For many of the surfers it’s a nervous energy fuelled stay in one of the most beautiful locations on the planet, but for Michel Bourez it’s time at home with family and friends while focusing on trying to win on his home turf.
We thought we’d catch up with Michel to get an insight into how he approaches competition at the world’s heaviest tour stop.
When he answers his phone, he’s fresh out of the water from what he describes as a super-fun session, the sound of birds and playing children fill the background. It seems Michel has settled back in to life at home nicely – time to ruin all that by talking some shop!
Tracks: In a heat there’s no crowd to hide in. When a set comes you’re expected to go. How do you maintain composure when you’re sitting there with priority waiting for the next set?
Michel: It’s actually not hard you know. It’s actually easier when it’s bigger because you know if a set comes it’s gonna barrel. You just need to stay as calm as you can and wait for the right set. Don’t just go on anything; especially if it’s too west you know. If you’ve got the chance to sit and wait for one, you better wait for the good ones!
When you choose your waves out there, what are you personally looking for when you’re waiting for a bomb?
It all depends on how big it is. On a 4-6ft day, I’ll be waiting for the 4ft ones because I think the medium sized waves will be the best … that’s just what I think you know. It also depends on where you’re sitting in the lineup and what swell direction it is too. If it’s a southwest swell I really love the west ones because you can sneak into them. People will be outside and you’ve just started paddling out after a wave and a west one will pop up in front of you. In a heat it’s great because you can still get really high scores on the west ones without priority.
What about when the channel is going nuts on a big day, what kind of role does the noise from the inside play in a heat?
If someone gets a wave in my heat and the channel is screaming, it lets me know they got a sick barrel and I know what I have to do – I have to wait for a better one! Sometimes though, people can look deep from the channel but they’re not you know, so sometimes the scores will be lower than what the cheers make you think. You can usually tell what kind of score someone is gonna get just from looking at the wave and where the guy is paddling in, and knowing if he’s a good tube rider or not.
What about if the channel is screaming for you to go a wave? Is there pressure to go based on those screams?
Yeah I don’t really care about what they do you know! (laughs) I’m just focused on my game. I know that everytime I’m gonna kick out from a wave they’re all gonna scream, so I just do my best to take off and make it, and if I do they’ll be all the more stoked so it’s a win win situation!
It seems that the take-off is the most important thing at Teahupo'o. Getting in under the lip and setting your line can make or break a ride. How do you approach it?
You have to position yourself at exactly the right place every time. Again it depends how big it is and the swell direction. Teahupo'o is actually an easy take-off up to about 8ft. Any bigger than that is when it all changes out there, and it’s a completely different situation – the take-off is gnarlier, you need different boards and you have to paddle way faster than before! For the drop on a big one you have to start under the lip, which is way gnarlier.
What’s the worst thing you can do out there?
As a competitor, the worst thing to do would be to have priority and take the first wave of a set, turn around and see the second wave is better. I actually see that happen a lot. Especially when there haven’t been any waves for a while. A set will come and you’ll look at the first wave and you read it as a seven so you might choose to go, but the wave behind is an eight or nine. It’s super tricky. It’s such a hard call when you have priority and there are sets coming.
At Teahupo'o, the difference between an excellent score and a two seems to be that super-fine balancing act between being too deep and not deep enough.
Yeah exactly, that’s definitely something you have to really work on – not too deep but deep enough! (Laughs)
It seems the shockwave, or the tube monster as Ross Williams calls it, comes into play a lot at Teahupo'o, how do you approach the tube there? Is it all about riding high?
It all depends on how you get into the tube, where you start from the bottom turn and if you have to race first because you’re too deep – that all comes into play. To be honest though Teahupo'o is gnarly, but it’s actually an easy wave because there’s a lot of room to pump in the barrel. I guess it’s all about catching the right wave.
Finally, what would be Michel Bourez’s advice to an everyday surfer keen to give Chopes a go?
The first thing I would say is just to respect the lineup. Respect the locals and they’re gonna respect you back. Wait for your turn. If you’ve been waiting for a while and it’s your turn and you get a good opportunity, go! You better go, because if you don’t you’ll lose your turn and have to join the back of the line again! (laughs)
TAHITIAN CHARGERS from Tim PRUVOST on Vimeo.
