Every year, without fail, the surf world turns its attention towards Hawaii.
Come fall and through winter, the North Shore of Oahu retains its title as the proverbial “proving grounds,” where many fledgling surfers seek to make a name for themselves, while pre-established surfing heavyweights flex their muscle on the world’s most revered stretch of surfing coastline – the storied “Seven Mile Miracle.”
But with all those heavy waves, come heavy wipeouts…even from the pros.
In preparation for the 2023/24 North Shore season, check out the wipeout reel above, featuring fails and bails courtesy of everyone from unsung heroes to perennial standouts like Kelly Slater, Nathan Florence, and Balaram Stack – all sending it over the ledge and into oblivion.
Captioning the video, Oahu Surf Films quoted one of the most iconic lines in mainstream surf cinema history:
“They got DRILLED…Featuring wipeouts from some of your favorite Surfers on O’ahu caught in the wrong place at the wrong time in the famous words of Turtle.”
The quote is from the cult classic, so-bad-it’s-good 1987 film, North Shore, in which an Arizona wavepool surfer (Rick Kane, played by Mark Adler) travels to Oahu’s North Shore, under the assumption that he’ll show up and blow up.
But just like real life, that’s not the case.
In one of the movie’s most quoted lines, Turtle, an Oahu local attempting to show the ropes to Kane, played by John Philbin, offers this quotidian yet profound advice:
“When the wave breaks here, don’t be there…or you’re gonna get DRILLED.”
Life imitates art.
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