Dane Reynolds carves seemingly impossible turn at Hawaii surf contest

November 20, 2012 by Pete Thomas

Surfers gain accolades for negotiating giant wave faces, for long tube rides, or maybe a spectacular aerial maneuver. But Dane Reynolds is being lauded for a seemingly impossible turn made during an early round of the Reef Hawaiian Pro on the North Shore of Oahu. It was not just any turn, but a slashing, inverted layback turn that began on the lip of a big right-hander as the wave was closing out. What’s remarkable is that Reynolds was able to maintain his balance after being fully engulfed in whitewater (see video and photo posted below).

The wave helped Reynolds win his heat and advance in a contest that’s still underway at Haleiwa.

Surfing legend Shane Dorian, who was providing commentary at the contest, is quoted in Tracks Magazine as saying: “I’m gonna go out and say that’s pretty much one of the gnarliest turns I’ve ever seen in my whole life. I’m seriously baffled about what he just did. There’s probably one person on earth that could do that turn, and it’s Dane Reynolds, pure and simple, that’s a fact.”

Reynolds, of Ventura, California, was his usual humble self afterward. “It was just kind of frustration ’cause my first couple waves were closeouts, then I got one and my board felt way too long and I just couldn’t get any release out of the tail, so I was just going on a close out and just kinda doing what you can.”