SURFING BLIND

Published:December 18, 2012
Views:7,838

Rock Piles: one of Derek's biggest drops during this December trip. He almost made this drop, but the wave jacked up and he went flying. And came up laughing. Photo: Jay Schweitzer
Derek was named after legendary Pipe surfer Derek Ho before his parents realized that he was born blind. Four surgeries later Derek was still 100% blind. Rabelo met Ho and got to surf Pipe with him last year. Photo: Bruno Lemos/liquid eye
Derek's only been surfing for three years, but his progress has been remarkably fast, especially given the fact that he can't see. Photo: Bruno Lemos/liquid eye
Ricardo Arona, Nick Beven and Derek Rabelo at the Moskova gym at V-Land. Photo: Bruno Lemos/liquid eye
Derek came very close to getting a barrel on this December trip to Hawaii. He's still on Oahu for the next few months, so it'll likely happen soon. Photo: Bruno Lemos/liquid eye
(L-R) Wigolly Dantas, Reef Macintosh, Bruce Irons, Makua Rothman, Derek Rabelo, Derek's surf coach Maru, and Bryan Jennings. Bruce took Derek out and, like everyone, freaked out watching Derek duckdive. Photo: Faith Fay
During last May's WCT event in Rio, Derek spent a day towing into some serious beachbreak by Carlos Burle. Photo: Lika Maia
Beyond Sight trailer.

In amongst the regular WCT/WQS/Triple Crown circus that descends on the North Shore every winter, there's always a couple interesting side-stories. This year, it's been blind Brazilian surfer Derek Rabelo.

Rabelo's been all over the North Shore, from the Rothman compound to the Pipe Masters, chasing his dream of pulling in at Pipe - and he's attracted the attention of many pros in the process, all of whom want to help.

Makua Rothman took Rabelo under his wing last February. "It struck me like wow; 'this guy can't see but he can surf?'" Makua said. "I ran home and grabbed one of my brand new boards, busted it out and gave it to him. We pushed him on a couple. On one, he was right there in the pocket."

After a year of training at home in Brazil - and towing into some macking beachbreak with Carlos Burle -- and a couple trips to California, working on his documentary Beyond Sight, Rabelo returned to the North Shore this December. The goofyfoot paddled out at Pipe on his second day here with the help of Makua, John John, Kala and more and got a few waves.

"Pipe's hard enough to surf with eyes," Rob Machado said.

Rabelo's father is a surfer and before he was born, he named his son after Pipe legend Derek Ho, hoping he could be a pro surfer. When Derek was born blind, that goal changed, but 20 years later, Rabelo was able to both meet his namesake and fulfill a longtime goal of surfing Pipe.

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SURFING BLIND

Born without sight, Derek Rabelo fulfills lifetime goal of dropping in on the North Shore

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