Titouan Galea surf foils gigantic swell in Tahiti, then chases it to Maui for an all time wing session with Christian Barcellos

Friday 13th August saw the biggest swell in 10 years to hit Tahiti. Titouan Galea was there and foil surfed the gigantic waves at Paparā, he then caught a flight to Maui and wingfoiled the very same swell with Christian Barcellos. Find out all about it here!

A few months back in August, Friday 13th saw the biggest swell to hit Tahiti for 10 years. The internet was blowing up with posts and footage of the gigantic over 10 foot, 17-second swell at Teahupo'o. A day that won’t be forgotten anytime soon, especially not by Matahi Drollet and Kauli Vaas who surfed perhaps the biggest waves ever witnessed at the legendary spot.

Far less in the spotlight, but perhaps equally as impressive, the foiling hero that is Titouan Galea was out there waiting for his opportunity to score - “I'd been in Tahiti for almost 2 months, had many nice sessions with good swell coming from the South Hemisphere, 2 weeks before leaving we had a nice 7-8 feet forecast swell. It was my biggest session so far!”. 

Fortunately for Titouan he got super lucky, he told us that just “2 days before leaving, the biggest swell of the last 10 years hit Tahiti, more than 10 feet with 17 seconds were forecast. We went to a place in front of Paparā village, with a nice crew Arrihoe Tefaafana, Rairii Fadier, Terrii Crond, Etienne Fleure”. While still on the South Coast of Tahiti, Paparā is about a 45-minute drive west of Teahupo’o. Word on the street is that is if you’re a normal surfer looking for a normal wave to ride in Tahiti without worrying about dying, then Paparā is the place for you. We can therefore see why it was the perfect choice for Titouan and his pals to foil it with such a huge forecast. I’m sure you’ll agree that the photos are insane! There’s something exceptionally eye-catching seeing a foiler on a wave with that much consequence, incredible stuff.

Despite their careful planning, Titouan mentioned several wipeouts, it’s good to know that he is human! They got everyone & everything back home safe and in the afternoon, as Titouan put it - “went to Teahupo’o to see the show of #Friday13th”. What a show it must’ve been!

The story however doesn’t end there…just two days later Titouan was packing his bags & flying to Hawaii. As the crow flies it’s about 2500 miles between Tahiti & Maui, Titouan “knew already this huge swell would hit the South Shore of Maui. It takes about 5 days for a swell like that to hit the shores of the Hawaiian islands.”

“The first day I arrive in Maui I went to La Perouse to check the conditions, the waves here were 3 to 5 feet perfect rolling left, the wind was a bit on/off so we waited a bit. Suddenly the wind came in, 20 knots blowing side offshore, perfect conditions for wingfoiling in the waves!”. Titouan got ready and hit the water with Christian Barcellos (who you may know as @onemauiday), they caught as many waves as they could for two hours until the wind dropped. Titouan said he’s ridden “many places in the world but none were close to this one; the landscape was just unique! Riding in front of lava rocks in milky blue water was insane, that's why we went again the next day. I was happy to score twice the same swell in two different hemispheres.”

So what’s it like to launch a wing at Le Perouse? F-ONE ambassador Christian Barcellos gave us some insight: “The launch there is always scary because of all the sharp rocks and big waves but we found a good place to jump off the rocks and like everything in life it’s about timing. Those conditions only happen in the summer with south swells”. Make sure you watch the YouTube link in this article of Christian & Titouan shredding, it blows our minds to see what’s possible with a wingfoil now! It didn’t come easy though, Christian had put some serious planning into this: “I was dreaming to wing that place since the beginning of Wingfoil but it took two years practice and the evolution of the foils we are riding today to do it. It was definitely a mix of luck and destiny to have my wing buddy Titou and Jackson Mc-Muldren the videographer to share that amazing swell. I want to thank F-ONE for making the best foils and wings in the market today making dreams a reality.”

You’ll notice in the video that Christian has a very close call after being caught inside with his wing, anyone who’s ridden a wingfoil in waves or shoredump knows that it can be intimidating. So how on earth did Christian deal with that situation in such sizeable swell? - “Yes the wipeout was definitely a scary moment because we don’t use leashes on the boards. Luckily the wing leash was loose, it got disconnected from my wrist and I could duck dive and paddle to the channel. The wing was going towards the rocks but the wind was offshore and blew the wing back so luckily Titou was there to catch it back for me.”

You can’t deny that Titouan’s riding is exceptionally inspiring to watch, his Instagram edits get shared all over the web, and for good reason. Shortly after this session, he landed a world first, the double backflip on a wingfoil. Christian was there to witness it and we just had to ask his take on the feat: “Man I have to tell you Titou is from another planet because two days after the swell we crossed the channel from Molokai to Oahu, I was on my wing and he pretty much foiled the entire channel with no wing. When we got back all he talked about was the double backflip, he practiced for three days and then finally got it!”

A big thanks go to both Titouan & Christian for taking the time, to finish up I’d like to leave you with these important words from Christian: “Keep dreaming and pushing the limits to the next level but also protect the ocean and local beaches so the next generations can enjoy this world as we do. Aloha from Maui”

Videos

Titouan Galea score epic waves on rare south swell |Maui Hawaii
By Jack Galloway

Comments