Summer Fun

Sunday, July 27, 2008 at 5:30 pm HST

It's nice to be back in a more typical summer pattern. Eleven straight days of decent strength wind on the north shore by my count. After taking a couple of days off of sailing mid-week I hit the water again on Friday. 5.0 was the call and it was pretty a pretty typical wind swell, backside riding pattern up at Camp One.

Similar set up yesterday with 5.0 the call again. Got the early afternoon session and was done sailing by 2:00. After I got off the water the winds kicked into the upper 20s.

Early session again today, but the winds were a little stronger initially, with 4.7 the call. The north east trades we've had for the last several days seemed to kick up the wind swell a bit today. Some nice fun stuff to play in at Camp One. Seems like the wind swell continues to be a better direction this summer than normal - you can get a down the line bottom turn or two at Uppers and Camp One. Usually is just backside riding all summer long, but for some reason we're getting a little extra bonus this summer.

Looks like the early shift got rewarded with the best conditions today. Finished up my session by 2:00 and it looks like the wind tanked around 2:30. Hang around Maui long enough and you'll hear all kinds of theories about what time of day the best wind can be found. A lot of people will say that the best wind is after 3:00 or 4:00. Personally I don't buy into any of that. Today is proof that the best wind was early. Other days it will be better later. It just depends on the day. Just glad I got lucky the last few days and timed it right.

Summer Winds are Back

Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 8:40 am HST

More normal Maui summer winds have returned over the past several days and the small sails in our quivers are getting some action.

After light to moderate winds on the weekend, stronger winds kicked in on Monday allowing me to break out the 4.7 for some nicely powered up sailing up at Camp One. Along with abnormal wind speeds this summer, we've seen some better than usual swell on the north shore and that has continued this week. The wind swell has had a little more northerly component to it, so the waves have been more sailable down the line than they usually are in the summer. They're not up to winter standards, but the ability to get a couple of bottom turns and cutbacks in the summer on the north shore at Kanaha has been a lot of fun. Not to mention the juicy ramps that the swell has been offering. Lots of fun!

Winds got a little more erratic on Tuesday with some periods of blasting winds and some lighter periods. This was due to the occasional showers that were passing through the north shore. I got to the beach and it looked a little lighter than the day before so I rigged 5.0. By the time I got ready to launch, it was blasting 4.0. But, looking up wind, it was obvious that this was squall-induced so I just had to wait for 10 minutes for it to back down, which it did. After that, 5.0 was about right, perhaps even a bit light towards the end, but there was those fun little waves to play in at Uppers, so it made for another fun session.

Winds kicked it up another notch again yesterday. I opted to take the day off and give my body a rest, but Karen reported sailing overpowered on her 3.7 and that guys my size were on 4.2s.

Looks like the overall pattern is good for trade winds to continue for the next several days, just a matter of whether they're blasting or somewhat more mellow. Either way, the hordes of visiting windsurfers here on vacation should be getting their money's worth this week.

Slalom Racing Video

Monday, July 22, 2008 at 10:20 am HST

Slalom racing in light and flukey conditions in the Maui Fin Company Open in the 2008 Maui Race Series at Kanaha.

Slalom Racing Video

While most of the pros are off in Fuerteventura right now, a few pro level sailors still competed on Saturday, including Phil McGain, Peter Bijl and Peter Slate. Light winds meant that the only ones who really liked the racing on Saturday were the lighter weight guys.

Maui Slalom Series Photos

Saturday, July 19, 2008 at 7:30 pm HST

Another day of the Maui Race Series at Kanaha today. A few photos:

I'll throw together a quick video of what I got today and have it up in a day or two.

Winds were a little flukey both yesterday and today and still a bit on the light side but sailable so we won't complain. Still some out of season waves at Uppers yesterday but not much out there today.

Winds may slack off a bit more tomorrow then pick up again on Monday.

Trade Winds Have Returned!

Thursday, July 17, 2008 at 8:30 pm HST

Respectable trade winds returned to the north shore today and brought with them a surprise guest, some funky, but fun waves at Uppers!

The wind got off to a slow and shaky start today as clouds and showers assaulted the north shore. But by lunch time the clouds were clearing and the winds were building. By the time I got to the beach around 1:30, Kanaha was pretty crowded with windsurfers finally getting what they came here for. Most crowded I've seen Kanaha outside of a race day in awhile. I guess the summer crowds are back.

Conditions were pretty good compared to what we've been seeing for the last three weeks. 5.3/85 was about right most of the time. The wind was a bit up and down and got a bit flukey when it switched offshore for awhile, but overall it was fairly strong and consistent.

I haven't figured out where the out of season waves came from. These were different from the usual summer time wind swell that breaks up at Camp One. There was more of a north component to them so you could actually get a couple of down the line turns on some of them. Most were in the waist- to shoulder-high range and pretty short period. But hey, this July. We're lucky to get even that here on Maui in July.

So, everyone I talked to was pretty stoked about the day's sailing. Also in attendance were the Goya guys, Francisco Goya, Josh Stone and others out doing a photo shoot of some new Goya sails up at Camp One. The new Goyas are looking quite a bit different from last year's - they looked pretty sweet.

Perhaps the best news is that it looks like the trade winds will stick around for at least several more days. The potential fly in the ointment is they might get soggy at times. But hey, the overall pattern is a good strong trade wind pattern, more typical of July in Maui, so we're all happy here about that.

Trade Winds Wimp Out Again

Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 6:30 pm HST

After Sunday's nice surprise, the trade winds got stingy again the last three days with anemic winds on the north shore and only marginal winds in Kihei.

By lunchtime today it looked like we might get a chance to sail today as Kanaha started showing readings around 20. Full of irrational optimism we dashed down to Sprecks only to find the wind had dropped about 6 or 7 knots. A fair number of windsurfers were in various states of relaxation at Sprecks, rigged gear lying about, but only two or three intrepid sailors out slogging around in the light onshore breeze.

The good news is that it really does look like stronger, more typical Maui trade winds should start returning tomorrow or Friday.

This just in. An update on Greg Thomas, Kanaha's very own PWA slalom rookie. Capt. Greg is one of Kanaha's regulars and he's taking off this summer to sail on the PWA tour. He's prominantly featured in the Speed Racer video. Sounds like Greg had an argument with his boom out on the water at Fuerteventura today. Check out Greg's blog to read more. Best of luck on a speedy recover Greg!

Sunday Smiles

Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 4:45 pm HST

After several more days of light winds on the north shore and a forecast for even lighter winds today, the winds today defied the forecast and kicked it up a notch or two from what we've been seeing.

Winds on Maui the last few days continued their abnormally light trend with super light winds on the north shore and Kihei being the only place with moderately sailable winds by Maui standards.

My expectations for today were pretty low considering all the forecast data was calling for light sea breezes. But as often happens, the forecasters didnt' know what they were talking about and by late morning, Kanaha's average readings were in the upper teens and even hitting 20ish. So, after waiting a couple of reading to make sure it wasn't a fluke, we headed down.

Turned out to be a pretty fun day, nicely powered up on 5.3 with some small wind swell at Uppers and Camp One. Everyone coming off the water was smiling considering the pathetic conditions we've seen the last two or three weeks. So, nice to be nicely powered up again.

What will the next few days bring? Who know. The forecasters are calling for light winds to continue through Wednesday. Will those light winds be "light" 5.3 like today or light 7.0 like the last few days? We'll just have to wait and see and keep an eye on it. The forecasters are also saying that more typical trade wind conditions are setting up to return later in the week on Thursday. We'll see...

Sad Summer

Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 8:00 pm HST

Maui's sad summer of abnormally light trade winds continues. Another very light day of winds yesterday. Even Kihei couldn't muster decent Maui sailing conditions. Conditions on the north shore improved ever so slightly today with onshore winds in the mid-teens. That was enough to get some people out on the water at Kanaha on their biggest gear, but still too light for most of us with a typical Maui quiver.

Normally when people ask me when they should come to Maui on their windsurfing vacation, I tell them if they want guaranteed wind and aren't worried about not having waves, then July is their month. It's just a no-brainer. July in Maui is supposed to blow 25 knots every day, and my sailing logs pretty much back that up for the past several years at least.

The forecasters keep saying "light to moderate trades will continue". I don't know what they're smoking to think we've got "moderate" trade winds anywhere. Maybe they think 14 mph is moderate. That's just pathetically light in my book.

Even the north Pacific synoptic feature map shows the sad state of things. Low pressure systems, troughs and meager gradient lines create a sad face of the mean ogre who is preventing our trade winds from blowing...

The Windsurfing Movie - July 15th Premier in Hollywood

Monday, July 7, 2008 at 5:30 pm HST

Gonna be in southern California on July 15? Make plans to check out The Windsurfing Movie at the X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival. I've written about this movie a couple of times here already. Simply put. It's awesome! Looks like admission is free. Take advantage of an opportunity to see some great windsurfing (much of it shot on Maui), up on the big screen.

Wind here the last couple of days is still very atypical. Yesterday we had light onshore winds at Kanaha, not really enough for me and my borrowed 5.7 My wife had a good time on her 5.0 and big floaty board though. Today was super light with winds at or below 10 mph on the north shore. Kihei again had the best readings, but it was even relatively light there.

How Bizarre!

Saturday, July 5, 2008 at 6:30 pm HST

Pretty bizarre conditions for Maui in July the last few days. Light north winds persisted this last week, meaning the strongest winds were in Kihei. Talked to a visiting Japanese windsurfer who sailed Kihei on Thursday on his 5.3. He was probably 30 or 40 lbs lighter than me, so that would have been meant 5.7 conditions for me.

I kept a close eye on the wind sensors yesterday. Kihei had pretty decent readings in the mid-20s, but I wasn't desperate enough to to sail Kihei yet so that wasn't calling my name. Speedy went over sailed his 5.9 race gear though at Maui Sunset, to it was powered up 5.0ish sailing up till about 4.00 when it looks like it ramped up another 5 - 10 knots.

Kanaha and Hookipa had readings in the upper teens. Normally I need average readings of about 19 or 20 to make a 5.3 work at either place. Jazz called up at some point trying to convince me to go to Hookipa because we've had a rare out of season north shore swell running since about Tuesday or Wednesday. With readings of about 16 or 17 I didn't think it would work for me so I declined. Turns out that was a mistake. Jazz later reported that it was shoulder- to head-high and he had a lot of fun on his 4.7 (I've got about 40lbs on Jazz, so it would have been 5.3 for me). Pretty crowded apparently though. Also heard that Sugar Cove and Sprecks were "spectacular" yesterday. Guess that goes to show if you rely too much on the wind sensors, you're going to miss a few days.

Sailed Sugar Cove and Sprecks today. All indicators pointed to lighter conditions today than yesterday. But, by late morning, the Kanaha sensor was reading 20. Given that it was a race day and a holiday weekend we opted to avoid the crowds and headed to Sugar Cove.

Got to Sugar Cove a little after 11:00 and it was blowing a solid 5.0 to 5.3. I opted for 5.3 - I just couldn't believe that after so many days of light wind it would stay strong or get stronger. Turns out that the 5.0 would have been plenty and 4.7 would have worked at times. It was a bit gusty and shifty but it was great to be powered up and on the water.

Looked like Spartans was breaking so I headed upwind to check it out. Turns out the angle just wasn't setting up for down the line sailing but there were some really good head-high backside rides.

Went in to Secrets to check that out. Not really setting up there either. So, headed back downwind to Sprecks to check it out. Sprecks was maybe waist-high at best but it wasn't setting up very well there for down the line either. All in all though, today turned out to be a pretty fun day of sailing.

The forecast is saying it's supposed to get pretty light tomorrow and Monday. After today though, I'm not sure I can put much stock in the forecast. July sailing in Maui is usually just autopilot sailing. I can usually just figure that it's going to be 4.5 +/- everyday. But, it's keeping us all guessing this year. And I'm not sure which is more bizarre, super light wind in July or north shore swell in July. Climate change? Anomalies? Who knows. Bizarre? Definitely!

Wimpy Winds

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 at 5:20 pm HST

After a promising start, turns out the trade winds wimped out again, especially on the north shore. Early readings around 13 mph turned out to be the best Kanaha could do and it was all downhill from there.

Kihei had the strongest winds and were probably sailable at times with readings in the low 20s (Kihei sensor reads about 5mph high in my experience).

So another July day with winds more like January. Maybe tomorrow...

Trades Returning

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 at 10:30 am HST

After three days of super light winds here on Maui it looks like trade winds may be starting their power-up sequence to come back on line. Readings are still too light to sail this morning but the direction, NE, is better and the averages are actually in the low teens. Both good signs that the trade winds are coming back. Hopefully Maui will work it's magic and we'll get some sailable conditions a little later today.

The forecast is calling for trades to build today and tomorrow but still be on the lighter side of normal. Pretty weird to have such light wind in the dead of summer on Maui.