Earlier this month Peter Mel won the Billabong Pico Alto big wave event in huge waves at Pico Alto, Peru. By winning that event Mel took the ratings lead in the Big Wave World Tour, an elite tour for big wave specialists that is now in its second year.

Mel, 41-years old from Santa Cruz, is an experienced big wave rider, having established himself at Mavericks and been an Eddie Aikau invitee since 1998. I spoke to him about the big win at Pico Alto, the burgeoning Big Wave World Tour, and the wisdom gained from age. As it applies to big waves of course...

Swellnet: How many times had you surfed Pico Alto beforehand? Peter Mel: I'd surfed it the two years before. The first year Greg Long won and I finished third - that was my very first time surfing the place – while last year I lost in the very first heat. So I've got a few years experience and they were all very similar days really.

How do you rate Pico Alto as a big wave? It's one of the more performance-oriented big waves. Each big wave has its different aspect, Pico Alto is angled more toward performance and that, I think, works to my advantage.

It appears a shifty wave, is that correct? You know, it seems like it moves around a lot but it actually doesn't. There's a pretty centralised area that it breaks. Even Waimea Bay moves around - Pico shifts around as much as the Bay does.

Do you employ tactics and strategy in big wave competitions or simply paddle out and go for it? One of the most important aspects of surfing a big wave is your lineups, 'cause most of these waves break way out to sea and it's difficult to get lineups that are true. One of the things I was taught at an early age by guys like Richard Schmidt was lineups. At places like Sunset Beach which breaks a long way out to sea, or Haliewa because it has a lot of current, you've got to triangulate every movement you make so you can sit in the right spot.

That's one of my strategies. And at Pico Alto there really isn't any clear line-ups because you're so far out to sea that they are very hard to read. You've got to have your own lineups planned beforehand.

Yours must have worked. I'll explain a situation where they worked really well. It's often easy to find lineups to gauge how far from the channel you are, but a lot of time it's hard to find lineups to tell you how far out your are. At the beginning of the final we were sitting out there and the biggest set of the day came in. We were all sitting outside and I had a lineup I'd been using to determine how far out I was. I'd used it the year before and I'd remembered it.

As the set came I looked at my lineup to see how far out I was and we were really far out – like, outside of that lineup. So I tuned around and started paddling in, like sneaking away, trying to keep it under the radar that I was moving in. You know, doing a slow paddle in while everyone was frantically paddling out. And sure enough the thing came right to the spot where I thought it'd break while everyone was out too far. That was the biggest wave that came through in the final.

So that was your 9-pointer? Yeah, that was it.

On the Big Wave World Tour there are five events spread over eight months, how do you stay focussed? It's really difficult. When I first made it as an invitee into the Eddie I remember Richard Schmidt - he was the first guy from the mainland to ever be invited to the Eddie – saying to me, "Oh, you're in for it now." Because all of a sudden you've got this three month period where you're tied to swell maps and charts all the things involved in meteorology. You've gotta know when the swell is gonna be there and then roll the dice to be in Hawaii when it's on. You know, I couldn't stay in Hawaii for three months at a time.

Now the whole year is like that. But it's got to a point where I'm like, "Hey, if I make it there I make it there." It's really tough to completely focus on an event, especially now that my career has changed from being an old soul pro surfer to working at Quiksilver full time.

But you know, the difference is that I'm not stressing full time. I'd been going through the motions for so many years and now I don't have to think about it so much. That's probably been my biggest hurdle – my own head.

Do you think there's room for more events on the tour? I think there is. And the reason I say that is that at the moment it's only set up for people who can afford to do it - the well paid pro surfers. It doesn't allow for a guy like Ben Wilkinson, for example, who doesn't have financial backing and has to buy a $2000 ticket at any moment in time. It's just not fair in that sense so I think there's room for trials that allow guys who ride big waves to qualify for the world tour. Maybe not elite tour events but I think there's room for a two tour system so guys can qualify and get exposure too.

You've got a ratings lead on the tour and the next two comps are mainland US, you must be feeling confident? I am, but anything can happen. At Nelscott reef, that's one wave I pioneered towing with a good friend of mine. At the time I had no idea that people would start paddling it. We'd go up there for the old tow event and I ended up being one of the first guys to paddle it. We were out there and I was like, "Alright I'm gonna paddle one!" and we started paddling it.

It's a paddle comp now and I went up last year and it was the biggest I've ever seen it and we paddled it. It can be done, and again, lineups are a critical part of it. You've got to build up the experience by going there.

And then there's Mavericks. Mavericks is a spot that a lot of guys do well because its centralised, it's popular, and lineups aren't as crucial. It breaks in the same spot every time. The biggest thing about Mavericks is having the balls to go. The wave itself is so crazy that it takes a lot of confidence to master it, to be in the spot and turn and go.

So yeah, I feel good, I'm confident.

It's been said that big wave surfers get better as they get older, do you agree? Oh yeah, I do agree. Wisdom usually outweighs physical ability. It's great to have both, so as long as you stay fit you can keep improving. Look at Slater, he's 39.

And look at it this way: we don't get to surf big waves very often, maybe only five or ten times a year if we're very lucky, so it takes years of experience to get good.

The next event on the Big Wave World Tour is the Nelscott Reef Big Wave Classic. Check the Big Wave World Tour.