But the show was stolen by the windsurfers at Hookipa. Despite the extremely challenging conditions, trialists and pro's were sent out by head judge Duncan Coombs (good call) and it was quite a spectacle to watch.
I got there around 3pm and I give the gnarliness of the conditions a 9.25. Early morning was probably ever closer to a 10. Honestly, if I had to compete, I would have not sailed my heat.
It was mostly survival sailing even for the more skilled ones, but the show was great anyway because of the sheer size of the waves.
Big carnage of broken gear on the rocks too, the Walsh brothers were pretty busy rescuing the competitors with the jet sky.
The clean hits were very rare and obviously rewarded with high scores by the judges. Here's one from Josh Stone in a picture by Jimmie Hepp.
Buoys 4am
NW
5ft @ 17s from 311° (NW)
4.7ft @ 13s from 315° (NW)
3.6ft @ 9s from 42° (NE)
2.8ft @ 8s from 88° (E)
Waimea
6.4ft @ 14s from 332° (NNW)
Waimea
6.4ft @ 14s from 332° (NNW)
4.3ft @ 9s from 10° (N)
1.2ft @ 20s from 316° (NW)
Pauwela
Pauwela
7.4ft @ 13s from 342° (NNW)
4ft @ 8s from 40° (NE)
Barbers
2.4ft @ 13s from 215° (SW)
2.4ft @ 13s from 215° (SW)
1.4ft @ 10s from 201° (SSW)
1.4ft @ 6s from 132° (SE)
1.4ft @ 6s from 135° (SE)
Today will be a transition day with the NNW swell declining and the new WNW one rising.
The NW buoys reads 5f 17s from 311. That's a lot less west than most forecasts predicted. If it stays like that, Hookipa (and Jaws) is gonna get huge again tomorrow. But I did see some more westerly numbers earlier, so maybe it's just a direction glitch.
Waimea feels it already with 1.2f 20s from 316. That direction is not the original direction of the swell, since it has already been refracted on Kauai and all the Northern islands chain. But that means that we can expect the long period sets of the new swell to start showing up in the late morning/early afternoon at the Pauwela buoy in Maui.
Which for the moment still shows a healthy 7.4f 13s, which is beyond my Hookipa threshold. Good thing I have plenty of alternatives with the lovely offshore wind we will be blessed this morning.
Here's a detail of the local wind direction taken from Windity, but it's absolutely lame compared to the MC2km maps that will be available later this morning.
The NW buoys reads 5f 17s from 311. That's a lot less west than most forecasts predicted. If it stays like that, Hookipa (and Jaws) is gonna get huge again tomorrow. But I did see some more westerly numbers earlier, so maybe it's just a direction glitch.
Waimea feels it already with 1.2f 20s from 316. That direction is not the original direction of the swell, since it has already been refracted on Kauai and all the Northern islands chain. But that means that we can expect the long period sets of the new swell to start showing up in the late morning/early afternoon at the Pauwela buoy in Maui.
Which for the moment still shows a healthy 7.4f 13s, which is beyond my Hookipa threshold. Good thing I have plenty of alternatives with the lovely offshore wind we will be blessed this morning.
Here's a detail of the local wind direction taken from Windity, but it's absolutely lame compared to the MC2km maps that will be available later this morning.
Wind map below shows a weak but nice and wide NW fetch and you can also see how the trade winds generating high pressure is sitting more east than usual and it's actually gonna move even more east.
All the windsurfers will want to know if the contest will be on today. Check the MC2km website (link n.17 on the right) later when it will updated and you will find the answer.
My guess is no, but if the sun will be out, the Haleakala can always pull off the magic.
Either way, morning surfing should be pretty epic.
No comments:
Post a Comment