“Kelly was like: ‘There’s no way you’re going out there.’ And I was like: ‘Kelly, I’m going out.’”
Lewis Hamilton is a bonafide international super star. The racing legend has many victories under his belt, is handsome, suave, enjoys the company of famous friends and also dares the devil. A life well-lived by any measure. The knighted 38-year-old sat down with luxury publication Robb Report recently and shared one of the most dangerous things he has ever done.
What do you imagine it might be. Bungee jumping in beautiful New Zealand? Skydiving over Bora Bora? As it happens, Hamilton almost faced death while practicing our surfing and all thanks to one Kelly Slater.
The two were staying on Oahu’s fabled North Shore, a few years, gazing at “giant” Pipeline and Hamilton declared, “Kelly was like: ‘There’s no way you’re going out there.’ And I was like: ‘Kelly, I’m going out.’”
He paddled, much to the 11x world surfing champion’s chagrin, and was soon facing a 25-foot bomb.
“I dived down and grabbed the reef and prayed,” he continued. “I could hear the thing land behind me, like a bomb going off. My board got ripped off and snapped in half. I was very close to the end. But that excites me for some reason.”
Crazy.
I was out at 2-foot Off the Wall, before, not paying attention to the forecast and it suddenly rose to solid 4-foot. I was absolutely terrified, dropping into what felt like the biggest wave ever, sticking it but getting detonated by an end bit, washing up on shore thankful to be alive.
Hamilton’s 25-foot Pipeline experience must have been unbelievable.
I guess that’s why he’s a knight and I’m merely a serf journalist.
Get it?
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or Carroll
25 feet from shore maybe.
not relevant to this regurgitated Hamilton/Kelly tall tale, but WHERE IS JEN SEE’S TRESTLES CONTEST WRITE UP FOR THE WOMEN? Sorry to get all shouty and agitated, but she was there to cover it and pen an article for us thirsty surf fans I believe. Gosh I hope she is ok? With all those rabid OC surf nazis and wild eyed Brazilians running around, something bad might have happened to our innocent Santa Barbara girl down in that sinful stretch of coast. She’s not in Kansas anymore down there.
we’re in the bar…fire’s is out~
I swear this was posted here already…
It’s a new angle
On a bullshit incident
That never happened!
5 7 5 – impressive!
This has definitely been posted here before. The only place I would read something like this and this is the second time I’ve read it..
Yeah, sorry. I missed Derek’s gem, somehow, and now have egg all over face.
for emphasis…
Now, is he the son of Huey Lewis and Bethany Hamilton?
what do these drummers have in common? Ginger Baker/
Guys more full of shit than a hippo.
30′ Kaisers, 10 ft Pipe, but what are numbers to a good surf yarn
..
Chas, can I say, to your credit, that Off The Wall is a fucking scary surf break?
Before I ever saw it, I thought, probably like a lot of people think, OTW is like some mellower version of Pipe or Backdoor. But in reality it is essentially like the gnarliest, heaviest shallow closeout section at Backdoor, ferociously unloads gnarly shallow closeouts. And then occasionally one of them has a shoulder.
I know that I’m not anywhere close to a guy who should surf Pipeline or Backdoor, but I would take either 7 days a week over OTW – at least Pipeline/BD have a peak and some order, OTW you are waiting for chaos to send something through that’s not going to close out and pulverize you on the nearly dry reef.
Anyway, if I was out there at 4 ft Hawaiian I’d be scared shitless too 🙂
I have loved me some OTW. Something about the chaos felt comforting
I guess the WSL season is finished now.
do they still have a web page?
I don’t get it, can you write an article explaining the joke to me please and thank you
Gonna be a looonnnggg few months, I sense.
carry on while i teach ur children well…
Serf journalist..funny
Kinda like if you said Kelly goated him into a wave.
Déjà vu Grit