Category: Windsurfing (Page 4 of 4)

Ok this picture deserves raccontino, a little story
Today we were supposed to get a hard earned day off from the wind.Yesterday I shot all my bullets (Italian figurative way of saying) since we were supposed to get three days without wind.I checked with Giampaolo Cammarota on his blog were to go surf – SSN was giving massive 3-7+ at hookipa. But Giampaolo gives you bouy readings and webcams, and the new swell wasnt supposed to kick in until later in the day, so I decided to give a shot to hookipa.When I got there quote early for my standards I found hookipa surfwise as good as it gets: 1-3 and glassy.I felt so confident that I mounted my gopro on the board. A thing you don’t do on bigger days if you care about your camera.I had a nice session an possibly something will come out of that cam. I’ve had a few wave. Nothing worth mentioning as there were 20 people out, spread between Green Trees and H’Poko, and more farther towards Pavillion.

A lot by hookipa standard. A friendly chap from southern california local of Topanga, a place I surfed too a couple of times while living in LA, a boy who must have been no older than 13/14 came by and with a grown up grim told me “these people are complaining it’s busy. This is not busy. They have no idea” Well I remember a day at Rincon on a very large north swell – a day that would see most of SoCal maxed out – entering Rincon and working all the way up from being the last one in to taking the top spot on the main peak. I did that not do that of the intention to actually surf, but simply to reduce the number of wave that I’d be getting on the head. That day in that spot I counted hundreds, literally hundreds of surfers.

Going back to my session I got up on a few waves with my favourite technique: sitting in the inside with the kids and taking advantage of the leftovers of the other surfers. Of course this strategy comes at expense: you will get all the incoming large sets on the head. if you are sitting deep inside that is the deal.

The business was worth a few take offs, followed by very short runs. I still don’t have the speed to stand in the right spot on the board, so I tend to loose the wave that eventually closes out on me. But I am improving.

As I ended my session with my third wave, I got out and it was obvious that the wind was picking up. Windguru had sown a dead north shore, but I was on the hill trying to read my book and it was impossible. After half an hour with perfectly glassy conditions the first guy is out.
I decide to go back home and get my gear. Rule of thumb for hookipa: always have your gear in the car, you never know the magics of the North Shore. As I got home I relaxed had a coffee connected with friends back at home and .. an hour wen by.
By the time I was back on spot I could see a lot of action (check Jimmie Hepp album from the 04-05-2019 to judge for yourself

In the water the likes of Browzino, Jaeger Stone, Thomas Traversa. As I was almost rigged, they started to come out. The conditions had become too light even for them. I decide to go in anyways. After 20 minutes to get to the point with 10 knots maybe less of wind I decide to make it back in possibily on a wave. This was the result

If you want to check out the pow video from the boom – you can see the cam in the close up picture

If you want to check out the full quick edit of the session, you can find on Vimeo iSurf video channel https://vimeo.com/328873718
Enjoy and keep the stoke alive!

As hookipa was slightly beyond my ability I decided to go check the west side and a some good south swell forecasts I had seen in the morning, calling 2-3, when it is normally 1-2.

First stop on the west side is my favourite McDonald in the world. Why it’s my favourite? Because .. it’s got the best flags! McD+US+Hawaii.

After refueling, I continued towards one of the most beautiful spots on the island, and not just for the conditions: Honolua Bay

On the way back, trying to surf the south swell, I stopped at another favourite of mine: Laniupoko

This is a nice park offering grass, palm shade, a nice beach, an enclosed little beach for kids and a decent south swell exposure.

After some rest and having checked the minimal surf I headed back home. Drove through Ho’okipa to find it fully packed by the after work brigade.

First thing first. I am trying a custom board to complement my pyramid 92. Found this beauty at Quatro, one of Levi’s boards. Volume aft and thin tail. Tried it today in marginal conditions and rides like heaven. Snappy turns when needed and longer carves rail stuck in the water if that is your game.This is what it’s like to ride naked in Hawaii. Who needs board and sail bags anyways?The most loved sailor of all times is back on the water after sometime. It was great to meet and greet him. He was always here with Brian Talma when I first got here in 1999. He explained me – on my request – how to land a back loop. A backie he told me it’s not a rotation, rather a jump and a drop. Unfortunately Josh the advice was inpeccable. It’s implantation in the last few years less so.Lead Aloha Classic commentator and Simmer Sails team manager talking to the reigning queen of hookipa Sara Houser Jimmie’s weaponWind’s unfortunately turning soft. The odds of a surfing break from windsurfing are increasing

I have the feeling that many of those who follow iSurf might share the same lifelong passion that has animated this brand since its inception.

We have probably all lived or still live through the dream of chasing waves in the far corners of planet.

But what it’s like to actually live in Hawaii, provided that Hawaii is one of those places where surf happens for real?

Let roll back a little and see how it goes.
I first came to Maui in 1999 to satisfy my thirst for waves and to live windsurfing at its fullest. Mind you these were still the good old days, not the peak, but still good enough. Money was pouring in and the sport was awash.

I found the experience excruciating.

My first time at ho’okipa was intimidating. Got here at the beginning of September to be blessed with the first proper winter swell and very light winds. I still remember Josh Stone’s younger brother going out in the little to no wind and pulling out a sick one hand aerial. I definitely have the picture somewhere and will look for it.

Next day, when the swell went down to 5-7 and the wind picked up it was nuclear.

All of the sudden I found myself inside one of those windsurfing videos I had long consumed as a boy. Most of the world cup was there: Bringdal, Stone, Naish, the Prichards. It was intimidating. I started rigging the sails I brought over (wild winds they would be blown to ballon size when it was strong and ho’okipa in Septmber is strong on a sportex mast, a nice 2/3 kg of epoxy resin). Then realised it was probably beyond my ability. Probably, mostly a psycological barrier. So I drove to Sprecks (it took me another 10 years to find out about kanaha) and stayed in Sprecks for most of the swell. It was terrible. Side on and most like my home spot at the time – Ostia – when it blows westerly – on-side-on with rough sea. Is this why I came to hawaii, I was asking myself all the time? Every morning I would drive to hookipa, check it out and proceed. Then one day something clicked, the swell was down to windswell probably. I got in. I survided and actually had fun. It was the first taste of the power of that wave, that has very little comparison elsewhere. I never ever changed spot and got all subsequent swells. I was a lot into jumping at the time and in three weeks I evolved my cheese roll into a proper quite high forward. I’ve always like jumps.

It took me several years to get back and the reason why is one to mentioned. I had found Hawaii too expensive, overcrowded sand overdeveloped for my taste for nature. I remember having to wait minutes just to get onto hana highway from the Stones’ property I was leasing. So I moved the next ten years the center of my attention to Mauritius. I spent every summer (austral winter) there, at least a month.

But after a few years around 2004 I think when my Mru swing was full still full on, out of thin air, this guy from hawaii – Dan Rayburn, a photographer – sends me a mail on the website. He says he’s been trying to sell Jaws shots to magazines, hadn’t managed to and had decided to make me happy. I told him my site was not making any money – it never has so far – and I had nothing to pay him with. He said he liked the vibe of the site and the fact that it was an “underdog” and we published. It was a hit! At the time Jaws was really new and having those images a rarity. Online even more.

Roll another few years to 2010 and there I am booked for a conference in silicon valley on technology, my other passion. I send a mail to Dan and tell him I’m going to his hometown California. He suggests I hop over to Hawaii after the class. I hadn’t remotely even thought about. But of course the windsurfer in me goes into planning mode and after being offered accomodation and car the offer becomes too hard to turn down. It’s now a plan. I manage to secure an extra week vacation – my employer at the time considered a self financed class in technology in SV a “vacation” – and head to maui.

Dan is kind enough on a rainy early march morning to give me a tour of the north shore. I discover Kanaha with him and blame myself for not having asked the year I had been here. Next day it’s howling. Dan was still a good name in photography for the north shore at the time and offers to take picture. I was out of my mind. A session in paradise. The conditions. A dedicated semi-pro photographer. Memories I shall never forget: thanks to Dan.

I source all of my equipment at Quatro: they have me test different boards and sails and that is the moment Quatro/Goya sticks in my brain: it means from there on Maui and fun. Great associations for a brand.

Week goes by quickly. I retain some of my best windsurfing pictures ever from those sessions. I also remember that my heart too went off at a certain moment, I had been out the wind at died and had struggled quite a bit to get back. The it went back on full force and I was alone surfing big waves for almost half an hour … tbc