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Square-jawed power surfer from Papeete, Tahiti; world-ranked #17 in 1992 and 1993; known for his big-wave cool and his easygoing Polynesian charm. "Watching Poto surf in intriguing," Nick Carroll wrote. "He is always slightly off-balance, with the art of his surfing in the slashing recovery from somewhere beyond vertical. Like a bit cat, he seems always to land on his feet at the bottom, ready for the next section."

David was born (1968) and raised in Papeete; his father was career officer in the French military, and his mother was from the Cook Islands. David was captain of his local boys' soccer team at age 8, and began surfing at age 10, on a plywood board. He progressed quickly, with Arsene Harehoe, the first Tahitian surfer to gain international recognition, as an early influence.

David won nearly every contest he entered in the mid-'80s—including the juniors division of the 1984 French Championships and 1985 European Championships—but was nevertheless a dark horse going into the 1986 World Amateur Surfing Championships, in Newquay, England, where he defeated Kelly Slater and Nicky Wood, among others, for the juniors' title. He was the first Tahitian sportsman to win a world championship of any kind. Meanwhile, back home, David earned money by doing carpentry and gardening jobs. (Older brother Moana David, also a regularfooter, was a finalist in the 1984 world titles.)

David's world tour debut came at the 1986 Pipeline Masters. He rating never skyrocketed, but by the end of the '89 season he was ranked #22 in the world and drawing attention from the highest levels of surfdom. "Five years ago he was a kook," surf journalist Derek Hynd wrote. "Four years ago, junior world champion. Now Vetea David is the biggest all-around talent in his age group." The regularfooted David had a unique surfing style: blocky and functional, knees apart, chest puffed out, head tilted upward. There was nothing smooth or subtle about his approach, but it contained finesse of a kind and was loaded with power, as he leveraged his 6'2", 185-pound frame through deeply set turns. David was an anomaly on the pro tour on other levels—the only Tahitian, and the only French-speaker.

David had his best run on the world tour during the early '90s, placing 19th in 1990, 22nd in 1991, and 17th in 1992 and 1993. He won a non-world tour contest at Pipeline in 1992, beating Derek Ho and Johnny-Boy Gomes in the finals; he finished runner-up to Kelly Slater in the 1994 Pipeline Masters, and competed in the 1995 Quiksilver big-wave event at Waimea. In '95 he also won the nonrated Coca-Cola Surfabout, in Sydney.

David retired from the world tour at the end of the 1997 season, but continued to enter contests on occasion: he finished runner-up in the 1999 Reef Big-Wave World Championships, and won the 2000 ISA Big Wave World Championships (held in not-so-big eight-to 10-foot surf on Portugal's Madeira Island). In the mid-'90s he introduced tow surfing in Tahiti, eventually launching into some deadly powerful waves at Teahupoo. He later introduced the island nation to SUP riding.

David appeared in more than 20 surf movies and videos, including 

 (1994). David was known throughout his career as "Poto," Tahitian slang for young surfer, similar to "gremmie" or "grommet."

David, Vetea "Poto"

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