On the one hand, surfing 10ft Pipe without a leash is no joke. On the other hand, it does make for a pretty funny wipeout reel.

Have you ever caught another man’s surfboard as it flew through the air, whilst riding a wave, at Pipeline? Unless you are the chap featured above at the 1:20 mark — in which case, take a bow, ya fucken legend — it is highly doubtful.

Prepare to have your tits blown off by Herbie Fletcher and this collection of epic archive footage that spans some twenty years, beginning with a montage of ’70s wipeouts — big Pipeline, single fins, no leashes, heavy drops, collisions galore — and taking us up to the ’90s via several quantum leaps in surfing’s technical progression.

Look out in particular for Tom Curren’s iconic cutback (“the most perfect turn that’s ever been done”), Laird Hamilton riding a normal surfboard, Tommy Carroll charging like a maniac at Pipeline, and a catch Jonty Rhodes would have been proud of.

Also featuring Sunny Garcia, Gerry Lopez, the Fletchers, Martin Potter, Johnny Boy Gomes, the list goes on.