"... eight broken boards in two weeks."

When even pro surfers would rather stay on a safe beach, the fun for Maya Gabeira is just beginning: Why the 20-year-old Brazilian is so fascinated with the dangerous game with four-storey-high waves she discloses in an interview.

“Who’s to say/ I can’t do everything/ Well I can try.” Know where this quote is from?

Um ... no.

From “Upside Down,” a song by your favorite singer Jack Johnson. Do these lyrics also reflect your attitude to life?

I love this song! [laughs]. And yes, the quote could also be mine. I always need some sort of goal that I can work towards. And when I’ve achieved it, I set myself a new one.

At 17 you planned to get to know the big waves because “normal” surfing got too boring in your homeland of Brazil. Consequently you went to Hawaii on your own initiative and created a life for yourself there. Can you describe what that experience was like for you?

Ever since I’d spent half a year in Australia when I was 15, I had this dream. That’s why I took off when I finished highschool. I actually wanted to go to Australia again, but it was the wrong time of year. So I landed in Hawaii ...

... where you looked for a job and besides that got into big wave surfing. For laypeople: what wave height are we talking about here?

Twelve meters, 15, sometimes 20 ...

With dimensions like that even pros get wobbly knees. What is it that fascinates you about these monstrosities?

Just everything: their form, the feeling you have on the board, the extreme conditions that you’re surrounded by. Of course you’re scared of these waves in the beginning. But each year you feel more secure, and what was really stressful at the beginning turns into enjoyment and absolute self-confidence ...

... which you can also transfer into every day life?

Yes, of course – though I never lacked in self-confidence anyway. The other feelings you have on the board, though, you can’t transfer to the every day. Like this extremely seldom experience of living 100 percent in the moment – I only know that from surfing.

In April you made the breakthrough into the top league with the Billabong XXL Women’s Best Performance Award – and thus won against your own idols for the first time. Did that change your relationship to them?

Well, I’ve always been inspired by Jamilah [Star], and I still really admire her. But in order to develop further I have to orientate myself on the men. That’s why I train a lot with Carlos Burle.

In the last few weeks you’ve been in Tahiti’s Big Wave mekka Teahupoo with Carlos. What makes this location so appealing?

The waves are beautiful, but they break on a riff that’s directly below the surface of the water. That makes any small mistake really dangerous. In Teahupoo I broke eight boards within two weeks!

What challenges do you have lined up next?

I’m working hard on myself because I want to develop and improve each year so that one day I’ll be able to compete against the best men. And I’m fighting for our sport because I want it to receive the acknowledgement it deserves in the future. Hopefully what we achieve today will open the doors for the next generation of women surfers.