Remember that time Raimana Van Bastolaer got barreled by an abandoned jet ski on a bomb at Teahupo’o? It was circa 2005, and the Tahitian charger had been whipped in at Tahiti’s End of the Road. However, when it came time for the jet ski driver to pull out the back, things went wrong.
Raimana, deftly, put his head down, and the 1,000-pound aquatic vehicle went over him. Miraculously, nobody was hurt.
This, below, is somewhat like that infamous situation at Chopes. But swap the ski for another human on a surfboard, and switch the danger of 10-foot Teahupo’o for head-high Maldives. Check it out.
From Jacob Mellish – a “Surf Coach, helping Intermediate to Professional surfers level up” – and the man who narrowly escaped a beheading in the water, he confirmed: “No scratches to the head.”
In fact, he also mentioned that perhaps this was even planned?
“This guy going over me is crazy Russian he loves the rush so much he puts himself in this situation just for fun!” Mellish wrote. “He just voluntarily puts himself in the situation for a rush. The same way people bungee jump or sky dive. The Russians are built different.”
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Intentionally putting oneself in a position to be sucked over the falls. Bold move.
The Maldives, despite having a reputation as a softer, more mellow surfing destination, when compared to other bucket list surf trips like Bali, does have sharp, vibrant, and unforgiving reefs. For the surfer to willingly get sucked over the falls, risking an encounter with that coral, that’s not something typically seen…unless you’re Mason Ho. Then you get a pass.
But Mellish confirmed that, in addition to himself, the human (almost) guillotine was also unscathed. And plus, it made for a cool clip.
“Dreams do come true,” he commented.