Haleiwa is a tough wave to master, but Finn McGill has it about as dialed as anyone. Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
About 100,000 years ago, back in 2016, Finn McGill won the Pipe Invitational. He was only 16 at the time and the win saw him beat Pipeline veteran Gavin Beschen and gain entry into the Pipe Masters. It was a huge feat for a teenager and one that foreshadowed the kind of surfer he would become.
Growing up on the North Shore, McGill was one of many groms with dreams of making it big in surfing. Now at 25 years of age, he doesn’t just have the skill only earned by surfing since he was very young, but the power to take that skill to the next level.
Of all the waves on the North Shore, Haleiwa is one of the most difficult. It’s big and heavy, full of racing currents and shifting conditions. But Finn has it dialed. According to Off Da Lip, a YouTube channel with filmers who spend lots and lots of time looking at surfers surf Haleiwa, this is “what mastery of Haleiwa looks like.”
