Our boat driver Im improved in leaps and bounds this year.  Probably not fair on him to be the first "best wipeout of the year" for 2008, but them's the breaks.  He's a little ahead of himself on this layback snap at Tikis.

Tom guided us to his namesake break early in 2008.  We had a great session sharing waves, most of which didn't suck up as much as this one did.  Aside from naming the break, Tom also gives us a great lesson in the best way to go over the falls.  "Catch the wave, don't let the wave catch you".  One of our favourites, Brubaker.

Anonymous showing us correct high speed wipeout penetration technique at Bank Vaults.  Notice his arm forward, looking to break the water tension so that his head (and neck) don't have to?  Good job.

Aldo looks like he is going to need a chiropractor after Hideaways is done with him.  His right arm just looks so unnatural.

Tommy is another that made both the "best of" and "best wipeouts".  Tommy ALSO provided us with one of the most spectacular wipeouts from 2007 surfing this same wave and this same uniform.  Reef check at Hideaways.

Marcus always charges.  A goofy footer from Cornwall, we're proud of Marcus' go hard or go home take on the waves in our neighborhood.  Of course, surfing the Mentawais is NOT surfing Cornwall, and every once in a while we find out that you do indeed have to pay the band to dance.

Dan doing a superman hideaways barrel jump.  Good technique again though, notice the arm penetrating before the head.  No chiro needed for this one.

Ray is another twin 'best of' recipient, for the same session, and possibly the same wave.  I would say more than likely though this shot preceeded his great lineup shot at Kandui.  That is, after all, how most of us improve; by landing on our backs from 5ft. up.

Eduardo, our patriarchal Peruvian contingent always steps it up on his trips.  His family has scored the best of what we have to offer two years in a row, and this year it was Kandui that lit up for several days.  I'm not even sure where Eduardo's board is in this shot, his leash kind of disappears into the ocean.  But hey, he did it with gusto and provided entertainment.  Muy importante.

It is guaranteed if you are going to charge big waves, you are going to go down big.  Perfect Kandui, perfect nosedive, perfect timing.

Moa brought his long boarding prowess to the WavePark, and most of the time the curve of his board matched the curve of the wave.  Unfortunately for him, Pitstops can have a tight little curve, which sometimes DOESN'T match the longboard curve.  Tough luck kid. 10 out of 10 for form.

Keiry bought the farm on this one, ejecting out over a mooring in the lineup at Pitstops.  Some idiot had installed a 7 kilo anchor tied to an oil bottle and called it a "mooring".  It drifted into the lineup, and luckily nobody was hurt.

Oh the pain!  Perfect Rifles, afternoon light, pure glass, photographer in the channel and you're all geared up for the shot of the day.  SUCKER!

Once you've seen them, it's not hard to understand the difficulty of surfing Rifles or Kandui Left backside.  The two fastest waves in the WavePark, this photo explains perfectly why it is not just the speed.  When you fall off backside, your head will always be the thing going over the falls first.  Eugenio hoping to come clean.

Mattia ejects after straightening out at Spankers.  How hard did the wave hit the reef?  You can only use your imagination looking at how high the spray is being blown into the air.  You can also use your imagination how tumbled he will get underwater for the next 10 seconds.