First competing on tour in 1998 at just 18 years of age (after turning down the opportunity to tour the previous year), Taj is currently in his 17th year on the Dream Tour. A crazy 11 out of those 16 years he’s placed in the Top 5. But in that time he’s never actually won a world title and it’s something he continues to take flack for year in year out. His second year on tour he came exceptionally close to it, placing runner-up, as he did again in 2007.

Currently sitting well within reach of the title in Tahiti (in 4th place) and jovial as ever, Taj considers the limited window he has left and whether he thinks 2014 might not be his lucky year.