It was a day that for the Hookipa standard was defined shitty from most sailors. Small, messy waves (still big enough to send me and a few others on the rocks) and light onshorish wind.
Well, check the sequence that Alex sent me (thanks!!!). No matter how bad the conditions were, I had at least one good wave.
And even if I didn't, it was still a beautiful sunny day in Maui. I am so stoked to live here and not in Goma (for example). So, no complaints whatsoever.
Here's the sequence, excuse me if I'm proud of it (and of the fact that I put that board back together).
I particularly like the third one, because I'm floating on a little barrel...
Any other Hookipa sailor would have thrown a big aerial, but it's all relative. At my level, I'm happy that I went for the lip at the right time and for once in a while I didn't suck! And I have photos of it!!
Well, I sucked the day before though, when I did a kook move and managed to stick the top of the mast in the reef and have it at a perfect 45 degrees angle towards the next incoming big wave... I dove under it and heard:"SNAP!".
I thought I set a new world record with four pieces, but the official judge (Jeff) said that it's not the number of pieces that counts, it's the number of breaks. In my case, I broke both the top and the bottom, but it's only two breaks, so no new world record...
And now, the good guys.
Levi, would you please stop ripping so consistently and do something bad once in a while?
Here he is in the middle of that air upwind 360 (or whatever it's called) that he does on the face of the wave...
Nice body. I like this shot a lot.
Who-ho, I like this one even better!
Philippe.
Pascal mid 360.
19 yo from Germany. What was that word...? Oh yes: YIKES!
YIKES, how can I like her? YIKES, I'm such a pervert! YIKES, I need a doctor that can cure my disease! YIKES, something is wrong with my genes: they're telling me that I should be attracted by a healthy, good looking, young and lovely female human being... YIKES, YIKES, YIKES!
I'm going to use the next two photos for a little analysis. This is Nico on a single fin, digging a crevasse on his nice top turn. His board will not end up facing upwind at the end of it.
This is 'i Manna' on a twin fin, sliding through his top turn that he will finish with the board facing upwind.
As Keith Taboul always says:"twin fin are not better, they're just different!"
So what do you like, digging crevasses or sliding all the way to end the top turn with the board facing upwind?
Levi can do both... now, that IS better!
Don't know her age, don't know where she's from, but I like her too. YIKES!
YIKES! YIKES! YIKES! YIKES! YIKES! YIKES!
Camille.
Light onshorish wind... Glenn doesn't care.
Last, but not least, let's celebrate the lost of the virginity of a young (YIKES!) Irish sailor...
Blog readers, please a big applause for Katie's first time on the rocks at Hookipa... yeee!!!
BTW, she got one of the most incredible pair of eyes I've ever seen and I promise you guys to take a close up photo of them... whatever it takes! YIKES!
Today (Saturday) the waves are on a sligth NE increase. I already had a fun surfing sesh and I'm getting ready for the sailing session. Oh yes, and I don't live in Goma.
Can my life be any better? Of course it can (you know what you guys thinking... YIKES!), but it could be so much more easily waaaay worse...
That is my philosophy. I always look at the bright side, and I always remind myself of all the possible ways it could be worse. That makes me the happiest man of the world. Of my world, at least.
PS. Went to Hoo, too many surfers to sail. So many windsurfers whining... Get a frigging surfboard and learn how to surf! Or go sail Lanes or somewhere else! There's a new secret spot called Goma...
I can't stand whiners in general. But the Maui whiners are truly an offense to all the people in the world that don't have the luck to live in such a beautiful place...
PPS. For the first time since the good old Maradona days (late 80's), the Napoli soccer team is leading the rankings of Serie A. Sunday morning at 9.30am hawaiian time on Fox soccer channel there's Milan-Napoli. My cell phone will be off for that.
PPPS. Just downloaded a few pics I took at sunset.
You guys lucky that I'm not a believer, otherwise I would name this photo "God's pussy".
One last sailor at the downwind spot... I bet it's Art.
Pussy-kite.
13 comments:
Great blog.. keep it up!
btw.. upwind air 360 is called "SHAKA" )
My guess at the cost for a close up shot of Katie’s eyes...a pint of Guinness, lemme know if I’m right, then you can by me a pint of Guinness as my prize :-)
Yo Sergey, thanks!
I'm afraid a shaka is a shove it into flaka and that is not what Levi is doing (it misses the shove it part).
Then it could be a flaka, but this by definition is a flat water taka.
Oh well, then it must be a taka...
You see? I could never be a freestyler... too many names to remember!
Here's the surfing main six manouvres instead (not counting all the new aerials, of course):
1) take off
2) bottom turn
3) top turn
4) cut back
5) floater
6) barrel
Much more simple. Simple, not easy.
A pint of Guinness?!...
What a brilliant idea, Grommit!
Nice Halloween post on your blog, btw!
God's pussy! I love!
As long as god is over 19, of course!
YIKES!!!
Good point: how old is God?
Too old I'd say. Religion has been used as a brain washing tool for thousands of years.
I can't believe human beings have been (and still are!!!) so stupid to believe in that crap.
PS. If somebody gets offended by what I say, please don't waste your time complaining with comments, just don't check this blog! Thanks.
yikes .... keep them photos coming G yikes yikes yikes!
A nice little top turn analysis. You could say that it the "driver" that matters. But my personal experience is that those first to pics tell a story. All twin fins I've tried has a slightly exaggerated tendency to lose grip and slide out when you enter a top turn at a shallow angle on a kind of flat part of the wave. You have to set the rail a tad more carefully to avoid it. One of the prices for having a much more forgiving top turn on a steep section.
Katie eyes... ! They are missed back in COLD ireland...still we've got sick waves to keep us going.. Keep on ripping KT
Great post GP, I really wanna see those eyes, hurry up with a photo!
Just on the twinsers as well, a true gauge would be to have two identical boards, one with twinsers and one with a single fin, maybe Keith could run through a few ideas for you? For me, sliding would be due to rocker in the board?
lano,
I sailed some Starboard protos with both twin fin boxes and a single fin box. The result still stands, in my opinion. I agree the rest of the shape affacts this a lot too (and again, most of all the rider, of course). But everything else the same, twin fin boards need a more careful setup in this particular type of turn if you don't want them to wash out.
Ciao Cammar,
there's nothing better than your blog bringing light into dark wintery (cold) european days...yikes!
If you believe Religion is brainwash, who can you post a Halloween post, i mean it's rather the same ...
Some thousand years ago there would not have been the Yikes issue, IMO that's part of the usual brainwash nowadays.
Keep on spoiling us...and a big thanks for that!
Greets,
hahaha you made my day!
love your blog
keep em coming
regards
thanks everyone for the comments.
Chris, Halloween is society induced brain wash too, for sure.
In fact, I didn't celebrate it at all (other then going sailing, of course). The title of the post seemed funny to me and I have to thanks Alex for that.
Ola/Lano, one year ago I asked Keith Taboul why he wasn't doing boards with 5 fin boxes so that a customer could choose his own favorite setup.
He answered that the search for lightness is so extreme, that five boxes would be too heavy.
But it's ok for prototypes, for sure.
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