Tow-in surfing

Tow-in surfing is a surfing technique which uses artificial assistance to allow the surfer to catch faster moving waves than was traditionally possible when paddling by hand. Tow-in surfing was invented by surfers who wanted to catch big waves and break the 30 foot barrier. It has been one of the biggest breakthroughs in surfing history.

Tow-in surfing was pioneered by Laird Hamilton, Buzzy Kerbox, Dave Kalama, Milton Willis, Michael Willis, Sandra Chevally, Thomas Bernard, and others in the mid 1990s. A surfer is towed into a breaking wave by a partner driving a personal watercraft (PWC, commonly known by the brand name Jet Ski) or a helicopter with an attached tow-line. This method has a demonstrated advantage in situations where the wave is too large (such as Peʻahi off the north side of Maui), or where position on the wave is extremely critical (Teahupoo off southeast Tahiti).

The use of a helicopter for tow-in surfing started to appear in the mid 2000s, and has several advantages over the use of a personal watercraft. The pilot, positioned high above the surfer, is able to spot large waves from farther away and position the surfer accordingly. A helicopter can go faster, and is not affected by the ocean surface like a watercraft, but is much more expensive to operate.

Before tow-in surfing was created, surfers weren't capable of catching waves that were between 30 and 50 feet tall on their surfboards made for larger waves called “guns”. The biggest wave one could catch before tow-in surfing was in the 20 foot range. Tow-in surfing is accomplished by taking a personal water craft (PWC) and a tow-rope and combining that with a surfer. One person pulls the surfer out to the break on the PWC. When the waves comes, the person on the PWC tows the surfer via the tow-rope into the wave. Once the surfer is in the wave, the rope is dropped. The surfer is then on their own to surf some of the biggest waves in the world.

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