Raimana Van Bastolaer is a certifiable surf legend. Even before the Tahitian became known for his absurd skill in guiding both neophytes and pros into Kelly Slater’s manufactured wave, he was making his mark on the history of the sport, especially in the giant waves of Tahiti. In a recent appearance on Sterling Spencer’s podcast Pinch My Salt, Raimana brought out his treasure trove of wild tales, but one that stood out was the story behind the famed clip where he was almost brained by a Red Bull Jet Ski at Teahupo’o.
It all started with an early morning search for a driver to tow him into the famed break. Without a more experienced wheelman on tap, Raimana ended up pressing a reluctant Reef McIntosh into tow-in duty. “Other than that, we have all the little Quicksilver kids, you know,” recounted Van Bastolaer. “I’m not going to (get) Quicksilver kids to drive my ski.”
Despite all that, things still got off to a good start. “We go out there and he ended up getting on the wave,” continued Raimana. “I rode the wave and I’m like, ‘Okay, that’s it. Perfect.’ Then I get under I get barrel and the shade on the wave the light the shade of the lip changed suddenly. I just had one second. I look up, boom, the ski came over me.”
The rest is history, Reef had bailed and Raimana narrowly avoided being flattened by an entire ski flying over the lip – all on video. “So, I come out, rode the barrel, kick out, and I’m like, ‘Whose ski is that?’” recalled Raimana. “I tell everybody, ‘Go get that guy. Forget the ski. It’s just a ski.’ The guy, we need to get the guy.”
However, there was one more insult to add to the (near) injury. “When I was able to watch, the ski was underwater,” continues Raimana. “It came out of the water and I’m like ‘No! My Red Bull ski.’”
Though the clip was already on the fast track to internet fame and surf legend, Raimana was more concerned with the fact that he had just apparently lost his livelihood. “That was my ski that was able to bring food,” he explains. “To get paid for other projects. All this kind of shit came to my head like ‘Oh, no more skis. That’s it, gone.”
However, the solution to the problem came at the hands of another surf legend. When Raimana returned to shore and told Bruce and Andy Irons what had happened, they jumped into action. “Andy goes. ‘Raimana, don’t worry. We got your back,’” he remembers. “Right there, in front of me, [he calls] Red Bull.”
By the end of the call, Raimana had not only a replacement, but a second ski, for good measure.
