Previously on MauiWindsurfing…
In our previous episode, Hookipa was a trashy mess and most of the Hookipa regulars were down the coast at Kanaha or even further downwind – everyone trying to find the best place to maximize the fun factor on the bumpy northwest swell.
I arrived at Kanaha fairly early on Friday and pulled in to the Uppers parking lot next to Jason Polakow rigging up a brand new chartreuse 2010 prototype (4.7 I think). I commented to him, “Hookipa must suck again, huh?” To which he replied, “Yeah, it’s a blown out mess, real bumpy…” Super nice guy, by the way. Real friendly and approachable to anyone who chatted him up.
By the time I had checked out the conditions and decided to rig 5.0, JP was back to rig another sail to test (this one was chartreuse and salmon in color – if they keep these colors, Neil Pryde will handily win the Most Creative Use of the Color Wheel in Sail Design Award in 2010). His report was that the 4.7 was plenty.
His assessment was spot on. The 5.0 was pretty wound for me. The wind was pretty offshore and super gusty. The waves were pretty weird and bumpy, but there were some pretty fun ones once in awhile. A lot of people didn’t have anything positive to say about the sailing, but I had a really fun time.
Turns out several others of Team Pryde showed up at Kanaha to test their new color schemes, I mean sails, including Robby Swift and Peter Bijl. As they were discussing the sails, I was able to overhear a few of their technical assessments. I probably shouldn’t leak these out there, but what the hell. Just remember, you heard it here first. Apparently, the chartreuse and salmon combo has better top end than the plain chartreuse sail. Something about the Omega-3 fatty acids in the salmon I guess.
If the conditions were a bit technical and weird on Friday, they got even more bizarre on Saturday. While Friday had some intermittent fun waves in with the mess, Saturday’s waves were just bumpy and ugly at Kanaha. The wind was a bit lighter but just as gusty and offshore. Still kinda fun for some reason. I guess it just feels good to be out sailing under sunny blue skies in January. I hear from Jazz that Hookipa was actually kind of fun, despite still looking pretty gnarly and ugly.
Yesterday the winds decided to go seriously offshore. I went down to the beach without very high expectations. Whitecaps were difficult to find inside the reef, but the wind was plenty strong outside. Lots of swimming and cursing and hula required to get out to the wind line. To me, it just didn’t look worth the effort. I stood on the beach chatting with Peter Thommen and we both decided we weren’t desperate enough to bother. Peter made a comment to the effect that it would be better if were to all go home and bake cookies rather than bother with sailing in these conditions. I don’t necessarily think it was that bad – I think Peter was just craving some cookies. Karen and Rebecca went out on 4.5 and 4.2 respectively and had a great time.
Winds went ultra light today all over as our high pressure ridge once again has been pushed down on top of us by an approaching cold front. We should start getting some rain from this cold front tonight and through tomorrow. Looks like trade winds may return by Thursday or Friday, though at this point, they’re looking a bit on the light side still
