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Introducing the new Maui Windsurfing Online Store!Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 8:00 am HSTLooking for windsurfing gift ideas? Having a tough time finding windsurfing T-shirts? Check out these limited edition Maui Windsurfing products, available through CafePress. More cool stuff coming soon!
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Maui Race Series - More Video & PhotosMonday, July 30, 2007 at 12:00 pm HSTHere's more photos from Saturday's slalom racing at Kanaha.
And here's the second of the videos, featuring the "ability level" heats including pro, semi-pro and wave class. In the wave class, it's mostly about just having fun as you'll see folks like Kanza Stott, Norm and Bernd Roediger duck jibing, vulcaning and boomeranging around the jibe buoys. Here's the video:
I expected yesterday to be a bit squally due to an upper level low to our north but it turned out to be a beautiful day and the wind was pretty decent - 4.5 - 5.0 range for me in the afternoon. Since the racing is over for this year a lot of the racers were noticeably absent and Kanaha was a bit quieter than it's been the last few weeks. So far things are pretty light today. There's a mass of clouds passing over Maui and the Big Island making the north shore gray and cutting off the trade winds. Looking at satellite it looks like things may clear up later this afternoon. |
Maui Race Series Video 1Sunday, July 29, 2007 at 9:10 am HSTHere's the first of at least a couple of videos of yesterday's slalom racing action at Kanaha.
The action in the race series is broken up into morning and afternoon heats. Morning heats yesterday were age classes. Afternoon heats were ability levels. The action in this video is the morning age group heats, mostly the big boys. The next video will feature the afternoon heats including a huge wave gear fleet. Comments: Norah wrote: woohoo - if we can't be there at least we get a taste of the action watching your videos - much mahalo makani for posting these !!!! Makani wrote: Thanks Norah. Sorry you guys couldn't be here for it. Hope all is well up north. You can read a write-up of the action in the Maui News here. I'll probably have video of the afternoon heats up some time tomorrow. |
Maui Race SeriesSaturday, July 28, 2007 at 6:00 pm HSTStill lots of wind here on Maui. The last few days we've seen wind ranging from moderate to blasting - generally moderate in the morning and blasting in the afternoons. Today was the last race in this year's Maui Race Series. After 3 days of powered up sailing on my 4.5 when I should have been on 4.0 I decided to take a break and capture some of the action. Today was the state championship and it was a beautiful sunny day with strong wind to test the mettle of all of today's competitors. I got lots of video and photos which I'll be editing and publishing over the next few days. For now, here's a brief taste of the action today with two photos.
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Sunday, Monday, TuesdayWednesday, July 25, 2007 at 8:10 am HSTWow, I don't know where the time went the last few days. Just realized it had been a few days since I updated the blog. Sunday pretty much sucked. Went to Kanaha midday and it looked really light, like 6.0ish. Waited. Wind came up to 5.0 levels. Rigged. Went out. Wind dropped to 6.5 levels. Lots of slogging. Heard from several people the classic, "you shoulda been here 2 hours ago...." Missed Monday, but it was a beautiful sunny day and the wind readings looked good. Missed yesterday too, but I got a report from my wife who sailed Sprecks and Sugar Cove that ladies were on 3.2s and fully powered and guys were on 4.0s. Pretty windy. Hoping to get an early session in today. So far it looks like it's setting up for a classic summer trade wind day. |
Windsurfing VideosSunday, July 22, 2007 at 9:30 am HSTWhile I was at Hookipa the day other I also got a minute or two of video in addition to the photos I posted the other day. Here's a short sample of Hookipa summer waves:
For those of you jonesing for even more windsurfing videos to view online I've got a new source for you. A little while ago I was contacted by an avid reader of this site who also happens to be the founder of TotalVid.com. He invited me to review the windsurfing offerings that they have available. So over the last week or so I've played around with it, downloaded a few videos and I gotta say, I like it. If you're looking for lots of instructional windsurfing videos or just windsurfing action videos, these guys have over 50 that you can either download for purchase or download for a limited viewing time. Or you can purchase a subscription that allows for unlimited downloads. Pretty cool. I downloaded and watched "Wild Birds," a fairly new offering and the old classic, "Total Insanity." The only downside in my book is that it's currently only available for PCs, not Macs, but they assure me they're working on addressing that. So, looking for a little virtual windsurfing entertainment? Looking for some windurfing video instruction but don't want to commit to buying all those DVDs? Then check these guys out. With tropical depression Cosme passing to our south yesterday I was thinking it might be an ugly rainy day. But it turns out it was pretty decent. Winds started off pretty mellow, but by the afternoon things were cranking - 4.2 for me, pretty wound. With Cosme out of the picture now things should return to normal over the next few days. |
North Shore Waves in JulyFriday, July 20, 2007 at 6:40 pm HSTWe've had a pleasant surprise yesterday and today on the north shore with the appearance of rare summer waves on the north shore of Maui. This was totally unexpected for me as I sailed my 4.7 yesterday midday and found some small thigh-high waves at Uppers to play on. I hear that at Hookipa they were between head and logo high. Team Naish including Robby, Jacques Pauvert and Michi Schweiger and sail designer Nils Rosenblad were at Kanaha yesterday testing what looked to be some new race sails. Drag racing at mach speed, they drew a nice crowd of onlookers. Today brought an expectation for higher winds with the approach of tropical depression Cosme. As of this writing, Cosme is approaching the south end of the Big Island and the pressure gradient between the north pacific high and Cosme's low pressure center should boost the wind speeds a bit. With that expectation plus the draw of some waves I got on the water a little after 11:00am on 4.5. Wind was pretty gusty but the sail was about right. Waves were a bit bigger than yesterday with an occasional head high set at Uppers. The swell is a close period swell and bit junky by winter time standards but still a really nice treat this time of year. After exhausing myself on the water I headed up to check out Hookipa to see what was happening there. Pretty crowded for this time of year - lots of guys out in the waist- to head-high sets there. Didn't stick around long as there was a squall line headed down towards us, but I did manage to get a couple of photos.
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Where'd the Wind Go?Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at 6:30 pm HSTThings are still kind of weird here the last few days. We had a day of pretty strong wind yesterday. I sailed 4.5 pretty maxed out at Sugar Cove and I hear Kanaha was just as windy. Today was supposed to be a repeat, but the wind never really built to its normal summer levels. Instead, we saw pretty weak winds in the mid-teens. I ventured to Kanaha to check it out in the early afternoon but figured I'd need my biggest sail, 5.7, my biggest board and a fin combo and even that would be work with a lot of pumping. Pass! My wife sailed 5.5 late in the afternoon and wasn't overpowered a bit. That would translate to me needing a 6.5ish sail. Beautiful day though. If you had the big gear you'd be loving life cruising around. I should mention though that it looks like it was a bit windier in Kihei. Winds were north which makes Kihei work better. The Kihei graph looks like it was pretty up and down - typical for Kihei. One thing for sure. This last week proves that you can't guarantee 25-30 knots of wind every day during the summer time here in Maui like some people like to report. Former hurricane Cosme is falling apart rapidly and is now only a tropical depression that is expected to pass south of the islands Friday night and Saturday. We're expecting an increase in winds, due to a steepening pressure gradient, not from the storm itself, and a probable increase in rain, but how much rain we'll see here on Maui is unclear. |
Mixed BagMonday, July 16, 2007 at 6:50 pm HSTKind of a mixed bag of sailing these last few days and it's going to get even more mixed up in the coming days. I caught a brief lunch time session today in gusty, shifty 5.0 conditions. Skies were also pretty gray so it wasn't what I'd call a stellar session. As I left the beach around 1:00 it looked like things were clearing up, but looking at the Kanaha graph it looks like winds died and shifted onshore around 2:00. Not the conditions we expect this time of year on Maui. If all that weren't enough, it's looking like things are going to get even more messed up later this week. Things should clear up a bit tomorrow and Wednesday, but after that we've got another old cold front and low pressure system working it's way here which will make the atmosphere less stable (gusty) and more rainy. Finally there's hurricane Cosme (it's apparently a Greek name). Cosme is currently about 1700 miles ESE of us right now, but headed our way. You can track Cosme's path here. It's forecast to weaken to a tropical storm or tropical depression by the time it gets close, but it will no doubt affect our weather and our windsurfing. There's a couple of different scenarios depending if Cosme goes to our or our south. If it goes to our north, it will cut off the trade winds and we'll get an increase of rain. If it goes to our south, we'll see strong winds and probably a LOT of rain. Currently it's forecast to go to our south and it will likely start affecting us on Friday, but this weekend we'll definitely be seeing some weather changes that aren't that great for windsurfing. |
July Winds Stumble and FallSaturday, July 14, 2007 at 6:50 pm HSTWe've had a pretty long stretch of moderate to strong trade winds here on Maui - about 6 weeks straight of moderate trade winds by my reckoning. But winds yesterday and today faltered and dropped down into what I would call the light category. Let's start with yesterday. Yesterday I had high hopes of hitting Hookipa early, getting away from the crowds at Kanaha. Sadly the wind had other plans - Hookipa's morning and midday readings were in the low teens. By early afternoon it was reading in the mid-teens so I headed down to check it out. I've come to expect that Hookipa isn't very crowded in the summer time but as I arrived yesterday I found about a dozen guys on the water competing for a really pathetic teeny tiny little section of knee-high mush and about another dozen or more rigging or getting ready to launch. WTF! Sorry but sailing with 20 or 30 other people in a little 20 meter section of break isn't my idea of fun. To top it off, the wind was looking gusty so I bailed on that idea and headed down wind to check out Kanaha. At Kanaha I found what I expected, crowded park, crowded beach, crowded water. Ran across local sailor Sam and asked him how it was, to which he replied, "Shitty!" Another sailor reported 5.0ish conditions inside but HUGE holes. Ok. My inner windsurf snob exerted itself and I decided to pass. Today the wind actually got lighter, with typical readings most of the day in the mid-teens. I hear that women were using 5.0s - 5.4s. My inner summertime Maui snob just isn't ready to rig up a 5.7 this time of year. Winds were also very onshore, pretty rare for this time of year. We can likely blame a shear line (the trailing edge of a cold front) that's working its way down through the Hawaiian island chain. We typically see those quite a bit during the winter months but they're pretty rare this time of year. I can't really complain because the shear line brings with it a chance of some rain or showers and we're actually in a pretty bad drought here in Hawaii right now so it would be nice to get a bit of moisture. Anyway, the forecast is calling for showers tonight and tomorrow and that unsetttled conditions will persist through Monday or Tuesday so as windsurfers we can expect to see some atypical July conditions for the next couple of days. But if you're here on vacation, fear not, moderate to strong trades are forecast to return Tuesday or Wednesday.
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Summertime SprecksThursday, July 12, 2007 at 10:30 am HSTMore eagerly anticipated than the next Harry Potter book or movie, it's the next Maui Windsurfing video installment. In between sessions at Sprecks the other day I pulled out the video camera to give you guys out there a little taste of summer sailing at Sprecks. Wind was blowing in the 4.5 range for me, lots of people on the water out in front of the Sprecks launch as well as slightly upwind at the tiny break where you can see people milking the tiny summer waves for all their worth.  Summertime Sprecks Flash Player 7.0 MB
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SprecksTuesday, July 10, 2007 at 7:35 am HSTCouple of days off the water Sunday and Monday so I have no firsthand knowledge of conditions those days. My wife reported gusty 4.0 at Sugar Cove yesterday. Back on the water today and sailed pretty powered up 4.5 at Sprecks. Nice change of pace and scenery from Kanaha with some backside riding wind swell rolling in at Sprecks and some fun little waves in the small break between Sprecks and Sugar Cove that allowed for a few backside hits and even an occasional botttom turn. Pretty crowded there and at Sprecks proper though - about as crowded as I've ever seen Sprecks on a weekday. I shot a little bit of video during a break so I'll take a look at that tomorrow to see if it's any good. If so, look for that to get posted later in the week. As far as I can tell the forecast looks promising for continued trades for the foreseeable future though it's possible we may see some showery weather this weekend and an increase in wind, just in time for the next Maui Race Series slalom race on Saturday. |
Winds Back Off a BitSunday, July 8, 2007 at 7:50 am HSTWinds have backed down a bit over the last few days - still plenty of wind but not the nuclear conditions we've seen so much of this summer. They've also been a bit erratic, up and down, a bit gusty, depending on what time of day you sail. I sailed Friday morning from 11:00 to noon and had an awesome session at Uppers on my 4.7. Pretty steady wind, a litttle bit of backside riding. Later in the day I hear it got gustier though. Same situation yesterday. Early looked steadier. I got on the water early afternoon on 5.0. Wind was pretty funky - really gusty and shifty. But, a beautiful day to be on the water nonetheless. Got a comment from a reader in Holland. Joost writes: "Just a quick thank you on a very good website giving clear overview on maui wavesailing. I myself am from holland and always do windsurfing on the north sea. When to come is clear. My question is what on average can one expect on conditions when I come to Maui in September. Or is it better to stay away around that time of year. thx and keep up the good work! it is realy fun website! Joost." Hi Joost. Thanks for the comment. I've had pretty good luck in September usually. That time of year the wind might not blow every day and you might get 6.0 winds or you might get 4.0 winds. Basically you can expect that it will probably be a bit variable. You can also usually expect that September will bring the first waves on the north shore of the season. That's kind of hit and miss too, but in recent memory I've always gotten at least a day or two of good wave sailing in September. |
World's Most Boring Windsurfing VideoThursday, July 5, 2007 at 10:50 am HSTThis time of year on Maui it gets tough to write about Maui windsurfing. Pretty much windy every day - same old, same old - lather, rinse, repeat. At Sugar Cove the other day I pulled out the video camera just to give folks an idea of the uncrowded summer freeriding uvailable just upwind from Sprecks at Sugar Cove. No big names, no pros, just normal folks sailing back and forth.  Sugar Cove Flash Player 7.9 MB
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4th of JulyWednesday, July 4, 2007 at 10:40 am HSTNot much new and different to report here on Maui. Wind is still blowing daily. Still pretty strong at times. Monday was a bit up and down. Some people enjoyed it, some didn't. Kind of depended on timing. I opted for Sugar Cove yesterday. Wind was pretty up and down and offshore - 4.5 - 4.7 was the call. Beautiful day though and not many people up there, as opposed to Kanaha which is pretty crowded this week due to the holiday today. I took some photos and video yesterday, both of which are about as boring as you can get. Maybe I'll post them for those folks who complain in Windsurfing Magazine that there are too many wave sailing photos. As I was downloading the photos, I came across some that I took a few weeks ago at the Maui Race Series, so here's a couple of Matt Pritchard and one of 10 year old Bernd Roediger.
Lastly, a shout out to Ian from Australia who is counting down the hours until he comes here on vacation this Saturday. Good timing Ian. Looks like wind will continue through this week and into the weekend. Cheers! |
Forecast Wrong AgainSunday, July 1, 2007 at 7:00 pm HSTWell the forecasters were wrong again. They had predicted that the trades would mellow a bit this weekend. Ok, maybe things were mellow in the mornings, but both yesterday and today the winds went ballistic. Well, well powered 4.2 for me in the afternoon - 3.7 would have worked. I won't even bother trying to predict how strong the trades will be this week. Suffice it to say there will be wind. By my reckoning, we've had about 4 weeks straight of moderate to strong trade winds with 5.0 being the biggest sail I've had to rig (I think). Yesterday was another round of the Maui Race Series. Here's the results courtesy of the Maui Windsurfing Association: Name Division Sail # |
