Lucas during a bit of downtime. Photo: Victor Eleutério Costa//Red Bull Content Pool
You’ve probably seen all the best waves from the recent run of mega El Niño swells that rampaged across the north Pacific. But it’s worth highlighting one of the lesser known chargers from the deluge of content: Lucas Fink. Fink, the 25-year-old Brazilian skimboarder from Rio de Janeiro, joined Kai Lenny and Lucas Chumbo as the only surfers to chase the swell of the season from Jaws to Maverick’s. And in the process Fink became the first person to go finless on a skimboard at the legendary Californian big-wave.
The trip was Fink’s first time surfing either of those notorious spots. And Fink, who has made a name for himself surfing Nazaré, was eager to test his skimboard out at new waves and prove naysayers wrong. Apparently, some people think Nazaré surfers aren’t ready for the premiere big wave spots of the Pacific. As he was hanging out with the skimboard crew in Laguna Beach, California, I gave Fink a call to hear about the memorable swell: the lessons learned, the scariest moments, and how a skimboarder fits in among surfers at a big wave spot.
Where did you first get the idea to chase that swell from Jaws to Maverick’s?
These last three years since I started surfing big waves I’ve been teaming up with (Lucas) Chumbo. Lucas has been mentoring me so I can become his tow partner on some of his trips.
Jaws and Maverick’s were always on my bucket list after Nazaré. Even though I did a lot of Nazaré surfing and got a good reputation, I would still hear some rumors. There’s this core vision that while Jaws and Maverick’s might not be as big as Nazaré, they’re more powerful, steeper, and more dangerous. Some people say, “OK you rode Nazaré, but that wave is not that big of a deal.” This rumor especially comes from people who have never been to Nazaré and never got worked on the inside. So I always wanted to be able to come to the most traditional big waves on Earth and show people that (my big wave surfing) is not only a Nazaré thing.
We were tracking the swell a little bit before Christmas. And it was constantly changing. We kept checking the updated forecast. We weren’t sure what the schedule would be, but within a couple of days we decided to start at Jaws. Still, we knew the big day was gonna be at Maverick’s since that storm was headed straight to California.
@lucasfinkrjStraight from a sci-fi movie 🪐 still can’t belive♬ Aaron Hibell twilight zone – Aaron Hibell
How were you feeling on your way to Maverick’s? Were you nervous, excited?
Yeah, nervous. It was crazy – going to Jaws, all the traveling, getting to Hawaii the night before, getting everything ready. It was also my first time ever in Hawaii. So that first part was very intense. I was just trying to live day-by-day since I knew it was gonna be an intense 72 hours. Once the Jaws mission was finished, I started putting my mindset into Maverick’s. We flew after our session at Jaws and then we had a day to rest. In California, of course, I was nervous, but it was good nerves. I was confident I was going to be able to get a wave. Mainly, I was just stoked to experience a new big wave.
When we finally got to the break it was massive – not as big as what I’ve seen at Nazaré, but it’s just steeper and more slabby, more explosive. It had a little wind on it that wasn’t expected. So I got way more nervous when I got out there and realized how crazy the wave really was.
What were your biggest lessons learned from surfing those two waves for the first time?
It was a horizon-opener swell for me. The waves I saw at Jaws and Maverick’s were big and scary, but somehow they are perfect big waves. You know that you can get an insane ride. They got me more excited to surf than Nazaré does, which usually makes you question yourself because it’s huge and bumpy. The skimboard performed well for me in those waves. Nazaré was such a good training ground for me to get used to going fast and riding bumpy waves on a skimboard.
Secondly, surfing has a lot of commitment involved and you have to be prepared for what’s coming, but when it comes to those strike missions it’s even more so. If you make a little mistake it can cost so much to your body or to your budget. Those were the lessons: how good you need to be prepared to do that type of surfing and, when it comes to big wave skimboarding, that those are the spots that I need to keep going to and putting in time.
What was the most memorable moment from that trip?
For Jaws, it was driving the ski in the dark and arriving there with nobody out. And then having a tow session pretty much all by myself with Lucas and Kai. That was pretty special as it was my first time in Hawaii. I watched the sunrise surfing waves and just realized what a magical place it was.
The other special moment was at Maverick’s after my session. Like I said, when we got there in the morning I got so scared. I was tripping on how big and slabby the waves were. I thought it was going to be smoother and more perfect. For the first few hours of the session, I was just towing Lucas (Chumbo) but then he pushed me, telling me he was sure I was going to be able to get one. We started taking it easy on a couple of small ones, but then in the end when I got that bomb, that was kind of just the perfect ending for the trip.
What was the scariest moment?
In the morning when we got to Maverick’s I towed Lucas on a wave and I think I towed him too deep, or he didn’t like the setup. So he exited the wave in the middle. I had to go rescue him pretty deep on the peak. The next wave was going to break on him, but I was able to get to him in time. However, he also lost his board and we had to go get it. I barely knew anything about Maverick’s and how the inside is set up. I just know there’s a bunch of rocks. If you get like two or three waves on your head you’re probably going to be headed towards that direction. That’s where Chumbo’s board went, so he was guiding me while I was driving. It was so sketchy – driving between rocks, trying to read the water surface, how deep it was, if we could go or not. That was a pretty scary moment to start off the morning. Watching some people get some crazy wipeouts when I was in the channel was scary as well. I was wondering how the human body survives that. But everybody was fine.
Which surfer impressed you the most on this trip?
Chumbo and Kai are just on a different level. They’re doing a different sport than everyone else with the sections that they were doing airs and turns. But also the local teams were impressive. On a day like that, where the swell direction was not perfect, they knew how to ride it. Jamie Mitchell towed Jojo Roper into the wave of the day. And Cotty (Andrew Cotton) was being towed by Jeff Clark, so he got a bunch of good ones. Luca Padua and his partner were also outstanding when it came to driving and going on good waves. Luca had one that was really high performance where he did a bottom turn in a critical spot and kind of turned where it was barreling and it spit on him. That might have been one of the best waves of the day along with Jojo’s. So I’d say the local drivers surprised me the most with their skills, just putting people on the best waves of the day.
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Was anyone giving you a hard time for riding a skimboard? Or was everyone accepting?
No, the opposite. Everyone was freakin’ stoked. I didn’t get to spend much time after the session we surfed at Jaws, but everybody was cool. It was a paddle day, but everybody was okay with me getting a couple waves when they were starting to get out there. Everywhere I’ve been going it’s just pure stoke and love. When I was starting this (big wave) project at Nazaré, I always feared what people would think at a place like Maverick’s. Would they be stoked? At Maverick’s, I think people were thinking I wasn’t going to surf. People were coming up to me saying, “Kind of hectic for the skim, huh?” Then when I got out there and I got my waves people were pretty impressed. Especially the locals. When I got that one bomb I remember people, like Luca Padua, clapping in the channel, which was pretty special. Then the next morning Peter Mel came up to me and said great job. Jeff Clark was super stoked on it too, kind of mind-blown. Everyone was super nice.
What’s next up for you?
This is for sure the first of many Maverick’s and Jaws trips. As I said, it was a horizon-opener swell because I noticed that those waves are even better than Nazaré to ride on a skim. I just need to spend more time there. I’m sure I could get barreled at one of those spots, do crazier tricks, or draw even riskier lines. For now I’m going back to Portugal in a couple of days, so I’ll just keep grinding at Nazaré, enjoying the big wave season.
