Child vs. Wild

Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 4:40 pm HST

Got another guest submission today. This one comes from Team Naish rider Bernd Roediger in a send-up of the Discovery Channel's Man vs. Wild, called Child vs Wild. Thanks to Norm and Bernd for sending that along.

Landed back on the rock this afternoon only to find that the cold rainy weather we thought we were leaving behind in San Francisco is now here on Maui. In a cruel twist of irony, we took off from San Francisco this morning under beautiful sunny skies and arrived to winter weather - gray skies, cold temperatures - rain and even snow. Yes snow. The summit of Haleakala has snow. Apparently there's an upper level low above us stirring up a pot of unsettled wintery weather in the islands.

Still good to be back on Maui. It's at least 20 degrees warmer and it's great to get out of the stark city to the open green countryside and away from the traffic and congestion of the city. I think there's a general trade wind pattern established so it should be sailable the next few days, though it might be a bit wet and gusty.

Guest Sailing Report

Tuesday, January 29, 2008 at 3:30 pm HST

Still in San Francisco today but I got an email report from Speedy:

"Sunday was the best day in a long time. Not trying to make you feel bad. Really! Swell came from who knows where, and the outer, outer reef was really going off. Kinda weird that it was so good outside, and still confused and muddled inside. I heard Hookipa was really sucky. Ended up on the 4.5 way powered up. Monday was a washout for me. some folks had fun, but I kept missing the window of opportunity while I spent too much time rigging new sails and seeing that the conditions had changed again while I was rigging. Not worth the aggravation and cold, squally weather."

Thanks Speedy! Looks like the wind should stick around for a few more days, so I'll be looking forward to getting off the plane, driving a mile to Kanaha and hitting the water tomorrow afternoon. After 5 cold, dreary days in San Francisco, I can't wait to get back to the islands!

KP Gaastra Photos

Monday, January 28, 2008 at 8:15 pm HST

Ok, full disclosure... I'm actually off-island right now in San Francisco at a business conference so I have no first hand knowledge of what the sailing has been like since Thursday - though looking at the iWindsurf graphs it looks like it's been pretty gusty. So, since I have no good data on sailing the last few days, here's some pics of KP on his new Gaastra's at Hookipa last week, plus a few others...

I'll be back on island Wednesday afternoon, hopefully getting off the plane and heading straight to the beach to get some sailing in. Meanwhile, enjoy the photos.

KP Gaastra Video

Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 7:00 am HST

Well I guess it's official since Kevin has posted it on his blog. Here's fresh video of KP on his new Gaastras at Hookipa a couple of days ago...

KP Goes Gaastra

Comments

Sweet Video!!! Thanks.. KP

Hookipa Video January 22

Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 8:15 pm HST

Just finished slapping together the first video from Hookipa yesterday. Notable sailors in this video include Kauli Seadi (riding the NP shown below), NP team mate Robby Swift, Francisco Goya of Goya sails and boards, Jason Diffin, sail designer for Goya, Michi Schweiger from Team Naish, Luke Siver and probably a couple of others I'm forgetting. Noticably missing from this video but also in attendance yesterday, was Kevin Pritchard riding on his new sails. I'm holding off showing any of that until the official announcement is made about it in the next couple of days. Keep an eye on Kevin's blog for that, but I'll have photos and video of KP posted sometime Friday or Saturday probably. Meanwhile, enjoy this video for now:

Hookipa January 22

Word for today's wind was "gnarly" as quoted by Speedy. By the time I wrapped up work enough to head down to the beach, I saw a steady parade of nasty squalls and rain marching down the north shore. In my experience that means nasty, gusty, frustrating conditions, so bailed on the sailing today. Speedy reported super gnarly, gusty, bumpy conditions when I spoke with him about his early afternoon session at Kanaha. Later in the afternoon it just got crazy. Yesterday the forecasters were saying that the winds would lighten up today. On hearing that, I somewhat jokingly told my wife that it would no doubt nuke today. Sure enough, afternoon wind speeds spiked up into the 30s for both averages and gusts from about 2pm to 4pm. Score one for the contrarian forecasting approach.

A few more photos from yesterday ...

Comments:

hi makani, thanks for the pics (the last ones are my humble self). by the way, some of the other rippers out there on your video are laurent guillemin, jason diffin (ex designer of simmer, now Goya). keep up the good work! aloha, pascal

Hookipa Today Photos

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at 9:15 pm HST

Finally caught some fresh action - photos and video - at Hookipa today. Here's a few quick photos, Francisco Goya checking for adequate sprayage, unknown Maui Sails rider and Luke Siver shredding a small wave. Nothing epic as far as waves go today. Guess the forecast swell didn't materialize or it had too much west in it. Still a few head high sets though. More photos and video coming in the next few days.

Consistency

Monday, January 21, 2008 at 7:00 pm HST

The windsurfing theme on Maui yesterday and today has to be consistency. Yesterday's wind at Kanaha was the model of consistency, with nice steady 4.7 - 5.0 wind for most guys, 4.0 - 4.2 for the ladies most of the day. Beautiful, sunny day, no squalls at all. Waves were mostly weak and meager but there was an occasnional shoulder-high set at Uppers. You just had to be patient. There were lots of ramps though and it was perfect backlooping conditions.

Today we hit the other end of the consistency spectrum with massive swings in wind from anywhere in the mid-teens to the upper 20s at Kanaha. Hookipa looked just as erratic. So, despite high hopes of hitting Hookipa and Kanaha today, it just didn't seem worth the cost of admission (gas spent getting to the beach). The weather guys are saying the atmosphere is pretty unstable and there were numerous showers along the north shore today, so I assume that was the cause of the erratic nature of the wind today. From what I can tell, the atmosphere is supposed to stabilize a bit tomorrow and Wednesday.

Finally!

Sunday, January 20, 2008 at 8:45 am HST

After a two week hiatus I finally got back on the water yesterday. Trade winds finally kicked in with some decent wind speeds for the most powered up sailing so far this year. The wind came up pretty early, but I didn't get on the water until about 12:30, with 5.0 and 85L. Wind was pretty offshore so it was a bit of a slog to get to the wind line but once there it was powered up. Felt great to be powered up again after no sailing or just slog and surfing so far this year.

Wind ended up being kind of gusty most of the day with super light conditions inside the reef and strong winds outside. Waves were decent at Uppers, nothing huge or epic but some fun stuff to play in. Relatively speaking the conditions were pretty average but I was pretty stoked just to get out.

The Hookipa report that I got was that the waves were pretty good - up to mast-high sets, but that the wind was really light and offshore there too. Apparently a lot of pros out training and testing their gear.

It looks like moderate trade winds should stick around through the upcoming week and that we have some moderate level surf rolling in too. With the next swell arriving late tonight and peaking tomorrow I'll try to get my fix in and also get down to Hookipa at least once in the next few days to get some fresh video to supply everyone else's virtual windsurfing fix.

Low Wind Lowdown

Friday, January 18, 2008 at 8:45 am HST

Light winds are still dominating here on Maui this week. Super light winds on Tuesday, but both yesterday and Wednesday late in the afternoon, winds came up into the upper teens. No doubt sailable for guys with big slalom gear or guys who want to slog and surf - but realistically for me it meant 6.2 conditions to be powered up and my biggest sail is a 5.7. I'm really going to have to consider getting a 6.2 this year for these light wind winter days.

Today looks like it will probably follow the same pattern as the last two days, but it looks like we should start seeing increasing winds starting tomorrow and lasting for a few days.

Onshore Kanaha Blues

Tuesday, January 15, 2008 at 9:45 am HST

It was another day of onshore conditions yesterday. Hookipa was a sloppy mess, so most Hookipa regulars showed up to sail Lowers at Kanaha. Wind was pretty light - I would've needed a 6.2 to be powered. Wind was onshore and there were some pretty big sets. Here's a quick video I slapped together. The vantage point for shooting at Lowers is pretty crappy - it's pretty far away and you can't avoid getting sails in the way of the action you're trying to film. But if you look closely you'll spot Matt Pritchard (sailing without his sail numbers) and Junko Nagoshi.

Onshore Kanaha Blues

Winds are looking even lighter today so far. Still worth keeping an eye on - you never know when Maui will work some magic and boost it up a notch.

Transition Day

Sunday, January 13, 2008 at 7:00 pm HST

Hopefully today was a transition day. For the past week we've been in a pattern of light and variable wind. There was one exception, a small 2 or 3 hour window on Friday afternoon when the wind came up to the upper teens on the north shore, but aside from that it's been less than 10 mph most of the time.

Today we got a shear line passing over the islands, which usually means rain, clouds and strong north winds in Kihei and light winds on the north shore. Today, it meant clouds, some light rain, not really that strong in Kihei and pretty whimpy on the north shore. I hear through the coconut telegraph that S-Turns on the west side was the place to be, with lots of Hookipa regulars trekking out there to catch the north winds and the northwest swell. From what I heard it was in the 5.0 range +/- for guys, head-high increasing to logo-high.

The winds are supposed to clock around to regular trade wind direction by Tuesday but by Wednesday it looks like they might get light again. As for waves, we've got a ginormous north swell pumping in right now - high surf warning 25 - 35 foot faces predicted. It was big enough for the Eddie Aikau Invitational on O'ahu but they didn't run it due to the stormy conditions.

Hookipa 2008 Video Debut Part Deux

Wednesday, January 9, 2008 at 5:45 pm HST

Here's part deux of the opening day of the 2008 wave season at Hookipa. Featured riders in this one include Robby Naish, Kevin Pritchard (probably the last video you'll see of KP on a Maui Sails sail, since it was announced today that they're splitting up), Levi Siver, Michi Schweiger, Kai Lenny, Leo Ray and Francisco Goya.

Hookipa 2008 Debut Part Deux

Still super light wind here the last few days. Kind of a shame since there's a high surf warning right now. Surf along north facing shores will be 20 to 25 feet this afternoon, reaching 25 to 30 feet tonight. Surf will remain at 25 to 30 feet Thursday.

Winds are forecast to return this weekend, possibly on Saturday, but I think Sunday is more likely - just in time to coincide with another big swell. That should mean more new video coming next week.

More Hookipa Photos

Monday, January 7, 2008 at 7:00 pm HST

Not much to sailing to report from yesterday or today. Winds have been light and even dead calm at times. Looks like a few more days of that. Meanwhile, some more photos from last week at Hookipa. New video coming in the next day or two.

Hookipa 2008 Video Debut Part 1

Sunday, January 6, 2008 at 8:45 am HST

Ok, here's the first full length Hookipa video of 2008. Riders include Robby Naish, Kevin Pritchard, Levi Siver, Michi Schweiger, Camille Juban, Graham Ezzy, Leo Ray and Keith Teboul. More coming in a few days...

Hookipa 2008 Debut Part 1

Yesterday's sailing turned out to be the best day I've had in a couple of weeks, certainly the most powered up I've been in awhile. The wind turned super offshore so it was super light on the inside at Kanaha. Definitely windier on the outside though. 5.3 and medium wave board was the call. Wind was a little sketchy until about 2:00 when it kicked in for some nice powered up sailing. Still some fun waves too. Uppers was a pretty consitent head- to logo-high.

Winds this morning have gone nearly calm just as the forecasts have predicted. Might be a few days before the wind comes back, but I'll post more photos and video from last Thursday at Hookipa over the next few days.

Hookipa 2008 Debut Photos

Friday, January 4, 2008 at 7:15 pm HST

Got a few photos at Hookipa yesterday in addition to video. First set features Kevin Pritchard, Michi Schweiger and I'm not sure who the other guy on the Naish sail is (Mark Angulo possibly). I see him at Hookipa a lot. Anyone know who he is? I don't see him on the Naish team page.

Got on the water at Kanaha again today with 5.7 and big wave board. Went to Lowers initially. Some pretty clean waves there but like the past two days I've been out, they just don't seem to have much umph to them. Wind came up so I thought I'd head up to Uppers. Got up there and found bigger waves, pretty clean, but still lacking much drive. Still, gotta appreciate getting out and sailing at all this time of year on Maui. Looks like one more day of trades then they back off. Look for the next Hookipa video installment some time this weekend.

Comments:

it's mark angulo i think
Nico

You could be right. Makes sense since he's on an Angulo board. Thanks Nico!
Makani

Hookipa's Back!

Thursday, January 3, 2008 at 9:00 pm HST

After a couple of weeks of marginal conditions, Hookipa made it's 2008 debut today with logo- to mast-high sets and a cast of windsurfing's elite ripping it up, including Robby Naish, Kevin Pritchard and Levi Siver. Here's a sneak peak at some of the action. More to come in the next several days.

Hookipa 2008 Debut

I stopped by Kanaha today hoping to sail since there was a definite increase in the waves. At 1:00 though the wind was super light. So, I thought I'de head up the coast to Hookipa and see what conditions were like there. Rounding the corner on Hana Highway after Mama's Fish House I caught a glimpse of sails on the water and a mast high set. Excellent! Hookipa's back!

I spent the next hour and half shooting video and photos. The waves were actually a bit spotty - some nice logo and mast high sets, but there were long periods between sets when there was nothing. It was great to see some of the regular Hookipa crowd out ripping it up when the sets were firing though.

Looks like the wind came up at Kanaha while I was at Hookipa, so those with the patience to stick around or the timing to show up late in the day probably scored. Looks like we get a couple more days of light trade winds like we've had, then on Sunday things could turn light SE or variable.

Crappy Little Kanaha Video

Wednesday, January 2, 2008 at 8:20 pm HST

The first two days of 2008 have brought "real world" sailing conditions to Maui - light onshore wind and choppy, sloppy waves. New Year's Day was pretty sketchy. Not content to sit around the house and watch parades and football, we opted to head to the beach despite marginal wind speeds in the mid-teens. There were some small waves at Lowers and it wasn't really windy enough to plane much on my 5.7 and floaty wave board but I went for the slog and surf session anyway. Pretty weak wind and waves but it was still good to be out on the water.

Desparate to get some fresh video I headed to Hookipa first today. Arrived at 1:00 to find no surfers out, some marginal waves, several kiters and one lone windsurfer slogging his way in. There weren't even any other windsurfers in the parking lot so it was obvious that there wasn't going to be any fresh Hookipa video today so I headed down the coast to Kanaha.

Kanaha didn't really look that inviting so I thought, what the hell, let's get some video of some crappy onshore conditions to show the world that Maui doesn't always have epic wave sailing every day of the year. Just a warning; the video is pretty lame. Only watch it if you're stuck at your desk at work and it's freezing outside and you're really desparate.

Crappy Little Kanaha Video

What you see in the video is the sloppy onshore waves at Lowers. The slalom sailing is shot inside the reef at Uppers. Got a little bit of footage of the up and coming hot new slalom star on the PWA slalom circuit, US-808, Greg Thomas. Greg's a Maui local who will be dishing it out on the tour this year in the Canaries and other slalom tour stops. Watch for him to lay on some serious pressure to Antoine, Micah, Kevin et al this season. Go Greg!