"I think I was lucky to get under the lip of that one," said Darryl 'Boogs' Vandepolder of this Shark Island gaper.

As he scratched backside off the bottom the lip came down like a guillotine, but a swift rail transition and experienced positioning put him in the eye of the pit. Right about now most backsiders would be reaching for their rail but Boogs stood steadfast. "I go hands free in most big ones at the Island," he said later, "it lets you stomp on the inside fins when you need speed and stability in the barrel."

And that's what you see through the later stages of the sequence as Boogs guides his Gunther Rohn carbon rail, pintail quad through Surge. The wave jacks and he puts all his weight on the inside rear rail, the foamball reaches and he clears it.

It doesn't end cleanly, however, the foam getting under his fins right within reach of the channel. Despite one last valiant effort the wave wins in the end.