Raimana Van Bastolaer: Surf coach to the stars

 

Read the original article in French here.

 

Raimana Van Bastolaer has a rare gift: he makes people believe they can surf — and experience the impossible on a wave. With him, there are no VIPs. Once you’re in the water, everyone goes back to being simply someone who would really rather not fall off their board. To understand why everyone calls him “Tonton,” (uncle in French) we head to Papara, Tahiti.

Raimana, the kid and his sponge 

Raimana grew up in Papara. Raised by his grandparents from the age of two, he came from a family with very little money. His grandfather fished and sold a few of his catches… When Raimana became a teenager and wanted to travel, his grandparents even secretly borrowed money from his aunts to make it possible. He only found out after they had passed away.

Money, then, was scarce. Love was abundant. In Raimana’s family, if you have something, you share it: a house, a boat, a meal, a wave… or simply a helping hand.

Strangely enough for a kid from the fenua, Raimana grew up more interested in skateboarding and BMX than surfing. The reason was far less exotic: surfing was simply too expensive. With the little money he had, he eventually bought what he could afford: a bodyboard and a pair of fins. The bodyboard — that famous little “sponge,” as it was nicknamed — was still gently looked down upon by surfers at the time. And yet bodyboarders such as nine-time world champion Mike Stewart were among the first to recognize the potential of the monstrous wave at Teahupo’o. Raimana watched, learned… and slowly moved closer to his destiny.

In the early 1990s, the Gotcha team arrived in Tahiti with some serious talent in tow: Rob Machado, future world runner-up in 1995 and an icon of California surfing; Brock Little, Hawaiian big-wave legend; and Martin Potter, the 1989 world champion. Brock eventually put a surfboard under Raimana’s feet. First wave: Raimana stood up… and got barreled. Unheard of for a first attempt. Normally, there are a few steps between those two things. Raimana apparently decided to skip them.

That was when Raimana discovered a truly revolutionary concept: in surfing, sponsors give you the equipment… and then pay you to use it. He had just bought his own bodyboard, fins and leash with his own money. You don’t need an Ivy League degree to do the math: “I think I picked the wrong sport,” he says with a smile.

The Sherpa of Teahupo’o

Teahupo’o soon became Raimana’s new playground. And for anyone who imagines Tahiti as three palm trees and a plate of raw fish beside a lagoon: this particular beach isn’t exactly the Club Med swimming pool.

And just as nobody climbs the Himalayas without a Sherpa, the same principle applies at Teahupo’o: when things start getting seriously dangerous, you want Raimana by your side. Guide, jet-ski driver, rescuer, adviser, occasional therapist… “Tonton” Raimana became the guy everyone wanted on their team whenever the Pacific decided to get angry. Laird Hamilton, Kelly Slater, Andy and Bruce Irons, John John Florence, Rob Machado, Matahi Drollet, Bixente Lizarazu… world champions, legends — sooner or later, they all ended up at his place. As did 2024 Olympic champion Kauli Vaast and Jérémy Florès, one of the greatest French surfers of all time.

In 2013, Tonton reminded everyone that he could also do the job himself: a monstrous barrel at Teahupo’o earned him a nomination for the Billabong XXL Tube Award — essentially the Oscars of big-wave surfing.

From Andy to Kelly

In 1999, Raimana met Kelly Slater during the Tahitian stop of the ASP World Tour. The amusing detail? Sponsored by Billabong at the time, Raimana was mainly looking after Kelly’s biggest rival, Andy Irons. Tonton was on the opposing team… Proof that love stories sometimes get off to a rocky start.

Raimana later left Billabong for Quiksilver and grew closer to Kelly: surf sessions, jet skis, safety… trust developed between them. In 2010, the Tahitian even became his co-star in the IMAX film The Ultimate Wave Tahiti. Suddenly, there he was beside Kelly on the red carpets at the premieres.

“That was just my bad luck!” Raimana laughs. “When the director came to scout locations in Tahiti, Kelly asked me to look after him and his crew. A huge swell was hitting Fiji, so Kelly left and I was stuck there with them. I had to keep them entertained, so I just showed them my Tahiti, my life, my waves… A few days later, I found out they wanted to put me in the movie! I was almost embarrassed. Kelly was the star, not me! We had a good laugh about it…”

 

 

A few years later, their paths crossed again in a rather unlikely place for two men who had spent their lives in the ocean: in the middle of California farmland.

Tonton, or the luxury taxi driver

In 2015, Kelly Slater unveiled the Surf Ranch, his perfect artificial wave in Lemoore, California. Contrary to popular legend, it wasn’t Kelly Slater who recruited Raimana, but Jeff Bizzack, one of the key figures at the Kelly Slater Wave Company. Raimana’s mission? Safety — and using a jet ski to bring Kelly Slater back to the start of the wave without him ever having to leave the water. In other words: Tonton was the taxi driver.

Then the first guests started arriving. The wave might have been perfect, but actually surfing it was another matter. Raimana couldn’t help shouting advice from his jet ski. Nobody could hear him. So he got into the water.

And that’s where Raimana invented his technique. Kneeling on his own board, he accompanies the student, grabs their board and literally pulls them into the wave. The move became his signature — and one that other coaches now try to reproduce. “That’s my thing! At first, I was the only one who could do it. Now I see everyone else trying…” he says with a smile, more than a little proud to have inspired a few imitators.

The Surf Ranch opened its doors and word spread among clients. Videos went viral. The man hired to handle safety became, almost by accident, the Surf Ranch’s must-have coach.

 

 

The man who could probably teach a fridge to surf

Prince Harry, Cindy Crawford, Doja Cat, Ivanka Trump or complete beginners: once they hit the water, everyone is the same. Status stays back on shore, doubt creeps in and fear takes over.

Raimana, meanwhile, has that rare ability to convince you that you’re going to make it before you even believe it yourself. “GO! GO! GO! STAND UP!!!” Suddenly, the beginner finds themselves inside the barrel of their life. This Tahitian could probably get a refrigerator barreled. Give him five minutes and you’d find your double-door fridge deep inside the tube, with Uncle behind it screaming: “LOWER! LOWER!!!”

 

 

Cindy Crawford nicknamed him “The Big Blue Pill” — a reference to Viagra — with this deliciously ambiguous line: “This guy can get anyone up, even me!” We’ll let you appreciate the double entendre.

Today, a new chapter begins: Raimana is heading to Austin, Texas, with Heiata, his wife, and Ruruki, his son and “mini-me,” for a new mission: the Austin Surf Ranch. Stay tuned for the next wave.

 

 

F.P.