Break Notes Break guide
Teahupoo
Teahupoo rewards certain habits and punishes others. The trick is knowing what the wave asks before the section asks it for you.
Quiver Lab
Step-Up Board Guide
A proper step-up is not just a longer shortboard. It is a trust tool for speed, confidence, and hold when the wave starts removing options.
Best for Heavier surf
Primary gain Confidence under speed
Linked event Tahiti Pro
step-upbig surfboard guide
What a good step-up really buys you
The better way to think about a step-up is as decision insurance. The board should let you commit earlier, hold through the critical line, and still feel like you can recover if the section races ahead.
Heavy-wave equipment questions are almost always place questions in disguise. Teahupo'o asks for one kind of trust. A long point with more face asks for another.
Keep reading
More to read
More surf, more context, and a few good places to stay on the same idea.
Heat Check Contest
Tahiti Pro
A reef-pass contest where equipment, courage, and tide reading converge faster than the scoreboard can explain.
Classic Heats Article
Medina vs Slater At Teahupo’o
A replay page built around why the heat still matters: lineup knowledge, nerve, and the board trust that makes late decisions possible.