Wednesday, January 31, 2007

the best watching session ever

That's what everybody sitting on the hill between Hookipa and Lanes said today.

It was blowing like crazy for the third day in a row. Windy, very windy someone will say later in this post.
The windsurfers were killing it. Still, many long swims and a few rockstars (good job, Dave).
It was the... can we call it "usual"?... show of a day of super strong Kona at Lanes with big waves.
Then a few surfers showed up at Hookipa and that made the show even better.

And then we saw him.

He went out at Kuau. Now, have you seen those waves at Kuau in my yesterday's post? Today, they were just like yesterday.
In the mist of the huge spray we could see a human figure standing up on a board and paddling through those waves.
No one even wondered for a second who he was... there's only a man that can do that. He made it out and came downwind to Lanes and Hookipa to catch a few.
I've seen him already in strong wind catching waves here and there during a downwind run, but this time he stopped there and kept surfing for more than an hour. Standing up on his 14 feet x 25 inches standup gun. In gusts up to 50 knots.

That Laird is a freak...

That's why we're gonna start today's photo show with him.
Here, get this!


Look at that stance!


Wardog's favorite.


Can you see how windy it is? You got to be kidding me!!!


43 more photos (Laird, windsurfers and surfers) here.

Here's a little action video. If you can't see it here, try here.

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


And here's a little interview to the most famous windsurfer in the world.
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Robby Naish.
If you can't see it here, try here.

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If you guys liked the post and feel like sharing it with some of your friends, please do so. The more people read this blog, the more motivated I am to keep investing so much time and energy into it. Thanks.

25 comments:

Sharon said...

I've been insanely teased by driving past Hoo' to appointments at 5pm the last two afternoons. So thanks for the photo's, interviews & video - unfrickin' believable.

cammar said...

Watcha doing still up so late?
Checking your favorite blog? ;-)
Sweet Kona dreams...

Anonymous said...

Unbelieveable...nature's anarchy at it's finest. Fantastic Kona report, Cammer, I'm busily forwarding your blog to all the stokie's I know!
This Laird is a reeel braveheart warrior...the other pro's as well, of course!
Great job recovering from boom test/ drinking beer/ taking these amazing action shots!Cheers!
What about Micchio, still out testing boards ?

Anonymous said...

Hey Giampaolo,

Each day you outdo yourself with your blog entries. Keep up the stoke, brah! You have a couple of incredible shots, too! I want more, more, more. Intoxicate me again!

WOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Giampaolo,

thanks so much for letting us see this glorious sick shit. No need to read the surf mags any more if one knows your blog.

Andreas

Anonymous said...

Completely and totally awesome.


Robby is still one of the best.

Dig this ...

www.naish.tv

Click on 'windsurfing'

Then...

'Robby Naish at Secrets'.

- Josh

Anonymous said...

Very cool reports... especially the "afte session interviews" we want more ;-)

Anonymous said...

holly shit balls, just when you think it could not get any better!!! I could not believe it yesterday!!! I too (like sharon) had shit I could not get out of, but I caught 5 minutes at the top of lanes and then had to peel my own fingers from the railings to leave. Thanks for keeping us updated.

Anonymous said...

whoooauuu ... grande Giampaolo !
number one ... questa è la grandezza di chi ha le passioni nella vita e le ama condividere con gli altri .... queste sono le figate di chi sa davvero usare internet ... favoloso ... super conditions...kona wind ...il mito robby naish ... il più stiloso levi siver... il più forte polakow.... thanks for all this ! keep posting over and over ... ciaoooo

Anonymous said...

Keep up the good work.
No the very very very good work ;-)
I like your stuff!

USA-4 Steve Bodner said...

awesome content- keep it up
steve
www.stevebodner.blogspot.com

PeconicPuffin said...

Wonderful, just wonderful. Thanks so much. What amazing footage!

Korey said...

How fit is that guy.

Fifty knots and he is on a stand up surf board,, no way.

There goes any excuse about not going surfing because the wind is in to it.

Does Laid ever windsurf any more??

Great photos that has totally made my day.

Cheers

Anonymous said...

Wow, this entry completely blew me away (as the Kona winds must have done to some other people). Insane, Robby Naish is still King! And Laird? Are we sure he is human???

cammar said...

Wow!
Thank you guys for your enthusiastic comments. It's a pleasure to read stuff like this in return to my efforts of sharing paradise...
I'll try to give a quick reply to everyone... but don't get used to it!
First, let me recommend to stay tuned, because I still haven't posted the two best photos of the best watching session ever.
And today I took another bunch.
But, no time to sort photos out tonight.

Chris, if you mean Michi Schweiger, he's always testing boards and sails for Naish. He doesn't have a bad job.

Ely, as I just said, just be patient... there's more intoxication coming...

Anonymous, thanks for the definition:"glorious sick shit".

Josh, thanks for the pointer.
What do you think about surf magazines being killed by blogs? I think there's still a thrill in turning the pages of a real magazine... specially if you know there's pictures of you! ;-)
(it happens to me pretty much every month on the italian magazine Windnews I work for...)
But, for sure the internet can give you such an immediateness that a magazine will never have. They're both good.

Ben, my pleasure.

Anonymous, I don't want to push that too much, because I don't want to get to the point where the sailors will turn the other way when walk by...
But I promise more...
Maybe one day they will go after me, instead...
Robby Naish:"hey GP, would you please ask me a few questions? I need it for my sponsor..."

Meesh, thanks for the expression:"holly shit balls".

Anonymous, e' vero. Se sai usare internet, e' una figata galattica...
I hope internet is going to save the world one day. I don't trust politicians as much...

Anonymous, thanks very very very much.

Steve, I love the way you attach photos on your blog.
I've never really ridden anything like a race board. Maybe one day.

Michael, thank you so much.

Korey, I had to google Geraldton Coast to find out where it was... western Australia, uh? It should be windy over there...
Anyway, I've never seen Laird sailing in 6 years that I'm here. But that doesn't mean he doesn't do it anymore... He's really into paddle (and tow, of course) surfing now.
Today I tried to do standup paddle surfing at Kanaha with 10 knots wind (the wind picked up after I got out). I could not catch shit. I'm flabbergasted by what he did.

Robin, after my today's standup in the wind performance, I'm actually sure he's not.

downundergeoff said...

hey mate
remerber us, maria and i borrowed your car sept 05. so anyho just bought a kona and am loving it, found you thru hotsails and am so stoked with the whole longboard thing. you are inspiring on your back wind orange sail, where will it end? no time soon i hear you say. will tune in reg from now on so kept on shreding mate
cheer geoff
soon to return i hope

Anonymous said...

Great Giampaolo,

non vorrai privarmi del break piu' gradevole della giornata?

continua cosi'
Francesco

Anonymous said...

Great pics and vid! I posted it on www.submitavid.com
keep up the good work!

Andy Tedd said...

Hi Giampaolo,

This is a great blog, especially when you are sitting in an office in the UK in the middle of winter.

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

GP: THANKS FOR THE AMAZING FOOTAGE!!
I have a friend who lived in Maui for many years , he told me saw Laird windsurfing on slalom gear frequently in Summer when it was flat> apparently he does it as training for the 'speed factor' of tow-in Jaws. And he problably gets nostalgy about his early days as speed sailor....
I have a question:
there were kites in the background of your pics and videos. Where the kiters able to legitimately ride the waves with those brutal winds?? Just curious ...
Thanks again, I forwarded your blog address to all my wind buddies.
Keep up the good work!! Winter in the midwest is less depressing daydreaming on windsurfing hawaii!!!
marcos

Anonymous said...

Fantastisk pics! Feels really awesome to see the King doing some serious windsurfing almost "Live". I really like the interview! Gives it all a personal touch. Keep up the great work and say hi to Robby from a fan from Sweden!

Aloha!/JB

Anonymous said...

forse il maggior numero di commenti da quando esiste il blog? complimenti per le bellissime foto e per l'intervista a Mr. R.N. vedo dhe è ancora amato come non mai..
Ho forwardato a tutti il tuo blog.. MERITAVA

cammar said...

Hi Geoff, sure I remember you guys!
Good job with the Kona, just don't try to backloop it, ok?
http://www.kona-windsurfing.com/forum/read.asp?ID=159.

France', tranquillo...

Michiel, thanks for including the blog address.

Thanks Andy, drink a pint to this blog.

Marcos, thanks for spreading the word. Funny, last night I met the Naish sail designer Neils and he told me that he's trying to convince Laird to try to beat the 50 knots barrier on a windsurfer...
More news about Laird in the next coming post.
BTW, he wasn't too pleased to know that I think that the Superfreaks are the best sails in the world and that I don't want to sail a monofilm/xply sail anymore in my life...
Back to that day, there were kiters out, but their action, to my eyes, was not even remotely comparable to the one of the windsurfers. At least from the radicality point of view. Honestly, it was almost boring compared to the windsurfers.
Even though with the new equipment you can depower the kite a lot, I still think that the kite always pulls you up a bit and you can't really dig the rail of the board with all your weight. That's why, IMHO, windsurfing is superior on the waves. And that's why surfing is even better! No sail in your hands, no "artificial" extra power to help you, just you and your board. The second purest form of wave riding. After body surfing.

Thanks JB.

Yo Nico. Definetely this post got the record number of comments... but, in addition to how good the post is, it mostly depends on how long it wait before I add a new one, so it's not really a significative parameter... still cool, though!

Anonymous said...

Even though it's weeks later, I thought about the Robby Naish interview yesterday. A great mid-day session ended early for me when I found myself in the middle of the break at Norie's, my gear (board, rig, and sail) gone out of sight, taken away by a mast-plus wave, the sideshore rip sucking hard, and nobody around. I remembered the interview. "No problem," I thought. "Robby said this is easy." I swam through the rip back into the bay, got in onto the rocks between sets, picked some nice seashells washed in by the new swell, and had a nice long chat with a pretty girl from a foreign country, who confided some of her troubles to me - far more serious than lost gear. Then I started a nice afternoon drive down the coast, stopping at the best vantage points - Tavares point, Paia point, Baldwin, Baby Beach, intending to continue all the way to Waiehu if necessary. A friend met up with me in Paia and lent me binoculars. The Earthday celebration was going on at Baldwin, the lifeguards were in a party mood, and they thought it was hilariously funny that I was even looking for my gear.

My gear did turn up, on the far outside of Sprecks/Eurobeach, a few miles ("prolly" four-five) down the coast from where it had started, about three hours after I lost it. It made it past Spartans and all the other fearsome shallow meat-grinder reefs outside Paia and Baldwin without a scratch. A friend nearly sailed over it on his first reach out after seeing me on the beach. He towed it in partway, and I caught a tow out on another friend's rear footstrap, to hop on and ride it in the rest of the way. Then, I had a great late afternoon session at Sprecks. "Unfrickin' believable."

Take-aways? 1. You can never be too thin, too rich, or (this is the important part) be too good of a swimmer. 2. It's a good idea to write your name and number on anything you take out into the ocean. 3. It's also a good idea to read this blog, for inspiration and survival tips. 4. What goes around, comes around. A big thank you to all those I've had the privilege of helping, in and out of the water, in their times of peril. 5. Robby Naish, youdda bom! 6. To my friends (old and new) who helped, you rock.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the nice post!