf slang, is a wave that breaks over a projection from the seabed formed from coral reef or rock shelf. ... See World Wide Web for surfing the web; see also Wind surfing Surfing at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. ... Wipeout is the title of a series of futuristic anti-gravity racing games, originally produced by Psygnosis for the PlayStation video game console, with other versions of the game produced for the Sega Saturn, DOS, Nintendo 64, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable formats. ...

Tahitian Thierry Vernaudon claims to be the first to ride Teahupo'o, having done so in 1985 with some other locals. They rode much smaller waves, however, than those often featured in photographs and videos of Teahupo'o. Bodyboarding pioneers Mike Stewart and Ben Severson surfed Teahupo'o in 1986 and it soon became an underground spot for thrill-seeking bodyboarders. Few professional surfers rode Teahupo'o during the early '90s and it was only in 1998, at the Gotcha Tahiti Pro, that Teahupo'o became widely recognized as having some of the heaviest waves in the world.^[1] On August 17, 2000 Laird Hamilton is credited with surfing the heaviest wave ever ridden, documented in the film Riding Giants. 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bodyboarding is a form of wave riding using a bodyboard, which consists of a small roughly rectangular piece of foam, shaped to a hydrodynamic form. ... Mike Stewart (1963 - ) is a nine time World Champion bodyboarder, one of the early pioneers of the bodyboarding sport, and a pioneer of big-wave tow-in surfing and also a champion bodysurfer. ... Ben Severson is a pioneer in the sport of bodyboarding and Sandy Beach local. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean [1]. // Coated in ice, power and telephone lines sag and often break, resulting in power outages. ... August 17 is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Laird Hamilton (born Laird John Zerfas on February 3, 1964 in San Francisco) is an American big-wave surfer. ... Riding Giants is a 2004 documentary directed and narrated by Stacy Peralta, a famous skater/surfer who helped to define modern skateboarding. ...

Keala Kennelly was the first woman to tow-surf Teahupo'o in May 2005, getting a 10-foot barrel ahead of the Billabong Tahiti Pro contest.^[2] Keana Kennelly is a professional surfer, who was featured playing herself in the movie Blue Crush. ...

Jeremie Eloy, Julien Sudrat and Yannick Salmon were the first kitesurfers to ride Teahupo'o in September 14th 2006. Kiteboarders use inflatable kites tethered to harnesses to glide through water and air Kitesurfing, also known as kite surfing, fly surfing, and kiteboarding, involves using a power kite to pull the rider through the water on a small surfboard, a wakeboard, or a kiteboard. ...

References

1. ^ Surfline, Surfing A-Z: Teahupoo Retrieved April 30, 2007
2. ^ Tracks magazine, August 2005, ISSN 1032-3317.

April 30 is the 120th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (121st in leap years), with 245 days remaining. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... Tracks is a monthly Australian surf magazine, promoting itself as the surfers bible. It was established in October 1970 by Alby Falzon, starting as a kind of counter-culture tabloid, printed on cheap paper and produced on Queenslands Gold Coast. ...

External links

• Teahupo'o History at Surf Line
• Teahupo'o Travel Guide at Surf Line
• The famous Surfer magazine cover of Laird Hamilton riding The Wave at Teahupoo, 17 August 2000
• Another set of photographs of Laird Hamilton riding The Wave at Teahupoo, 17 August 2000, by Tim McKenna
• Teahupoo view from Tahiti Photogallery
• photo gallery showing kitesurfing on Teahupoo