Coconut Willie Navigates His Way to Near-Perfection

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Beautiful conditions graced opening day at the World Surf League (WSL) men’s Qualifying Series (QS) Air Tahiti Rangiroa Pro QS 1,000-level event to get affairs underway in pristine, three-to-four foot (1 - 1.5 meter) surf with occasional bigger sets that surfers capitalized on. Round 1 finished in its entirety with a few brilliant performances from Tahitian natives and Hawaii contingent that stole the show. But, a few early exits also provided moments of heartbreak for those in search of points.

Heifara Tahutini Jr. (PYF) started off a run of good results for Tahitians after winning Round 1 Heat 3, but it was Teoro Tahutini who posted one of the day’s top scores of an excellent, meaning it was over an 8.00 (out of a possible 10), 8.77. The 26-year-old navigated through Rangiroa’s treacherous barrel with confidence as reef sat mere feet below his board. This is just a stepping stone for Tahutini, hailing from Papenoo, toward bigger goals at the event.

“This is a wave everybody wants to come to and it was great getting that excellent score, even after waiting for so long,” Tahutini said. “I’m so grateful to get a wave like that. My goals start with hopefully winning this event to build points and then start looking at doing more events in Hawaii. But, the issue of competing away from Tahiti always comes down to money to do so.”

Hailing from Kauai, Hawaii, Cole Frye made his first-ever heat at Rangiroa worthwhile after posting a 15.33 (out of a possible 20) heat total to win Round 1 Heat 7. At just age 17, Frye is garnering experience away from the Pro Junior events wherever he can and showed he’s capable of throwing caution to the wind in a wave of consequence -- posting an 8.40 on a hollow barrel ride.

“It's so beautiful here, it's out of a movie or something and I've been enjoying it with my friends," Frye said. "The wave breaks so shallow compared to home and the heat takes a lot out of you mentally, though. It's a whole other level of hot. It feels so good to start like this. I started well at Sunset as well, but fell off so I have to keep this momentum through the whole contest and pace myself.”

Fireworks continued into Round 1 Heat 11 with Maui, Hawaii’s, Will “Coconut Willie” Hunt making a miraculous exit on a long barrel ride that earned him a near-perfect 9.50. The 30-year-old has his special training ground of Honolua Bay, but the difference of depth play a big factor between the Bay and Rangiroa with its shallow reef -- something Willie overcame.

“Honestly, I dropped in and I could tell it was going to barrel but a piece of foam hit me in the face so I closed my eyes,” Willie said. “I just felt what the wave was doing and hoped for the best. It’s perfect here -- sunny, waves are firing, and all my friends are here so it’s just beautiful. I love French Polynesia, it’s my sixth trip here, but my first to Rangiroa. The reef is definitely scary, but I like to consider the reef my friend (laughs). Getting far in this event is the objective and hopefully the conditions stick around.”

Notable early exits included heavy-wave charger Eli Olson (HAW), his fellow North Shore native Makana Pang, along with top-seeded Tahitians Ariihoe Tefaafana and last year's Semifinalist Tereva David.