Kuda Huraa, Maldives (September 10, 2025) Tahitian powermonger Michel Bourez stole the show on the final day of the 2025 Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy, winning the Thruster division and the grand final back-to-back, despite tearing his hamstring in the twin fin division.

Fearing that his campaign was over, Bourez received a hefty dose of medical treatment overnight before adrenaline powered him through four heats in pumping waves on finals day. Standing tall in the event’s only perfect 10, in the last minute of the grand final, capped off the French Olympian’s 24-hour rollercoaster in remarkable fashion. 

A few hours earlier guests woke at the Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa to reports of the week’s best waves, with competition starting early to capitalise on favourable winds and tides. Fresh from winning the single and twin fin divisions, Owen Wright launched proceedings with a solid 7.50 as a sense of deja vu set in at the start of the best looking three man matchup of the event. It wasn’t to last however, as Bourez quickly realised if he surfed off his back foot he could still unleash big carves and ride the tube, exactly the kind of surfing the conditions called for. 

An opening 5.5 showed that Bourez’s treetrunk leading leg was up to the challenge, although an early turn-to-fall had the gallery holding their breath. Next came a 6.67 for a deep, double sectioned tube, the best of the event so far. Bourez and the waves were on. With time running out a bomb came straight to the Tahitian who, finally back on his beloved thrusters, belted it repeatedly, sending sheets of spray to the sky. Long regarded as one of the world’s most powerful surfers, Bourez looked imposing, as if his injury had forced his fury up a notch. The judges locked in an 8.5 to give the Tahitian the lead. 

This left Wright vulnerable, sitting in second with only a 6.3 as his backup, world tour veteran Jesse Mendes well within striking distance. A set loomed and the Brazilian went to work, repeatedly going upside down on his backhand, before signing off with a bow. “I’m not sure he’s ever done that before,” laughed Tatiana Weston-Webb, from the channel. She was laughing more as a 7.93 was read out, sending her husband from 3rd to 1st, knocking out Wright, but confirming that he would take on Bourez in the grand final.

Owen Wright

The first semifinal saw a goofy showdown between Mendes and Craig Anderson, with the pair trading turns on the whistle-clean walls and little by little building on their scores. With Mendes holding a 6.83 and a 6.67, Craig threaded a long, clean pit to lock in a 7.17 and square the ledger, as Mendes failed to escape the maw of a throaty tube on the wave behind. Needing a 6.33 however, Anderson could only manage one last 5.17 as time ticked away and Mendes moved through to the final. “If all competitions were like this, I might have stuck with them,” laughed Anderson, pondering a potential career change out loud. 

In the second semifinal Bourez came up against Maldivian wildcard Ismail “Smiley” Rasheed. The Tahitian threw away three fives and banked two sixes as he moved comfortably through to the end game, his third final for the week. Rasheed signed off with the best turn of his week, burying rail, blitzing the lip and earning the plaudits of an army of new supporters. “Smiley’s the man,” said Anderson, “He’s been so welcoming, so generous with showing us around and giving us waves, and so fun to surf with.” 

Craig Anderson

Bourez opened the thruster final with another rail-infused effort for a 7.83, before Mendes replied with a surgically smooth 7.17, then settled into the best seat in the house as Michel tore into the wave behind. If you’d forgotten about Bourez’s love of critical turns, then a massive carve into a big vertical blast were a stark reminder. An 8.67 extended his lead and had the crowd questioning Michel’s apparently-injured hamstring, while another 7.5, for another wrenched bucket-throw, was a mere throwaway. 

A long lull ensued as Mendes sat with priority, the ocean offering up few chances. As a couple of wider sets slipped past both surfers. Bourez took his first division win for the week, as Weston-Webb watched on, unimpressed. “Jesse had his chances but he was too deep,” rued the Olympic silver medalist. “I told him to sit wide, but I can only tell him so many times!” 

The grand final, the week’s third matchup between Bourez and Wright, starts almost immediately. While it’s only Wright’s second heat for the day, Bourez is surfing his fourth, and doesn’t want to stop his momentum, suppress his adrenaline, nor give his injured leg a chance to cool down at all. 

After an exchange of minor scores Bourez breaks the deadlock with a clean tube and end section hammer, to drop a 6.83 with 25 mins to run. Wright chooses a more selective route, passing up a handful of waves he didn’t like the look of, or that were ribboned with boat wake. Wright finally pulls the trigger and goes top-to-bottom on a well-shaped wedge, and tightens things up with a 6.5 on the 14th anniversary of his historic, and highly lucrative, Quik Pro New York victory. While the USD10,000 on offer today pales in comparison to the USD300,000 Wright won on Long Island in 2011, the competitive juices require little to surface, and although friendly rivals, Wright and Bourez are both fired up as they seek to put their name on the Surfing Champions Trophy. 

Bourez replies with a bigger and better version of his previous tube-to-turn combo, the judges reply similarly bigger and better. An 8.5 gives Bourez a hefty advantage, a long lull does Wright no favours.

He breaks it paddling into a bomb with five minutes remaining, but a mistimed first turn throws out his rhythm and sees him fall on the next section, a 3.23 leaving him chasing an 8.83 with two minutes remaining. 

Michel Bourez

Wright heads to the top of the line up and can only watch in dismay as the best wave to break in the Maldives this month stands up and heads straight for Michel, sitting high, wide, and devastatingly handsome. The Tahitian’s eyes light up, he finds his feet, pumps for speed, sets his line, and threads a deep blue drainer the length of the Sultans lineup, emerging with fists raised and a perfect 10 guaranteed for the best victory lap you’ll ever see. “That was unbelievable,” said Bourez, “it was the perfect wall that hit the perfect section of reef, and I was so happy to have it happen in my heat, at that time. I knew it was a 10 as soon as I came out.” 

“Michel was in the zone today,” said Wright, “even though he was hurt I always knew he was going to perform. Some people weren’t sure, but I was like, ‘you watch this, The Spartan always delivers’. He got me, it wasn’t my day, but couldn’t have had a better week. The Four Seasons was great, with my son, I threw a rashie on and surfed a few heats, and it was the best surfing experience I’ve had since leaving the world tour. I loved it!”

“I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to surf today,” smiled Bourez, “but I was always going to try. Before the first heat I figured out if I put all my weight on the back foot I could still surf, and I felt like I was in the zone after that. I felt the mana, as we say in Tahiti, I felt in tune with the energy of the ocean. I’m so happy we had such perfect conditions, and to do this with my family here. It’s very special, a week we will always remember.” 

Thruster Division Results 

• 1. Michel Bourez (TAH)  
• 2. Jesse Mendes (BRA)
• 3. Ismail “Smiley” Rasheed (MDV) equal with Craig Anderson (AUS) 
• 5. Owen Wright (AUS) 

2025 FS Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy Leaderboard 

• 1. Michel Bourez 2800pts  
• 2 Owen Wright 2700pts  
• 3. Jesse Mendes 2500pts  
• 4. Craig Anderson 2300pts equal with Ismail “Smiley” Rasheed 2300pts