plenty photos and lost italian videocamera

I'm gonna start this post with this great shot taken by Francky.



Things I like in it:
1) I don't know what he does, but he always makes the subject of the picture stand out in a beautiful way. Look at the sky and the water...

2) that's a Hot Sails Firelight 4.5 and as soon as I tried it, it immediately became the best sail I've ever sailed (replacing the 4.7 of the same model in the ranking). Here you can find the specs for the Firelight.
The 4.5 has a luff of 388 (comfortably rigs on a 370), a boom of 159 and an amazingly light weight of 2.6 Kg! In other words, you just don't feel it in your hands...

3) I'm pretty happy with that bottom turn, but this photo shows me how I could reach more back on the boom (I recently saw a photo of Keith Teboul with his back hand almost touching the clamps at the end of the boom arm) in order to sheet in more. That would also allow me to lean the mast forward and towards the water more, putting a little more pressure on the front rail and turning like the good guys... one day!

Things I don't like:
- where the hell is the wave? Oh well, when Francky is in the water, you turn where he is, not where the wave is... guess what, it worked! I got the shot! :)

These are shots taken by this gallery by Jimmie Hepp instead.

That is a Hot Sails Superfreak Maui Edition 4.2 and it's the last Superfreak left in my quiver.
When the wind is strong in Maui, 99% of the times it's also extremely gusty.
That's why I chose to keep a small Freak. And the softness of the dacron definitely is a huge advantage when you get a gust that feels like there's someone on the other side of the boom shaking it like crazy... ask any of the windsurfers that have been sailing in Maui these days and they will confirm you the feeling.
In fact, at the end of a session with that sail, my arms are not as sore as they would be if I used a stiffer sail.
But the weight of a 4.2 Freak is 3.6 Kg and now that I spoiled myself with the extremely light weight rest of the quiver, I'm thinking that a 4.0 Firelight (which weighs 2.4 Kg) might just be a better overall option. Can't really tell until I try one...
It's a tough call really, also because the Freak is more durable and can take much more beatings than the FL.
Oh, what a great problem to have! Thanks Hot Sails Maui for these great sails!

Hey, another halfway decent bottom turn! Da hell is going on here?

Here I am on a decent size wave and with a kiter right in front of me.

If I was one of those close minded windsurfer I would go like:"fucking kiters always in the way!"

Fortunately I'm not and I went:"that other OCEAN ENTHUSIAST is pumping like crazy to get out of my way. I'm aware he's there and I'm gonna have to do a line that will take into consideration that he's sailing out and has right of way and will safely avoid the collision."

 




Once he saw my line, he managed to steer downwind and he pretty much didn't bother me at all. A windsurfer would have had way less mobility (as usual, the wind was quite light on the inside) and would have been a lot more in my way.

I admit that 20 kiters take way more room than 20 windsurfers (and provide more danger because of the lines), but when it's just a few of them, I have no problem at all. They're just ocean enthusiasts like me. I consider them like brothers. Then of course, there's jerks. But there's plenty of those in any category...

Just like there's kooks! Take this guy for example!!!
This is my new no hand no feet top turn. I'm still working on getting back on the board after it...
Looking at the photo you would think:"why the hell did he bail?"
My answer is:"I don't know!"
Nah, I actually recall that the section under the lip where I actually did the top turn got uncomfortably steep and I had pretty much no wind in the sail and instinctively chose to bail. Another more skilled sailor would have stayed with it (or hit the lip), but I am who I am... and I got another shot!

BTW, that was pretty much the only mistake I did that day (it was kinda big and I sailed veeery conservative) and I was 100% sure the board would have gone on the rocks. Looking at the photo, I would confirm that impression. Instead, when I got out of the water, inexplicably, the board was 10 feet from me. I could easily swim to it before the next wave hit. Sometimes it's just pure luck.

That same day (feb 17) I took some photos too and, for the very first time, I put them in this gallery on facebook.

I recently changed my facebook policy.
I now accept friendship requests from anyone. I just immediately unsubscribe from the newly added unknown person, so I don't get his/her updates on my home page. In fact, I'm never particularly thrilled to know that a german windsurfer that I never met is getting ready to go to the gym on the other side of the world...
But the process of accepting and unsubscribing requires a few clicks and it might take a while before I go through all the requests.
So, let me remind you, my dear readers, that you can actually subscribe to my updates without necessarily being my friends and that's what I recommend to do if you have any interest in that.
I do post stuff on Facebook that I don't post here. Like morning photos of the wave conditions and other stuff...
Oh, just in case you want to look me up, my full name is Giampaolo Cammarota... imagine how much fun it is to spell it on the phone... next like I want to be called John Smith! Or even better, Kai Lenny!! LOL

Below are the photos of yesterday, Feb 19. Another day of crazy strong, offshore, gusty, up and down with the squalls wind. I did two sessions and managed to have fun in both. Here we go.

unusual Maui windsurfer attire

usual Maui windsurfer attire and behavior. Graham dominated during my photoshoot

Graham

Vinnie makes the blog!

Neils has made the blog quite a few times already

Browsinho tweaks an aerial in front of Morgan (who is about to get worked...)

Graham

Last, but definitely not least, here's a typical Maui story.

Yesterday I went to Mana Food and a friend that works there called me:
"Giampaolo, I need your help"
"what's up?"
"a while ago we found a video camera in the shop. I looked at it and there's clips of visiting Italian windsurfers... maybe you know them and can give it back to them!"
"sure, let's have a look!"

Now, what are the chances that a grocery store employee would do that in the rest of the world? Well, I can only speak for the only other place where I lived (Italy) and the chances are: none.
Anybody would have kept it. I would have kept it too when I was living in Italy. But now I live in Maui. I've seen and understood how the karma works and how the energy goes around. And I've changed... in a better way.
Thank you Maui for teaching me this. Thank you Dan for doing such a beautiful gesture and teaching me some more.

Ok, back to the video camera.
He showed me some clips. I did remember the faces, but I didn't really know them (well maybe now I'm even friends with them on Facebook... LOL), so I took a couple of photos with my phone.

I'm pretty sure we'll find them.
Here's dude 1.

Dude 2.

If you guys know them, or if you are them, drop me an email and I'll get you in touch with Dan.


This is it for today. This horrible strong wind is supposed to ease off in a few days and I can't wait for that...

Oh fuck it, I'm gonna post this one too, because yesterday night this linguine with tomato and fish sauce came out spectacular. Ask Glenn...