how Kazuma shaped my custom surfboard part 7

A couple of days with no wind here in Maui give me the opportunity of a surfing related post.

Here's chapter 7 of the Kazuma saga.


And here's are a few photos that I took yesterday. Still comparing Canon and Sony. This time I had my buddy Chico (a good photographer... check that amazing bottom turn shot on KP's blog) taking photos with the Canon and yet the photos were pretty disappointing. So the conclusion is that that lens it came with is either bad or a bad "copy". It's going back.

Here's Chico's best shots (the second one is Lalo getting a little cover up).




Here's my best shot with the Canon: blurred and overexposed.


Now look at my best shots with the Sony. You got to be kidding me! Look at the sharpness, look at the colors, look at the... oh well, that's not the camera!


Lalo again.


Average file size of these photos: 300k.


And check the zoom. This is Lanes from The Point at Hookipa!


The Pipeline Masters is on. Here the live webcast.

PS. Looks like the wind just turned Kona at Kanaha... got to go sail!

---------------- post update -----------------------

Well, the Kona was pretty light, which is not a problem for me, but there were too many surfers out. I caught a few with T.E. and then switched to surfing. I surfed already this morning and my arms were kind of useless, but with the offshore wind the waves were so beautiful I just HAD to paddle out...

I had my GoPro with me and took a few shots.

Kelly hanging five. Every time I see her I always have the same atrocius dilemma: does she surf or look better? Trust me, it's not an easy one...


This one will give you a better idea of her gracious silhouette.


Alex enjoys yet another left.


A couple of shortboarders were killing it. Kind of glassy, uh?


Beauti-full moon.

Thank god for duct tape

Whatever that means, as predicted Hookipa was "all time" yesterday.

Let's start the show!
Best shot, as often happens: Levi with a sick goiter. I love when the tip of the sail touches the wave... it doesn't seem to prevent the success of the manouvre.


In this other goiter instead, Brawzinho's t sail didn't touch the water as much. Cleaner and faster execution, I have to say. Probably a bit easier, since he could use the energy of the closing out section in front of him.


One of those beautiful KP's bottom turns.


A rare "simple" lip hit by Mark Angulo (later in the post you'll understand what I mean...).


Brawzinho wave 360. I think there's way too much pure monofilm in that sail (later in the post you'll understand what I mean...).


Big waves, crazy moves all over the place and... Phil McGain testing race gear.


Jason Prior wave 360.


KP hits the lip and does a counter clockwise rotation... what's that a taka off the lip?


Jason Prior tweaked aerial.


And now four post subsections.

------------- subsection one: backloops --------------------

Francisco Goya in a big one. Nico's one (a few posts down) was taken from the same spot, so imagine how high he went...


Polo makes it to the blog!


Kai Katchadourian (always a nightmare to guess the spelling... I may start to call him KK).


------------- subsection two: on the rocks ---------------

Plenty people on the rocks, since occasionally some sets where closing out the channel. Danielino stopped and held Mark Angulo's and Browzhino's boards in an attempt to save them from the rocks.


Here's how all ended up.


See what I mean about too much monofilm without reinforcement?


Mark did a bit of damage too.


The Hookipa rocks is one place where Karma doesn't work. The one time I stopped to hold a board (it was little Bernd's one), I saved his board, but mine went on the rocks. That's when I decided not to do that again. Anyone who enters the water at Hookipa is on his own.
Another great example of this theory happened earlier this year: I went on the rocks and a guy came and help me to rescue my gear. While doing so, he cut his foot so bad that he had to stay out of the water for more than a week. I felt so bad for him, since he just arrived from Argentina and was going to stay just for three weeks...

Sure, it's nice sometimes to help somebody or if somebody helps you, but there's situations in which the help can not only be useless, but even counter productive.
In this case, for example, it could have been possible that the strong current would have swept those two boards faster and saved them from the rocks... who knows.
For sure Daniele wanted to be nice, but unfortunately it turned out not to be a good idea.

------------- subsection three: Mark Angulo crazy move --------------------

What is he exactly trying to do?


It looks like an aerial wave 360 off the lip, but with an arched back tweaked start.


This third shot, taken a little later in the rotation, may confirm the theory. He landed a few on the back. I wonder if he ever landed one on the face... I have to ask him. For sure he's collecting a huge amount of interesting wipeouts...


------------- subsection four: shared waves --------------------

Laurent (can't remember who was the other guy).


Jason and Jason (Diffin and Prior).


Cisco and KP.


This last section gives me the opportunity to explain the title.

Despite my sore ankle I was able to get in the water at Kanaha thanks to duct tape. Gary showed me how to wrap it in a way that won't allow the foot to overextend and the system proved to be quite efficient. Way better than the neoprene ankle braces that I tried at Sports Authority...

I started early with light wind and my footstrepless 100l modified tail board, AKA The Experiment. No problem there, seen the total lack of streps.
The wind picked up a bit and I went out on a 90l wihtout the back footstrep. Kind of weird, but somehow it felt great to be able to move the foot around.

Here's what I experienced: during the bottom turn the back foot doesn't need to be too far back (since you're in flat water you're actually trying to push the whole inside rail in the water). In the top turn instead, I was moving it all the way back to achieve a tighter radius and to better use the energy of the top of the wave to turn the board.
In other words, I found myself moving my back foot back and forth in the sequence of bottom and top turns.
Can't go too radical, can't do crazy aerials, can't jump... but I felt free-er. You guys should try in a not too choppy day.

And what did the shared waves section had to do with the duct tape? Oh yes, because thanks to the duct tape I was able to go sail, have fun and in particular to enjoy the best shared wave of my life! Swiss Ian was upwind of me (without priority, I think) and he signals with his hand: "shall we go together figure-eighting?"
"Sure, why not..", I nodded back.
Oh my god, what a great wave that turned into! Can't remember how many turns each we had (at leat four, maybe five), all of them in the very pocket of that miraculously perfectly peeling wave. So freaking cool to be at the top and see your buddy bottom turning below and immediately after starting to bottom turn yourself and so on...
Wow. We were both screaming at the end. I tell you what. If any of us would have ridden that wave alone, it would have not been even remotely as much fun.

Things I noticed:
- I was so focused on what he was doing, that I don't think I checked at all if there was anyone else in the water. Dangerous! Next time, I'll have to pay more attention and in general those rides are probably not a good idea in very crowded conditions.
- You need to trust your buddy. In other words, make sure you pick one that knows how to wave ride...

Superstoked that his ankle injury is mild and looking forward to another gorgeous day in Maui, your reporter from paradise reminds all readers to let go of all the possible bullshit reasons (a very common one these days: the economy!) that make you eventually pouty (NOTHING MATTERS, since one day we'll all be gone and that day could be tomorrow or even today!) and to enjoy your life wherever you are.
If you are reading this, it means you're sitting in front of a computer checking your favorite blog ;-) and that means you're way luckier than these guys.

Thank god for ice

What a grand day it was!

With a new swell on the rise and a promising morning breeze, I made the wise call not to surf in the morning, watch the surf contest at Sunset beach online instead, get in the water early with 5.0 and 90l board and score some fantastic head to logo high glassy waves.

Try to picture this (having been in Maui helps... smoking something might as well).

Blue sky, even more blue ocean, warm temperature, the majestic green Haleakala on the background.
15 seconds period translated in what looked like a football field between the waves.
A few windsurfers out playing with them in the morning light.
Did you picture it? Cool! And now imagine how it feels to be one of those windsurfers...

I sailed a couple of hours and had a really awesome time.
I wish I had my camera with me. Actually no, since the video would have been extremely disappointing compared to the real experience.

I timed the lunch break to watch the semis and final of Sunset. Right after that, I went back in the water for the sunset session. This one, unfortunately, wasn't as enjoyable, since I hurt my ankle in a wipeout. Going over the falls with a foot stuck in a footstrap is one of the scariest feelings I can think of. You know you're stuck, you know you're gonna get worked and you think:"oh no, oh no, oh no!!!"
Sometimes you get away with no damage, but some other times you don't.
Usually you can tell right away how bad the injury is. Thank god in this case I think it wasn't really serious. I stretched those muscles/ligaments on the front by overextending the joint, but I didn't break anything. It could have been a lot worse... I'm icing it now.
Oh well, at least I got hurt trying to hit a lip!

BTW, C.J.Hobgood won the contest. Great performances of Jordy Smith (who dominated his heats but disappeared in the final) and of three Maui surfers: Hank Gaskell, Dusty Payne and across the street neighbor Ian Walsh.

Hey, where was that list of things to post? Let's have a look again.

- 1) reef model (don't get too excited)
2) underwear website link
3) windsurfing pole vault video
- 4) quatro/goya/mfc sale banner
5) photos kanaha (mine and alex)
6) photos hookipa (mine and jazz)
7) Kazuma series
8) my new wave board quiver (I still have to take a photo of this)
9) Chico's amazing windsurfing photos
10) windsurf boards museum. You guys won't believe your eyes...
11) description of a scary moment at Hookipa

What? I only did 1 and 4? Let's get rid of a few more.

Here's number 2, courtesy of blog reader Matt from Guernsey.
I tried ALL underwears on ALL models...

Here's number 3, courtesy of my friend Francesco who borrowed my gear during a short visit lately.


Just got up to get a couple of Advils... damn it hurts!
Clearly tomorrow it's going to be epic with the swell peaking in the morning and stronger wind.
If I can't sail, you guys are going to score, since I'll be forced to take photos at Hookipa, which I predict is going to be all time (da hell does "all time" means?).
I will not be pissed off (I'm talking to myself now) since I will be watching one of the best shows on Earth. No wait, is any pro sailor going to sail Hookipa tomorrow or are they all going to be at Jaws?
We'll find out! Anybody going to Jaws with a four wheel drive that wants to give me a ride?

PS. Talking about Jaws, these are Ray's photos from last Sunday.

PPS. Not many Maui resident know that the same epic Ahi Poke that the Nagata store use to sell is sometimes available at the Kuau Mart. Freaking delicious. Go get some, so that they will keep buying it, maybe every day.

how Kazuma shaped my custom surfboard part 6

We are now in Matt's shaping room.
This is my favorite clip of the series. I just love the way Matt pulls that screen and gives the rails the shape he wants...



We're not done yet, stay tuned for more.

In the meantime, I need to report about an outstanding session I just had with my 6.10 Kazuma that you just saw in the video. The new NW swell is picking up quite quickly. The NW buoy reads 12 feet, 15 seconds at 9am... that means that in the afternoon, most spots will be unrideble.
Instead, I timed it right and scored early morning head to overhead high perfectly peeling lefts with light offshore and just three other guys out. At the first double overhead set, I wisely decided to quit...
Absolutely stoked! Can't believe I was able to stick those steep drops...

Now a little rest (and a little post) and maybe later I'll go explore some outer reefs with the standup... what a life!

A look at the forecast. Today's weather map shows one more impressive fetch. That is going to be the most west of the three swells and that is actually a good thing, since some spots in Kahului hopefully won't be too big. Will be here Thursday and Friday. A sporadic light trades episode might even make it sailable on Friday.
If you read this from an island of French Polinesia, Fiji, Tahiti or anywhere else down there, get ready for an unusually big swell on your north shores...


PS. Crazy conditions at Sunset beach. I just watched Rodrigo Dornellas dropping in a bomb that looked like five or six times overhead... he got a 9.43 for that!

Big waves + three hot dogs eating contest.

I'm going to start this Sunday post with Uncle Pat's forecast summary: "calendar shows fall although the surf says winter."

Have a look at this photo from yesterday's surf contest at Sunset beach (Oahu) and you'll see what he means.


The live webcast is on as I'm posting (hey, my computer can multitask, just like me!). I just watched aussie veteran Mark Occhilupo (42) advance in his heat together with young Maui surfer Dusty Payne (19).

This is the weather map of Sunday morning.


As you can see a deep low is up there pushing waves our way. The front is almost completely occluded already and that means that the low is not going to move much. Actually that other smaller low on the left is going to join in and give life to a situation which will give us huge waves pretty much all next week.

Here's how Uncle Pat explains it:"The jet stream has set up a large equatorward loop in the central north Pacific. This is the Aleutian low, a feature seen in climatology based on the persistence of low pressure in a broad area straddling the dateline between 35-50°N latitude. The synoptic, or daily changing large scale pattern, of the coming days shows a family of extratropical cyclones forming off Japan then tracking east to reinforce the mother low pressure area just south of the Aleutians."

Check the website of the Eddie Aikau event at Waimea, 'cause it may easily be held. Tuesday and Thursday are my best guesses.

Last, but not least, here's a stellar performance of my friend Darian.


He who won a bag of goods at the Second Wind's sale by winning a three hot dogs eating contest. Good job...

Paia bay invitational

Great success of the annual Paia bay invitational surf contest.

I'm clearly going to start my self-centric report with a photo of the beautiful, picture perfect ass (talk about Reef models...) that was in my first heat and made me completely lose my concentration.


Look at me jumping in the water after her... what else can I be focused on? The waves?!? Gimme a break! (no pun intended)


Anyway, on top of being a model she's also a solid surfer and she kicked ass (!) and advanced. Unfortunately she had to leave and I got to advance in her place. She was strongly missed...
Ok, let's talk briefly about the contest now. Look at the organizational effort! I believe those 1,000 bucks could be spent only with the sponsors reported on the check...


The board.


The six finalists.


Da winnah: Michelle Crompton from Devon, UK! She ruled all the guys with late takeoffs, whipping turns and a kamikaze shore break tube ride, like Bruce Irons at Waimea. She didn't even need to flash her boobs to impress the judges, like she did in her first heat!!


Second place: Lee.


Third place: Poof. I mean, Sid.


And now a selection of beach scenes, starting with some of the judges playing football during the final... just to give you an idea of how serious the whole thing is!












Thanksgiving wasn't over yet, as a sunset sailing session was to be held at Mr. Henderson's place. We caught a couple of fun waves on our longboards and I met Eddie: a rock at Uppers that sticks out on low tide. It doesn't stick always out, though. Only when the wave approaches and sucks the water off the reef... not particularly easy to spot.


Today it's Friday, the big NW swell is on the rise (9 feet, 18 seconds at 7am at the NW buoy!), the contest at Sunset beach in Oahu is on (women first), the weather map shows no wind all day...
It's going to be an epic surfing day and right after this post, quickly made while sitting on the toilet (I'm sure you guys are thrilled to learn that), this is what I am going to do: surf and enjoy yet another marvelous day in Maui.

Aloha.