I believe we all sail a little harder when Francky is in the water, that's why we're all happy to see his red helmet bobbing around. It will be different in April, when all the photo shoots will be done and there will be five photographers and 100 pros all over the place, but let's focus on the present.
The present sees a strong high pressure that generates gusty trade winds with frequents up and downs due to the squalls that pass by. Really not my favorite kind of conditions, but at least there's a 9 feet, 8 seconds windswell from ENE that keeps us rolling.
Here's the other pics from yesterday.
And since I don't like posts without photos, here's one from the epic Tuesday session. What you see is called STOKE!
And a receding hairline...
PS. Congrats to Taj Burrow for winning the opening event of the 2010 ASP season at Gold Coast, Australia.
He surfed really sharp. But check the heats on the demand, round 4 heat 4 and tell me if Mick Fanning wasn't robbed...
IMO, his first wave was underscored (come on, look at those two first top turns!) and Kai Otton's second wave was overscored (clearly not a 8.03). He lost by a mere .19 and that must have hurt...
The ASP season started. The webcasts are just fantastic and they finally figured out that they have to post the heats on the demand without posting the score first (duh!).
The level of the surfing is unreal. Kelly, Parko, Taj, Mick, Jordy, Adriano, Dano... guys I can call by name and recognize after one turn thanks to all the webcasts I've seen.
Are those guys better than the top windsurfers? Nah! Our top windsurfers rip just as hard as those guys. The difference is that windsurfing contests don't get webcasted. I recently read that the PWA asked his top 10 sailors not to sign in the other independent contests that started to pop up (like the wave classic series). That sucks. This is medieval management. We need something different, that's for sure.
Allright, in the meantime, next ASP contest is March 30 - April 10 at Bells Beach.
5 comments:
Nice pic!
The ASP live Web casts are awesome. Been watching them and it is really a great thing that keeps me glued to the screen - exactly what they want. The heats on demand are very nice too but not quite the same as the live feeds. You don't get to see all the waves and some of the other aspects of the heats. It would be great if the PWA did the same. I would watch it for sure!
On the PWA asking them not to do other events... I am not saying I agree but I do understand where they are coming from. By doing other events with no money in them they are letting the World know they're willing to compete for the love of the sport, for free, cutting themselves short. More images people can see of all those great athletes together competing, pushing hard at virtually no cost other than their own and their sponsors. Competing only for money raise their value as people realize they have to put some money on the line to watch them compete etc... making it more exclusive. All professional sports have the same concept... a pro tennis player would not even hit a single ball unless there were some money on the line. Anyway - the reason it sounds so ridiculous is because the PWA is not able (whether their fault or not I don't know) to get them the money and number of events they deserve. Yet those guys still want to compete and show what they can do... Another way to look at it is windsurfing needs to be more in the public eyes and any contest, any exposure is good and will promote the "higher level" events from the PWA. Who knows...
See you at the beach.
Ciao -
Alex
Hi GP,
here is Toppa.
Amazing watershot of you.
I like it sooo much. Super cool Sail (perfectly machting with your Starboard and Boom) and peaceful rainbow. Wow!
Would like to have it for my win-desktop.
I always check your block. Its very very good now (...as your wave-riding style)! Keep it up (both)!!!
best regards from Germany,
Christian aka toppa
great, STOKE, I know this sensation...
Sebastiano (Sicily)
Hawaiianwatershots.com is starting to shoot Hookipa. Some good shots of the crew
Bloody show-off... I hate you!
But look at the bright side; if you're starting to attract the eyes of the camera, it has to be because you're doing something good?! :-D
Keep sailing with passion and keep us posted as always; you're blog is just as good as a warm morning coffee before another "exhilarating" IT work day...
peace!
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