Mad Dogs

Peahi is a very special place for many surfers. There is a kind of spiritual feeling. You can hear the wind whistle through the treas and coming out of the valley and get transported back to a time when the Hawaiians were probably here. Peahi means "to draw back", the bones of the hand. And it all makes sense when facing these waves.

The shapers are a group of people who build big wave boards. They have been around for a couple of different incarnations of big wave boards and tow boards. For them, it is not enough to build a board, they have to go out there and ride a wave on it to make sure the board performs well. These boards do not ride smaller waves at all. They are meant to ride the most giant and crazy waves.

Photographers have to become the surfer's best friend. If the person does not have a good relationship with the photographer, it just doesn't work. To be a surf photographer, you need to really understand what surf is. Rodrigo, Yuri, Danilo and Bruno go around the world taking surf photos in the most important surfing events. They know they don't live a regular life, but they don't care as they are always ready for action.

Surfers who want to surf big waves need to have something in mind at all times: if you hesitate, you are going to die. There are always a thousand ways of doing things right, but also things could go south real quickly. This is when safety needs to step in. They are the ones who understand the hazards and dangers of these water beasts better than anyone else.

The media is competitive. They like to be the first ones to put the story out, no matter if it is ready or not. However, the media represents all of us, and we want to know about surfing and the challenges surfers put themselves into. The side of surf that thinks surf has to continue being small, miserable and for a few people is outdated. Or is it not?

Someone might ride the biggest wave recorded in history this winter, and that person might only get a pat on his back and a "well done" from a bunch of friends. This is the scenario professional surfers face on a daily basis. However, they keep going into the water to ride the most impressive waves in the XXL Big Wave Awards.

Yuri Soledade began working as a dishwasher in a restaurant. He would have never believed one day he would become the owner of that very same restaurant. He says he has been able to move forwards thanks to surfing, and is able to balance his life in the restaurant with surf. His early days involve plywood surfboards and no money to buy a decent surfboard.

From an early age, Marcio Freire has been an intrepid surfer who has not been afraid of surfing the most lethal and dangerous waves. He would go alone to the Ocean and do the impossible: surf waves 20 feet high. He was already going beyond the impossible, and his friends knew this was just the start.

When he was a child, Danilo Couto would be scared of going to Ho'okipa as waves used to be 4 or 5 feet high. Not long after, he was the center of attention in a surfing magazine, surfing waves 20 feet high. Danilo has always been about surf, surf, surf and surf. When something becomes a deep passion, anything becomes possible.

In Hawaii, no one gets recognized in the surf world unless you are tough. And before you are able to surf well in Pipeline or in Jaws, you have to face some losses. This is inevitable, but the ones who manage to accomplish and get past this barrier, leave a great legacy to generations to follow. And they will teach the next generations, showing them how it has to be done.