Congratulations to Ross Williams on his win at the 2015 Tiree Wave Classic. Phil Horrocks was second and Andy Chambers came in third. Check out the day 5 video for what went down…

The post ROSS WILLIAMS WINS TIREE appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

GA SAILS – 2016 MANIC

The 2016 Manics are back and better than ever. With an improved profile they deliver more stability; these are the ultimate competition wave sails. With its incredible wind range and newly designed smooth leech twist for increased top end speed. This range of sails delivers an unrivalled level of performance that any rider can enjoy.

For 2016 we have added the new convertible batten system to all the sizes in the range. This system allows the rider more control to customise their sail. Putting the shorter batten in place frees up the feeling in the rig and can be a useful tool to generate drive for light-wind wave riding. A new panel layout with fewer seams makes the sail stronger and lighter. The shorter luff and boxy outline helps give a more compact feeling, great for riding and tightening up your turns.

The post GA SAILS – 2016 MANIC VIDEO appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

Check out the latest vid from Jamie Hancock..

‘I took the ferry over earlier this week (with my dog, Fergus) to meet Ross Williams at a little spot on the southern tip of the UK right by St. Catherines Point. It was a little bit onshore but still plenty of fun’

Niton ’15 from jamie hancock on Vimeo.

The post JAMIE HANCOCK – NITON ’15 appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

CAPE TOWN – SLICE OF LIFE

“The video of my first trip windsurfing in South Africa with four of my friends in January, 2016”

Via mitch boub

The post CAPE TOWN – SLICE OF LIFE appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

GAASTRA CLEARANCE OFFERS

Those nice guys at 4boards have some great offers running currently.

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2012 Manic 5.3           £579         £289         £290

2012 Pure 4.8             £515         £249         £266

2012 Pure 5.4             £529         £259         £270

2012 IQ 4.7                 £515         £259         £256

2012 Cosmic 7.0         £520        £280         £240

2012 Cosmic 8.0         £549        £290         £259

2012 Phantom 7.1       £675         £339         £336

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2014 Cosmic 7.5         £559         £345         £214

2014 Cosmic 8.0         £579         £355         £224

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2014 Pilot 5.0              £345         £209         £136

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2014 Pure 4.8             £515         £299         £216

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2014 Speedster 65 Ltd               £849

Visit www.4boards.co.uk for more information or call +44 (0) 23 8089 4583

The post GAASTRA CLEARANCE OFFERS appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

COAST – OUT OF THE BLUE

Many wave hungry sailors have faced those barren stretches of windless forecasts and then spotted a tiny glitch on the weather map hinting at a remote chance of a decent session. The big dilemma is whether to simply let those fifty /fifty gambits fly past  or do you take the bull by the horns and go chase it down. Even once you are committed then nothing is guaranteed, this is one of those sketchy ones that might deliver a few cracking waves or you may be sat on the beach cursing your decision to burn a £100 in fuel and waste a day. John Carter talks us through a couple of scenarios earlier this year that may well boost your confidence to keep faith in the weather gurus and roll the dice and go for it!

Words & Photos  JOHN CARTER

CORNISH CRACKERS
“Are you guys on drugs?” Was the reaction from Blacky when he heard we were driving down to Cornwall on one of Timo’s hairbrained schemes to cure a dry spell on his normally fully booked windsurfing diary. We were looking at a wisp of North West wind that promised to scratch the very far corner of Cornwall along with a 2.5m long range south swell that could easily be tiny if the forecast was slightly wrong. A couple of times before we had thought about chasing a similar situation and once I had even made the three hour trip to Poole, checked the Bantham web cam and headed straight back home after spending ten minutes on the platform. Today I was equally committed having travelled up to Timo’s the previous night and judging by Blacky’s call we were lining up for another potential catastrophe. With the rest of the country one hundred per cent windless, we were chasing the very  edge of a weak pressure system and possibly relying on some local acceleration for our gamble to pay dividends. The one thing the forecast was unanimous about was sunny weather at least; the rest was down to mother nature to cooperate.

“ Our wager was actually paying off, clean waves on a reef, no crowds, the sort of setup you would be happy to travel abroad for but we were scoring on UK shores ! ’’

Timo’s choice spot for the mission was a fickle reef break on the south coast of Cornwall that incidentally had a solid chance of being loaded with surfers at any hint of a south swell. The odds were certainly stacked against us. In order to pull off this crazed plan we left in the dark and were already in Cornwall by 8am staring out at some funky sets at Marazion and barely a breath of wind. We were both speechless, defiant to admit we had possibly blundered. Our first thought was damage limitation, grab a quick surf and then head back home to appease the wives at a reasonable hour. After a bit more driving around and now at Praa Sands, we were still deliberating when Blacky finally answered his phone, most likely just to rub salt in the wounds. But lo and behold, Blacky was slightly positive and reckoned the breeze was filling in down at Lands End and his brother had just checked the surf and some solid south sets were starting to hit the Cornish coast. Another half hour passed, the clock was ticking and we were now gathered on the cliffs looking down at this south coast secret reef break trying to guesstimate the strength of the wind.

“ on this rare occasion it was  west/north west , the perfect cross offshore direction at Niton, with head to logo high sets and going off ! ’’ 

Sure it had picked up and was feathering the tops off the waves but then we spotted a couple of kiters trying to launch their kites but they dropped straight out of the sky and they ditched their plan in exchange for surfboards. Enough was enough for Timo and he ran back to the van to  gather his light wind gear determined to give it a shot. After throwing his kit off the rocks and swimming it out to the wind line Timo was up on the board and planing straight off the bat, now it was Blacky’s turn to dash to the van ! Timo’s first wave was a half mast high pit, driving bottom turn and solid round house cutback, it was on ! Our wager was actually paying off, clean waves on a reef, no crowds, the sort of setup you would be happy to travel abroad for but we were scoring on UK shores ! Blacky was well up for a piece of the action and showed all the style on the water he is famous for. I am pretty certain Timo and Blacky were the only two guys wave sailing in the whole of the country on this particular day. So judge for yourself, was it worth it? Timo was pretty stoked to be out on the water catching waves and the alternative would have been zero action back at home, most likely checking the forecast down in Cornwall every half an hour wondering whether we were missing out or not. Plus we had the last laugh on Blacky who had probably missed the best of the conditions procrastinating about the conditions while Timo snagged the biggest waves of the day !

WIGHT WATERS
A couple of weeks later, I was at home in my office working away quite contentedly when my phone started buzzing with Ross Williams trying to contact me. As far as I was concerned today was out of the question for windsurfing, I knew the weather pattern had been calling for dying westerly winds overnight and had not even given the forecast a decent check over. Ross had different ideas and fair play to him, he was on it and reckoned that there was some good ground swell hitting the island and the wind was swinging west  to north west through the morning meaning Niton could be classic. I played along with Ross on the phone and told him I would come straight down if the signs looked good when he was almost there.So I carried on behind the computer, not even bothering to pack any camera gear or make any preparations to head out; you could say I was being lazy but I simply was not convinced in my mind that this day was worth bothering with. Ten minutes later a text came through from Ross with a message saying it was looking sick and that he could see swell breaking along the coast.  Finally I started to twitch and had a quick look at a few web cameras and channel wave buoys; just maybe, Ross was onto something !. Obviously this was an easy drive for me, half an hour and I would be at Niton, but all the same I did not want to waste my day on a wild goose chase, so without positive Intel I was staying put. But then my phone started buzzing again, it was Ross, now at the top of the track at Niton making one last call before the signal disappeared at the bottom of the cliffs. “JC, I hope you are on your way, please don’t tell me your still at home, Niton is on fire, its bloody epic!”

All of a sudden I had to shift through the gears, chuck all my camera equipment in the back of the car and blast up the road on a mad dash towards the southernmost point of the Island. For sure the forecast was one of those fickle ones but Ross had been hungry enough to believe it was worth a shot and I had been unusually caught totally off guard. By the time I had darted through every short cut known to man, I made it just in time to be at the top of the hill and see Ross launching and heading out to catch his first wave.

“ these sessions go to show, that just when you least expect it, windsurfing can catch you unaware and deliver some surprisingly magical conditions ’’ 

Normally westerly is a smidgen onshore while North West is a touch too offshore but on this rare occasion it was  west/north west , the perfect cross offshore direction at Niton, with head to logo high sets and going off !. In a blind panic I careered down the bumpy track that leads to the car park just in time to watch Ross flying through an aerial on his first wave of the session. Luckily for me the magical window with the perfect wind direction continued for the next bunch of waves before the wind backed to the west and a more regular more cross shore day at Niton. Having being brought up surfing and sailing around this stunning stretch of coastline on the Island, Ross really does know Niton like the back of his hand. He knows every little idiosyncrasy of this spot, where to be, which swells to gybe on and when to charge and smack it hard. Niton may not quite be up there with the best breaks in Cornwall but on its day, it’s a real fun place to sail or surf. I will be the first to admit that my finger was not on the pulse for this particular sojourn. Niton  is one of my favourite spots and I am not sure why I was not on the case. Thanks to Ross, at least I made it in time to shoot a few clean waves peeling down the point; if only I had been there an hour earlier; next time there will be no excuses !

Both these sessions go to show, that just when you least expect it, windsurfing can catch you unaware and deliver some surprisingly magical conditions. You just have to keep your goggles peeled to the forecasts and be prepared to keep checking that beach, whether its right on your doorstep or slightly off the beaten track. Next time you are in doubt, don’t miss out. JC

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ROSS WILLIAMS – WIGHT WINTER !

For the first time in seventeen years, Britain’s number one all-rounder, Ross Williams, made the decision to drop his normal winter training regime in reliable conditions abroad in exchange for a winter at home on the Isle of Wight. The plan paid off handsomely after he tapped in to a perfect pattern of low pressures which lit up all of his favourite breaks for windsurfing and surfing around the notorious southern tip and west coast of the island. With his slalom addictions taken care of by various trips to the OTC at Weymouth and one short training trip to visit GA team mate Ben Van Der Steen in Tarifa, Ross is now perfectly

recharged and refuelled for the forthcoming season. So what brought on the decision to exchange warm trade winds, board shorts and T-shirts for 5mm wetsuit’s, frosty mornings and numb fingers? We dispatched the UK’s number one windsurfing investigative journalist, John ‘Snoop’ Carter, to find out.

Photos  John Carter

JC: Come on then Ross, spill the beans, what swung you to stay home this winter on the Isle of Wight rather than travel to Cape Town or Maui to train?

Ross: I am the UK agent for Gaastra/Tabou/Vandal with Windsurfing, kitesurfing and SUP. This will be my 3rd year in the role and sales are starting to pick up. We are seeing much more of the brands in the shops and on the water. It has been a lot of work, and I take this role very seriously, I want to be the best in whatever I take on. It took a lot of time to build the relationships up with the shops, finding ways that you can work together for mutual benefit. I am lucky I have such strong brands and I can offer pretty much any type of equipment that a shop would need. I have been very fortunate to have been able to travel and compete all over the world in my career as a pro, and now as I am a little older, it is actually nice to be more settled. I was actually looking forward to spending more time sailing and surfing in the UK over the winter when usually as a pro I go overseas to work and train. I lucked out with some amazing conditions at home on the Isle of Wight this winter so I have been able to spend a lot of time on the water, while constantly working side by side on my UK network. It is also nice to be back with my family, my brothers and their little kids; it’s been great for my soul. So in short, yes it is cold and maybe a little harder to motivate yourself, but if you are strong in your mind you can achieve whatever you want. Family, UK, competing and building a lifestyle that I am happy with, that is all the motivation I need.

JC: Has it been beneficial to you to have a permanent base ?

Ross: It certainly has been a pleasure to be back at home. I still live with my parents as this makes the most financial sense at the moment. My mum has been a rock for me, I think she understands that I basically have very little free time and I am working towards my goals. My dad, my brothers and everyone around me have been amazing and I feel I really missed that aspect in my life for many years while I was selfishly running around the world (laughs)! It has been great connecting with everyone in the UK, both friends and family. I think it is important to be around those people that make you happy. It’s a real help when it comes to understanding yourself and finding your way through life. Sometimes the people or places that you push away from while you are growing up are the things that will be always be there for you and that is what has been great about being home. It is also very refreshing to come back in from the water to a nice warm house, and to be around people that love you and want the best for you. I am still living out of my bags or van as I travel around the UK, but it has still been beneficial for me to be in the UK and build up that thirst again for the competition season when you know you have a few months of travelling around the globe coming up again.

“ yes it is cold and maybe a little harder to motivate yourself, but if you are strong in your mind you can achieve whatever you want ”

JC: Where have you been doing your slalom tuning and training? 

Ross: I have actually been doing more slalom sailing this winter then in the last couple of years. I realized I haven’t really been taking care to be prepared in time, unrolling new sails and untested masts and fins at the first events and things like that. I decided it was time to focus a little more on that area. I have been training in Weymouth and helping some of the guys on the UK Gaastra/Tabou team and in turn they have helped me a lot. Kev Greenslade and Simon Petitfer have been awesome and the whole crew down with Tris Best at the OTC. Weymouth is for sure one of the best locations you can be to test and train slalom here in the UK. I have also been working a lot on fins with Steve Cook from F-hot. I think F-hot now have some of the best designs for slalom and is largely due to all the effort Steve has personally put in. I also made a short trip down to Tarifa to see and train with Benny Van Der Steen. He has also been a big help to us at Gaastra and Tabou. I see positive things happening to all our race team this year, we have been able to already make the step forward for 2016 Vapours and Mantas and everyone is getting on nicely in the team which in turn will benefit us all.

JC: What about your local breaks we heard Niton and Ventnor have been on fire this winter?

Ross:  It has been a pleasure to score those sessions. With the forecasting being so accurate these days it is possible to look on the internet, pick those two or three hours that will be the best, go, have fun and then get back to work knowing you scored it. As usual in the UK, we have had a lot of these low pressures moving over us, so I reckon most of the winter I could get in the water for good surfing and wave sailing at these spots three to four times a week. For sure we had a great run up to Christmas and most of January without it being too cold. I remember having a really fun session at Ventnor while the tide was low and pushing, with the wind being south west, lots of sun. So we knew as the day went on the waves would get bigger and the wind also was due to swing more Westerly, which it did! So towards high tide we drove around to Niton and surfed it at high on the drop, and later when there was less water, we sailed again! It was brilliant, and you could pretty much guarantee that you would be able to do this every time a low pressure would pass over.

JC:  Do any sessions stand out in particular?

Ross:  You know what, there has been so many that I really can’t pick one out. Maybe it was a sailing and then surfing session at Niton when Jamie Hawkins and Neil Gent were over, I had so many sick waves that day. We even went for a pint in the Buddle Inn up the hill; you know it has been epic when everybody wants to stop for a pint on the way home to relive the best moments of the day!

JC: What about Surfing, we heard you have been building up quite a quiver of surfboards?

Ross:  Yes, it is my little collection thing I have going on. I have a rather large section of JS boards that my brother’s shop, ‘Earth, Wind and Water’, has been dangling in front of me like a carrot in front of a donkey. In all honesty I surf all the boards I own; I like some for small front side waves and others for backside or heavier waves. It’s actually helped me understand a lot more about board shapes and rockers, so hopefully I can put some of those feelings across into some new windsurfing shapes for Tabou.

JC: What about the cold water, has this reduced your normal amount
of water time?  

Ross:  I didn’t think it was really that cold this winter, and if you got the right equipment then you can deal with it. I was staying in the water for up to four hours a session. Essential to me is being warm, so make sure you choose a decent wetsuit. Mystic have totally styled me out and I know I am lucky for that. I am fortunate to have a few winter Mystic Majestic and Legend’s so I try and make sure I put on a dry wettie. A few times I have been caught out by being lazy and not taking them in to dry overnight and then surfed a dawnie and had to suck it up.

JC: Having spent a winter in the UK – what are your tips for maximising winter UK sessions

Ross: I think the most important thing is to be prepared, that means to be really on it with the forecast, the best tides, waves and wind. The conditions can change quickly and you might need to react and change spots. I also always make sure I have at least a couple of dry wetsuits, water and food, so I maximise my sessions. Wind and rain can be off putting if you are cold so being well rested and warm before and during your beach trips can help motivate. I find also that sailing with a bunch of your friends helps you stay motivated and not notice the harsh climate!

JC: You have a pretty trick van, does that make winter sailing more pleasant?

Ross: I have had my van a bit more kitted out for my UK demands, I wanted to be free to travel and make the most of conditions, so I need the van to be liveable in. I have a large storage space separate from the living area, as it’s no good having your wet gear in where you sleep and eat. This space can hold about 8 boards and 15 rolled up sails and masts, kites, surfboards, whatever you need. And then in the front is the living area. The van is insulated and has a sick heater and water tank that is connected to an outside shower, which is also heated . Then I have a sink and some hobs for cooking, lots of cupboard space for clothing and equipment, (cooking and camera.). Then the most important thing, the bed! It is the most comfortable big bed I have ever had with a memory foam mattress. There is also another pull out bed and small table for eating. I only really use these things when I am on the road and off the island. If I am going local, then I think the most useful thing has been the ability to get changed in the warm and not having to suffer the cold, wet, dirty ground outside!

JC: Do you tune your gear any differently for UK conditions ? 

Ross: I don’t usually tune my gear differently, I have my style and that’s that. The wind is maybe more dense in the winter time so it can feel harder, so maybe you find yourself using slightly smaller equipment. This winter I found that the wind was actually pretty clean in the UK until the end of January, and then it seemed to become a little gustier and more unpredictable. I like to sail with a fully powered sail so I am always up and planing around.

So for me I look for a good, light feeling, controllable 5 batten sail that’s really comfortable to sail in the upper wind limits. From my experience, a good 5 batten sail is the key to enjoying your sailing in the maximum amount of wind ranges. That’s not to say that the 3 or 4 batten sails are not great sails, just that in the Manic 5 batten sail I feel we have the best of all worlds, it’s super light and soft, which helps let the sail breathe easily and pump to get the low end power, even if you do not feel the sail pulling, it’s discreetly efficient. At the high end, it’s for sure one of the fastest, most stable sails you can hope to use.

“ you know it has been epic when everybody wants to stop for a pint on the way home ! ”

JC: Thruster or quad for UK conditions?

Ross: Again this is quite a personal decision and depends on your board shapes. I use Thrusters, for my style they work the best with the compact ‘pocket’ shaped boards I ride. The Tabou pocket waves are easy planing, stable, flattish rocker and have thin rails that cut into the choppy water. This helps me get away with using lower volume boards. I would say that a lot of normal UK wave sailors would benefit from keeping it simple. Maybe too many of them get pushed too soon into taking multi fin boards, where they would actually make more progress if they kept to single fin boards that get going quickly and are stable.

JC: What are your ambitions for the forthcoming season?

Ross: Top five in slalom would be awesome! I would like our brands to be successful and for everyone who chooses one of our products to be stoked! Oh and maybe some surfing and wave travel trips! They are good for the mind!

JC: What about the future, how do you see your career developing?

Ross: The new role is great, I am very happy to be working within the company. Also the role as international team manager has been fun, I want to be useful and help out the company and the riders as best I can. I know how everything works, I have been with both brands now for fifteen years. We are becoming stronger and stronger each year. Thomas was world champion and Gaastra won the Constructor’s title, so 2014 was a solid year, I hope 2015 will be even better! I want to do what I am doing and keep windsurfing for as long as possible. At some point the international competing will stop, but I hope to continue to work and be of valuable service to the brands for many more years.

JC: Finally, what is your advice for budding young pros.

Ross: Watch the videos online, dream big, practice hard, always make sure you are enjoying your sailing and push your own limits every session!

The post ROSS WILLIAMS – WIGHT WINTER ! appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

Congratulations to Ross Williams on his win at the 2015 Tiree Wave Classic. Phil Horrocks was second and Andy Chambers came in third. Check out the day 5 video for what went down…

The post ROSS WILLIAMS WINS TIREE appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

ROUND THE ISLE OF WIGHT – HOMEWARD BOUND

After Windsurf’s Famous Five coast run from Weymouth to Lulworth, I mentioned to Ross Williams perhaps we should try a downwinder back home on the Isle of Wight. My idea was to cruise from Yarmouth on the far north west of the island round to Sandown Bay on the south east; quite an ambitious run of around 25-30 miles. But upon hearing the plan Ross casually brushed it aside and announced he wanted to go all the way – round the island! Armed with a decent safety boat and an experienced driver, here’s how our circumnavigation went down!

Words & Photos JOHN CARTER

(This feature originally appeared in the November Descember 2015 issue of Windsurf Magazine. To read more features like this first, Print and Digital subscriptions are available. Prices include delivery globally for 10 x issues a year!)

Round the Isle of Wight is approximately 60 miles as the crow flies and a gruelling challenge to navigate upwind, downwind and the island’s notorious tides. In many ways ‘going all the way’ made sense; since one way or another we would have to return to where we started; so why not just do the full lap on the water. Plus neither of us had ever circumnavigated the island before, so it was a box we both felt needed to be ticked. It just so happened the perfect forecast loomed up on the longest day of the year, June 21st to be precise, the summer solstice; obviously we were hoping not to need the full 16 hours of daylight to round the island but having the extra time was useful while we waited for the sea breeze to kick in. Using the data from my camera files I was able to record the exact times of each photograph, thus giving us the correct timing at every stage in the journey; here is our ship’s log!

12:00 – Ross rocks up at my house slightly hungover. It’s not often he gets to catch up with his friends in Ventnor so a few beers had gone down on Saturday night. As for me, I am all packed, camera gear wrapped in plastic bags and some Scooby snacks and drinks loaded into our waterproof cooler. The tide charts were showing high water at 4pm, so as long as we made it round the far west tip of the island within a couple of hours of departure, we should theoretically hit the outgoing tide as we head back up the Solent into wind for the top half of the island; easy!

13:52 – Ross steps into the water at Colwell Bay armed with his largest slalom quiver, a 9.6m GA Vapour and 130 litre Tabou Manta and 46 F-Hot fin ready for an 80 odd mile marathon. He probably would have switched last minute for his 8.4m had I not insisted we take a spare sail just in case in the boat; oops sorry! The weather forecast was calling for 15 to 18 knots but it was already gusting well over twenty in the Solent and looking pretty choppy upwind. Overhead the sky was overcast with patchy clouds but a few glimpses of blue showing on the horizon seemed to promise that the sun would shine at some point on our journey. I am all loaded in the 5.5m RIB with driver James Meaning and assistant Caroline, all nice and dry and ready for this epic adventure.

14:17 – It only takes twenty five minutes to reach the Needles, the far tip of our diamond shaped island, by which time Ross has realized he is totally stacked on his 9.6m and everyone in the boat is utterly drenched from head to toe. Short spaced standing waves over a metre tall make for a hellish rounding in the boat. Ross is clinging on to the 9.6m and scouring at me in the boat for stealing the 8.4m. We have been to the Needles a couple of times before but never ventured round the giant white cliffs down towards the western side of the island. Personally, I felt once round the daunting cliffs at this extremity of the island, the real excitement would begin.

No matter how many times I have ventured out to the Needles, it is impossible not to be dazzled by the stunning scenery of this iconic landmark. The jagged white rocks that rise up to the 120 metre tall cliffs are mother-nature’s offering, but throw in a 31 metre tall man made red and white lighthouse complete with helicopter landing pad on the roof, and the view from the water was jaw dropping.
Ross – “The equipment was already a bit of a handful, I wasn’t getting slammed but it was kind of close! Even from Colwell to the Needles was a fair old distance so I suddenly started realizing what I had let myself in for. Around the Needles the sea was brutal and I was way overpowered on the 9.6m. I could tell Carter wanted me to keep passing the lighthouse for more photos but I did it twice and that was enough, if he missed it; hard cheese!”

“ The Solent has some of the most complex tides in the world, the current can be up to five knots working against you ” JC

14:37 – We make our way down past the first stretch of towering white cliffs to Freshwater Bay one of the top surfing spots on the Island. Today the water is relatively flat but when there is a large ground swell in the channel combined with low tide and north winds, this wave is world class!

Ross – “I was hoping it would flatten off after the Needles but it didn’t. Rounding the stunning cliffs at Scratchell’s Bay down to Freshwater was already a long stretch, the angle of the wind, the chop and the cliffs, it was horrific to sail. Nobody ever windsurfs up there! Those cliffs are remote and only accessible by boat. All I could see was the headland at Blackgang thirteen miles down the coast and that became my next target.”

14:47 – Making our way slowly but surely down the coast I can see Ross is having a hellish time running downwind. He was riding the board with his back foot out of the straps which looked very awkward and uncomfortable.

Ross – “It was too out of control otherwise. I wasn’t trying to go full power down that section; I was just trying to set a comfortable trim. As soon as you stick your back foot in the strap on a slalom board you are going to speed up and it becomes much harder work.
The back foot in the middle of the board over the fin, is a technique we use in formula. On those boards we have inside straps as well for this. You are able to keep the sail sheeted out and take the pressure off of your back and your arms. This way I could cruise down at a deeper angle than if my feet were out on the side of the board.”

As we passed Brook Chine I spotted former British wave sailing champion Nigel Howell out kite surfing, which was kind of a surreal moment. I heard he rarely kites these days so to catch him while he was out there was a total coincidence. Meanwhile in the boat with the wind and the swell slamming us from the side, all crew were now looking like drowned rats. Spray was flying over the boat every time we hit the chop and my main concern was keeping the cameras dry and working. Despite being soaked through to the skin I was enjoying the ride; just to be able to savour the island from this unique vantage point was totally amazing regardless of any discomfort involved.

15:10 – The next landmark was the huge cliffs at Blackgang after a long stretch of low brown sandy coastline. Back in the nineties, Tushingham’s sail designer, Ken Black, owned a cottage on the edge at the top but he woke up one morning to find his sail loft precariously hanging half over the edge following a landslide. The house was not insured and ended up going over the edge a few years later; fortunately the family had evacuated at this point!

Along with the remains of Ken’s house, these cliffs also contain the bones of many dinosaurs and other ancient reptiles from millions of year ago and are notorious stomping grounds for fossil hunters and would be geologists. Blackgang Chine, also on top of the cliffs, is one of the island’s most popular theme parks and is also the oldest amusement park in the UK.

15:19 – We make it down to the southern tip of the island and pass the infamous St Catherine’s Lighthouse, where at last we are no longer being pounded by the wind and waves in the RIB. Niton is normally a place I shoot wave sailing and surfing in the winter but today it’s a rare treat to take in these breath-taking surroundings from the water.

Ross – “The wind was accelerating around the points so I just took my time and tried to relax. My legs were already quite tired, even rotating the cams was tricky sometimes. The current was strong along that stretch so I hugged close to the land. I could see rocks under me when I came on the inside at the lighthouse and the water was ripping away with the current.”

15:44 – This whole stretch of coast round to Sandown Bay, where I live, is one of my favourite stretches of coast on the island. These wild wooded ravines, chines and secluded bays, to me are the island’s very own version of Jurassic Park, with many areas untouched and uninhabited due to landslides, slippery clay and inaccessibility.  We finally blast into Ventnor and once Ross sniffs out a crowd of beachgoers are watching, suddenly he is flying full speed towards the shore line and throwing gybes close to shore; bloody show off! Personally, I think Ventnor is the most beautiful populated coastal town on the island, with its Victorian hotels and houses standing proudly and looking out to sea on the green hillsides.

Ross – “I was still relatively ok at this stage but the thought did cross my mind to sail straight in and go have a pint at one of the beachfront pubs. I was looking forwards to getting round to Sandown Bay where hopefully the conditions would be a bit smoother. Just after Ventnor, the coast at Luccombe was spectacular, the cliffs were all black and the water was turquoise. I was just so powered up that I could not enjoy the scenery the way I wanted to.”

15:19 – Once we were round Horseshoe Ledge at Luccombe, Ross made his one and only pit stop of the journey. Ten minutes to neck down a bottle of water and devour a mars bar and a bag of cheese and onion crisps and he was refuelled and ready to go again!  I could tell from his body language that the 9.6m was a handful but he knew that for his personal sense of achievement and dignity, he was not going to change down. Whatever equipment he started on, he was determined to finish on, no matter what!

Ross – “In Sandown Bay the conditions were more manageable and I was able to blast across the bay in no time. That part of the sailing was actually awesome, there were some guys out blasting on wave sails at Yaverland but I was still holding down my 9.6m. Apparently, it was gusting over 30 knots when I crossed the bay, the sea breeze must have kicked in as the weather cleared. I knew there would be people watching in so I could not really go slow or take it easy; so I put my foot on the gas. My dad spotted us from the beach; he had just gone for a walk after locking the shop up which was cool. I also had several messages on Facebook of people that had seen my blue and orange sail passing their local hangouts, it is amazing how word spreads on the island. I was more comfortable hammering my board in this flatter water than on the west side which was super rough. I probably put more pressure on my board that day than I would in a whole season so I wanted to be a bit more light footed on it.”

“ Round the Isle of Wight is approximately 60 miles as the crow flies and a gruelling challenge to navigate ”  JC

16:38 – Our circumnavigation was providing a perfect viewing platform to study all the changes in the rock formations around the coast. From the white limestone based chalk that runs through the island, to the red sandy cliffs along the west side, the grey sandstone around Blackgang to the gault black clay around Luccombe, around every corner a new fascinating formation would reveal itself.

Ross – “Around Culver Cliff was a spectacular area to sail and I was in a more comfortable stance at last to enjoy the sailing. I don’t normally sail around that part of the island so it was cool to see this stretch of coast from the water. The island is such a beautiful place and finally I had a chance to appreciate it.”

17:00 – Turning the corner at Bembridge we entered a totally different style of coast. We had left the dramatic unspoilt cliffs along the southern shores behind in favour of the quaint yachty seaside resorts on the eastern tip of the island. Coming up the Solent was far more comfortable in the boat and we were able to hammer full speed in the offshore wind, barely able to keep up with Ross who was on a massive reach headed all the way towards Portsmouth. The Solent was a whole new world, filled with ferries, boats, hovercrafts and ancient forts. The sun was shining, the water was flat and we were all cranking along full power, making great headway as we started the home leg back west towards Colwell Bay.

Ross – “After rounding Culver it felt like the wind bent around the island, so Whitecliff Bay, Forelands and all the way round to Fishbourne I did in one huge reach. At Fishbourne I put a tack in just to put me back closer to the shore. That part was pretty quick and I thought that I’d be home in another thirty minutes. I was on a tight reach sailing close to the wind; which is more like I am used to sailing on a slalom board. My equipment felt really comfortable on this stretch. I was just sitting there without too much effort and still flying pretty fast”

17:41 – Just as we hit Cowes, it just so happened, the 300 metre long Arcadia Cruise ship was heading out from Southampton water. Not one to miss a photo opportunity I asked James to position our boat close to the turning point so we could snap Ross as he headed out of Cowes. By this point I don’t think Ross was particularly interested in hanging about to score the perfect shot, especially as the wind was nuking down the Solent combined with an almighty chop from the tide racing out back up towards the Needles. We just happened to be lucky the tides had worked in our favour, as the currents, eddy’s and hazards in the Solent are so notorious they could have thwarted the mission completely.

Ross – “Cowes was really windy, super choppy and horribly rough. It was wind against tide at this stage and though the tide was with me, this was the worst stretch. I did not want to stop because I thought I might give up once I lost the momentum. I just had to get it done. It was much flatter around this side but there were still some cool little areas, I sailed past Osborne House the former home of Queen Victoria, passed all the Wightlink and Red Funnel car ferries and blasted right by the infamous Royal yacht squadron on Cowes seafront”

18:32 – For the final stretch of the Solent from Cowes back up to Colwell, the clouds started to thicken and while we could straight line it in the boat, close to the shore and out of the chop, poor Ross was beating upwind, blasting far out into the Solent as he slowly clawed his way to the finish line. Far in the distance we could just see a headland, which was Hurst Castle, and that stretch seemed to drag on forever. In the boat I had four cans of beer in the cooler but was determined not to crack one open until we had completed the circumnavigation; torture!

Ross – “The last stretch was all beating into wind. I was on a slalom board which was not the perfect tool for going upwind. By that time my ankles were feeling the strain. I would sail on one tack for as long as I could stand it and then tack and just keep zigzagging up the Solent. As it became narrower I was pretty much doing runs right across to the mainland which was kind of cool. I shortened my harness lines to bring me closer to the boom so I could get more lift off the fin. I used my body and my legs and kind of twisted myself to get that board flying upwind. The more power you can generate then generally you can point higher upwind. From Cowes to Colwell Bay that last leg seemed to go on forever. I don’t think I would have been able to make it if I had been going against the tide. The Solent has some of the most complex tides in the world, complicated by the fact it has two entrances and Southampton water running up the middle, the current can be up to five knots working against you, so making headway against it would have been tough and added hours to the passage. It was hard work even with the tide, I could see the headland at Hurst castle and it was miles away but I knew Colwell was even further than that.”

19:03 – Finally after five hours eleven minutes, Ross blasted into Colwell and stepped off his board with a huge smile on his face, mission accomplished! In fact that was pretty much the first time I had seen him smile since he set off from Colwell at two in the afternoon. The record for round the island is held by a multihull yacht called Foncia which managed to go round in an astonishing two hours, twenty one minutes, averaging 21.3 knots; now that is pretty impressive, less than half the time we had taken. Given the wind direction and the fact he was overpowered all the way round, there is no doubt Ross could easily knock an hour or more off his time if he ever fancies another bash at the record. A northerly or southerly with favourable tides should be the ideal direction, but I don’t think I’ll be asking him in the very near future especially on a 9.6m.

Ross – “It was awesome to finally be back on shore. I immediately thought to myself thank god for that, I’ll never do it again! At that moment, I was spent; I had just sailed 100 miles! Even so, it would be kind of weird to go through my career without being able to say I have sailed around the island. It would have been nicer on smaller gear and with another person but the day just came up, we went for it and I knuckled down and made sure I completed the mission!.”

The post ROSS WILLIAMS – ROUND THE ISLE OF WIGHT appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

Dark December greeted me: pouring rain, blasting winds, dark skies by 3:30 in the afternoon, freezing temperatures, huge waves, no one on the water, hoodie, booties, gloves, and a 6mm wetsuit. Not exactly an ideal windsurfing trip. The planning had started nearly a year and half ago when I was super gung-ho about returning to Denmark to windsurf. In 2010, I competed in a PWA event at Klitmoller in the best conditions I have ever had in Europe. I longed to go back; this is the story of my return.

Words  Kevin Pritchard  //  Photos  Mark Wengler

Operation Viking

With the Aloha Classic ended and my commitments for the year finished, WindGuru lit up with an epic storm hitting the North Danish coast. One problem: December is winter and winter is cold in Denmark. Living on Maui with year-round 25 degrees Celsius, I am not accustomed to seasons or winter cold. A little naive, I decided to book the trip. “Sure it will be cold, but I am a man, and I can  handle the cold” is what I told myself. Oh you little Maui boy…if you only knew the truth.

I um-ed and ah-ed and finally booked my flight with just 8 hours until departure. Stoked with joy to be going back to one of my favourite places, I headed down to Ho’okipa to ride some last-minute waves. The waves were big, and the wind was strong; and in the back of my mind I doubted my decision to leave the paradise of Maui. But with that reasoning, I would never leave Maui. Time to break the monotony. And so the journey began. Maui to San Francisco, San Francisco to Washington DC, DC to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Aallborg. 8,670 miles flown. I planned to arrive at 12:30pm, pick up the rental car, and meet my friend Lars at the beach at 2:30 to go sailing. Reality hit as soon I landed in Aallborg. Reality was a 50 knot gust of frozen rain into my face. And even at 12:30 the sun was nearly set. What had I got myself into?
Cold Hawaii?

They call this region “Cold Hawaii”, but at that moment I only saw Cold, not Hawaii. On the way to the beach, I could not see 10 feet in front of me. Rain flew sideways against the car. Even with the heater on full blast, the cold hit my bones. My courage dwindled towards fear. “I have to go windsurfing in this???” At the beach, the local windsurfers were just finishing a session still covered in booties, gloves, and hoodies. It all looked miserable to me. But when I looked closer, I saw that the stoke warmed their faces. This was the same stoke that drives me everyday I get on the water. Except, unlike me, these guys are hardcore. Without a doubt, windsurfing on the North Sea in December for fun is hard core.

A group of about 6 guys live in north Denmark for the wintertime wind and swell. And believe it or not, they actually enjoy windsurfing in the cold. Lars Petersen is one of these long-time locals. I knew him back in the PWA days, and we reunited for this trip. He eats, breaths, and sleeps Danish windsurfing. He greeted me with a smile and a very cold handshake. My mind was still saying, “oh sh*t I am not sure I can handle this”. I had arrived too late to score a session on that first day, which was already becoming night at 3pm. I felt lucky, like I had just dodged a bullet by not having to go out but hoped that the storm would last for a few more days of conditions.

The house shook all night. My nerves were high, my jet lag was high, and my fear was high. The next day started with an 8:30 am cup of coffee with Lars. Oh, I should mention that the sun did not rise until 9:30. Full of coffee and some Danish pastries, I was fired up for windsurfing. The house shook in the wind, and I took that as a good sign for the day.

At the beach, the ocean was empty of people but full of waves and wind. Mast high swells pumped, and side-offshore wind blew the white of the waves into the air. I rigged and dressed in my 6mm wetsuit, booties, gloves and a hoodie. As I put my board in the water, I thought “this is not so bad, I am actually warm”. But once sailing, the cold rain pelted my face, and with the thick rubber gloves my hands could not grip the boom and my forearms swelled. Soon I lost my balance and found myself swimming in the cold, dark North Sea. “You’re not in Maui anymore!” The frigid water crept down my spine, and my body hunched in on itself, trying to survive the cold. “Relax, breathe, get back on the board and get past the waves” I told myself. Gusting to 40 knots with patches of wind around 5 knots, I needed all my energy just to sail straight. Ho’okipa has a channel where no waves break that we use to get to the outside. Cold Hawaii showed me no channel, just walls of white-water. I had yet to see a resemblance to my paradise home. Once on the outside, my arms were pumped up and exhausted as if I had just sailed for 3 hours without a harness. Breathe breathe breathe became pant pant pant. I gybed onto a massive wave, and I could not believe how foreign my gear felt. I rigged everything the same as the day before on Maui, but the weight and stiffness of the extra rubber made every action different. I spun out every time a gust hit, thrown sideways with no control in the cold. Valhalla

I charged down the line of that first wave, dropped in, and remembered the reason I love windsurfing. The same gusty offshore winds that made getting out so difficult were now glassing off the wave, smoothing it into perfect butter. Down the line I went, getting five or six turns and a finishing aerial. Thirty two hours of travel later and one wave took all the pain away. I started to feel my arms again and I got comfortable in the 6mm of rubber covering my body, finding a new balance. Lars and I traded off waves till the sun set. Arms dead, body warm, ready for a nice shower, and alive!

The next day I saw the sun for the first time of the trip. The northern latitude sun in winter is nothing like the Hawaiian sun I know back home. When not hiding behind clouds, this Danish sun sits low, moving across the horizon and never going over head. For photography, this means perfect golden light all day long. The wind took a nap that day, so we gathered the landscape and lifestyle shots that we needed for our video. I finally warmed up and felt like a Viking. This golden light, I realized, is why I dreamt about coming back to Denmark for the last 5 years. What beauty! Hills roll into grassy bowls, and the painted boats sit watching the sea rise into waves. Most of all I was struck by the people’s kindness and readiness to share their spots with the lonely tourist that I am. When the sun went back into hiding behind clouds again the next days, their bright smiles illuminated the land for me. I was surprised by the openness of the locals who shared a certain secret spot when the wind came up for just 45 minutes. That would never happen in Hot Hawaii. I felt more Aloha in this beautiful part of Denmark than at home in Hawaii.

The next few days saw unreal sailing conditions. The sun shone sometimes, and the air stayed brisk. I gradually met my inner Viking: the gloves came off, and I saved the hoodie for when I was swimming. As I got to know the area better, I could see the origin of the name “Cold Hawaii.” Lots of waves, beautiful landscapes and seascapes, and a serene rawness not found in many places on the planet. As the sun sunk on my final day, I felt a magic attached to the people and the place. There is something awesome in the state of Denmark!

The post WINTER’S TALE – THE VIKING TALE appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

Here is the official brand video of the 2017 collection.

Gaastra / Tabou 2017 Collection from Gaastra on Vimeo.

The post GAASTRA / TABOU 2017 COLLECTION appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

Ross Williams talks through about how to best rig and tune your 2017 Gaastra cambered sails.

Via Gaastra

The post CAMBERED SAILS – RIGGING appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

Earlier this spring (2016) in Maui, the GA / Tabou team, along with infiltrator Timo Mullen,  clocked into a surprise late season session at Jaws. The forecast medium sized swell by far exceeded expectations and late in the afternoon there was a golden hour, when the waves pumped over six metres and six lucky sailors scored a rare uncrowded session. John Carter and Graham Ezzy report on a lucky day at Pe’ahi.

Words  John Carter & Graham Ezzy  // 

Photos  John Carter

Originally published within the October ’16 edition.

OPEN MINDED
JC – One thing I have learned about Maui over the years is that you never know what the Pacific Ocean is going to throw at you. On one hand there can be all sorts of expectations and excitement about a massive swell looming but come the day, for one reason or another nothing develops. On the other side of the coin a mediocre swell can be predicted but all of a sudden it can pulse from logo high to mast and a half in a matter of hours. Back in the spring of 2016 we were in the midst of the GA photo shoot when such a day took Maui by surprise.

The fact there was a swell forecast was not in question. Windguru was giving around 2.3m at 14 seconds, which in my books normally means a pretty solid day at Ho’okipa. I drove up the Hana Highway first thing to check and at 7am there were absolutely zero waves rolling in on any of the reefs from Mama’s all the way up to Ho’okipa. With that in mind we made the decision to head down to Sprecks in the morning to finish off some urgently needed race and freeride shots before reconvening at Ho’okipa at three to catch the premium session on the rising swell.
By noon, I was kind of regretting the earlier call to spend the morning down the coast since during the course of a matter of hours the swell had kicked in and was already mast high and grinding. A quick chat with Thomas Traversa confirmed that the early session as the swell kicked in was all time with just a couple of guys out and the perfect size for water shots. By 1pm some of the sets were already closing across the channel next to the rocks and the likes of Jason Polakow, Robby Swift, Levi Siver, Brawzinho, Timo Mullen and Robby Naish were all out charging giant sets. This was probably the best wave day of the trip so far and we had spent the whole morning shooting hand drags and chop hops at Sprecks, doh!

BUILDING SWELL
I decided to head up the hill to join all the other photographers and kill the next few hours before our pre-arranged meeting with Thomas, Graham Ezzy, Aleix Sanllehy and Ross Williams at 3pm. Another hour passed and the swell continued to build, with some sets blanking out the horizon from beach level. In the past that has always been my benchmark where I reckon Jaws could be breaking but with no plan set in motion to head further up the coast it looked like we would be shooting Ho’okipa with the rest of the crowd. At 2.45 I found Thomas Traversa pensively gazing at the waves from the shade of the tree in front of the lifeguard tower obviously thinking along the same lines as me. ‘I reckon that’s almost Jaws size’ I randomly remarked not really expecting any major reaction from Thomas. But his reply was immediate, ‘Ok let’s go’ and off he went to de-rig and load up his truck like a man possessed.

Right at that moment Jason Polakow walked past and I shouted over to him ‘Hey ‘Pozza’ is that big enough for Jaws?’ He was obviously busy changing boards in the midst of the JP shoot but hollered back ‘Err yeah could be a couple of small ones sneaking in up there’. One thing I did not want to do at this stage was blow the whole day on a wild goose chase up to Jaws and with no jet ski or rescue cover in place, we could easily waste a few hours going up to check without any plan on how anybody would launch or be able to sail it. A few minutes later Timo came in off the water and when I mentioned that we might be heading up to the ‘Big J’, his eyes lit up as he rushed off to derig shouting ‘Don’t leave without me, whatever you do!’ I know sailing Jaws has been on Timo’s bucket list for a few years and maybe this was his one shot and there was no way he was going to miss out.

By this time, there was no stopping Thomas, his mind was set and by the time the rest of the crew rolled up for the 3pm meeting I was feeling the pressure that this day was going to be a write off. Ross was shaking his head with an obvious look of disapproval when he heard of the possible Jaws check, while Graham Ezzy seemed open to the idea but wanted to launch from the lighthouse and sail up, which apparently would require a 4 wheel drive which none of us had! Cut a long story short, and thirty minutes later the whole GA team, plus Timo were up on the cliffs overlooking Jaws desperately trying to fathom how big the sets down below actually were. We were alone on the hill. Not one other surfer, windsurfer or tourist had come up to even check it.
Most of the waves seemed to be barely breaking but Thomas reckoned he had seen one bigger set just before we arrived. With only a few hours of light remaining the clock was ticking but Thomas seemed totally relaxed and happy to just sit tight and wait. Another twenty minutes passed before a slightly bigger set reared up and then kind of faded. This certainly wasn’t the kind of day that would break big wave records but for the likes of Timo, Aleix and Cederic Bordes it was probably the perfect day to pop their Jaws cherry and tick it off the list!

GREEN LIGHT
Finally Thomas declared he was going for it and reached into the back of his car to grab his 4m, tiny wave board, harness, mast, boom and deck-plate. Once his decision was made, that was it; Lecky Gayda, Aleix and Timo all followed the Frenchman on the steep descent down to the water, all kind of oblivious to the dangers of launching off the rocks down below. Graham was slightly apprehensive, since he is more of a Maui local, has sailed Jaws before and knows the dangers this place can serve up, even on a so called ‘small day’. Were the guys being reckless doing this whole thing spontaneously with no on water safety? I was pretty sure Tommy T could handle himself in a big wave situation but as for Lecky and Cederic, who knows what could happen if either sailor had to take one on the head out there.

By 3.45pm Traversa had lead the way and jumped off the boulders while the others nervously watched his fate. He just crept out through the surging waves without getting pounded. Within two or three minutes he was already out to the line-up and setting himself up for his first wave. Last time I saw Thomas sail at Jaws he was incredibly impressive and by the looks of the way he approached his first ride, today he was not going to mess about either, charging deep from behind the peak with no fear whatsoever. With Tommy T belting a solid mast and a half Pe’ahi special straight off the bat, the others were left with no choice but to follow suit. After witnessing the first wave of Thomas, Graham Ezzy had to rush back up to grab his gear, there was no way he was going to miss out on the session no matter what risks they were taking.

LUCKY SIX
By 4.15 there were now six guys out on the water, Thomas, Timo, Lecky, Aleix, Graham and Cederic Bordes and the sets were starting to become much more consistent. Most of the waves are what the locals would call ‘small’ Jaws but still over mast and a half with a perfect channel. From the top of the cliff it was easy to spot the bigger sets looming up on the horizon and around every 30 mins there would be the occasional rogue bigger swell which not only had a solid peak but also connected through to the infamous west bowl. I was just keeping my fingers crossed that everybody would stay as safe as possible and not go for any ridiculous moves. But minutes after that thought, Lecky took off on the wrong side of the peak on one of the medium sets and the next minute I see him straighten and then go down engulfed in the white water. Without a ski to haul him out he was on his own and I was relived to spot him five minutes later swimming for the inside clinging on to what was left of his sail. By 5pm with just over an hour daylight left, a proper grinding set marched its way through the line-up. Tommy T was on the first wave of the set while Timo, Cederic and Graham were stacked up ready to take their turns accordingly. As per his ridiculous approach to sailing any sized waves, Thomas was stupidly deep and screamed into a bottom turn right in front of a treble mast high roaring section. Aleix charged through on the next wave on the conveyor belt and once again came straight down the face in front of an avalanche of heavy white water. Next up was Timo, I am not sure if he was aware this one had a chunkier west bowl looming in front of him. As he took his line towards the channel the wave just started wrapping towards him and barrelling behind him. It kind of reminded me of a famous moment back in the day when Josh Angulo caught a similar wave, took off his hand and stared straight back into the pit. From the looks of things, Timo’s priorities were more set on making it out to the channel and luckily he survived the wave unscathed and I am sure he was probably hollering out loud after that ride. The set was not over, Cederic the GA slalom racer was on the last wave and came charging down the line almost oblivious to his surroundings. I know Cederic has been sailing big waves with Thomas through the winter so maybe the thought of riding Jaws was not fazing him. But this wave was probably the biggest and meanest of all with a beautiful clean face and hollow end section. With Thomas jealously watching from the channel, Cederic took his wave bravely and made it out to safety unscathed.

THE GOLDEN HOUR
By this time I think the likes of Timo and Aleix were happy to survive the mission so they headed back down to Ho’okipa leaving just Graham, Cederic and Thomas alone for the last forty minutes until sunset. Right on cue with their departure, the next big set hammered through, this time with Graham Ezzy dropping into a huge clean wave with the west bowl throwing over into a cavernous gaping barrel behind him. Meanwhile Traversa on the wave behind changed his angle of attack and drove his brand new Tabou right under the throat of the main section, hitting it square on. Up on the cliffs, the show was simply awesome to watch. For the last thirty minutes Traversa seemed to go on a mission and was charging at the lip on every wave. Meanwhile the light was crystal clear as the warm evening sun dipped towards the crest of the West Maui Mountains. I really wish I could have been down in the water experiencing some of these waves from the channel but this whole session had been so spontaneous and last minute I was thankful enough to score a front row seat at the top of the cliffs. The last three sailors sailed until almost dark at Jaws before heading off towards Ho’okipa in the fading light.

THIRSTY WORK
I packed up my cameras and headed straight out through the sugar cane fields, onto the Hana Highway and then straight to the nearest liquor store and loaded up with two cases of beer. I was pretty certain the boys would have worked up a thirst and would be stoked after scoring this rare last season session at Jaws with just six guys out. By the time I drove into the parking lot at Ho’okipa it was pitch black, I was thankful to see all the crew were back from Jaws all safe and smiling, especially when I produced two cases of coronas.

Graham was slightly annoyed because it was the first time he had sailed Pe’ahi without hitting the lip but at the same time he reckoned it was easily the cleanest he has ever sailed there and he still scored a few memorable bombs. Timo was ecstatic, I knew sailing Jaws was one of his windsurfing ambitions but to score that one particular wave that caverned over in his wake was even more of a special bonus. Thomas was happy to be reunited with his wife and daughter at Ho’okipa and was definitely buzzing after charging a couple of those massive lips. I’ve seen a few top quality sailors riding Jaws in my time but Traversa somehow is in a league of his own and almost treats it like sailing a logo high beach break rather than a triple mast high ‘life or death’ threatening monster. I felt a bit sorry for Ross who was unable to sail because of an injured ankle but it was still cool to see he was genuinely stoked for his teammates after they had scored Jaws, especially during the GA/Tabou photo shoot. Needless to say, we happily sat around at Ho’okipa until most of the beers were polished off, but after scoring waves like that who could really blame us!

GRAHAM EZZY
Rivers of sweat washed the sunscreen off my face. The day was not hot and the only activity I engaged in was watching a bunch of tourists launch off the rocks at Jaws. I sweat the watery, odourless sweat of saunas – the perspiration of fear. I was scared. A relentless and barrelling shore break hit the rocks that are the beach at Jaws. The tourists were in the process of swimming out with their windsurfing gear.  The “beach” at Jaws is not really a beach but a gulch carved by the stream that flows from the Kaupakalua reservoir to the sea. There is no sand, only slippery boulders. The path down to sea level is a steep winding trail through ironwood pine trees, which are skinny and stunted from the sea-air.

After 20 minutes of waiting while holding his rigged windsurfer, Thomas Traversa scrambled like a crab across the rocks towards the ocean and swam holding on to his back footstrap to drag his equipment with him – the windline sat forty metres off the shore. The shorebreak paused for only 20 seconds, barely giving Thomas enough time to reach safety before the waves returned. Aleix Sanllehy attempted launching after Thomas. He mistimed and a man-high white water climbed over him and pushed him back and beneath his sail. He tried to stand but his foot was stuck between boulders and the weight of the sea pressed against the surface area of his sail. I turned away because I did not want to see his leg break. I climbed back up the cliff to my pickup truck.
Maybe my recollection sounds melodramatic, but you must understand that this is the scale of Jaws. Everything is bigger and more powerful – the consequences more dire, more real.
On Maui, tourists are always doing stupid shit and dying. The rules of engagement don’t always make sense to outsiders. Currents can’t be seen, and certain tourists think it ridiculous that they would be unable to swim back to shore. Yet, an Olympic swimmer drowned on Maui while swimming against a current. Same with flash floods. It rains on Maui more than almost anywhere else in the world, and that water can come rushing down dry river beds and carry people and cars into rocks and off cliffs and into the sea. “It looks fine. I can handle a little flooding,” is a common reaction to the “Flash Flooding Warning” signposts on the trailheads after a heavy rain. And despite my current morbidity, most of these tourists don’t actually die. They hike, the flood never comes, and life goes on. But when the floods do flash, the water knocks over their Jeep Wranglers and they drown. Those who live are just lucky. The survivors are not brave, just ignorant of the danger.

The whole problem is that most of the time, nothing happens. But when something does happen, the consequences can be catastrophic. The local rules are heuristics passed down from generation to generation – a collective wisdom.  One of these rules is that locals don’t launch off the rocks at Jaws. I’m not sure why. It’s just something we don’t do. I have sailed Jaws more times than I can count, but until that day, I’d never launched off the rocks at the base of the Pe’ahi cliff. I guess the shorebreak is too powerful and the current too strong. Luck becomes too big of a factor. Locals go to Jaws with boats or jet skis. Or, we launch elsewhere – Ho’okipa, Maliko, the Lighthouse. I have a favourite spot to launch, just to the right of the rocks at the Haiku Lighthouse where Robby Naish famously launched in the movie RIP (see YouTube). But ever since the timing chain blew on my Land Rover, I’ve been without a vehicle capable of making the off-road drive through the pineapple fields to the Lighthouse. I grew up swimming off the north shore cliffs. On winter nights, the thunder of Jaws could be heard from my crib. I’ve had to swim in from Jaws after crashing and breaking my gear. And yet, I was scared to go off the rocks – I was more scared to go off the rocks than to sail Jaws. And I was scared for these tourists who were also my friends.

DANGER
Thomas Traversa is the most experienced big wave windsurfer of my generation. I don’t know another human who can read the ocean better than Thomas. Despite that, there was a moment as he swam off the rocks when a wave rose up and I held my breath. Thomas escaped but only by centimetres. The others who planned to launch – Cedric, Aleix, and Aleksy Gayda – were much less experienced in big waves and tricky launches. With no boats or jet skis, there would be no ocean rescue if anything went wrong. Every man for himself. It’s not that I thought they could not handle the situation; I knew that they did not fully understand the risk of what we were doing.

Jaws is easy, which makes it dangerous. Most places, when the waves are big, the ocean becomes survival-at-sea – the currents become freight trains, the channels disappear, the waves close out into a single explosive line of erupting white water. Once the waves at Ho’okipa go above 6 metres, the best windsurfers in the world struggle to make it out past the breaking waves. In contrast, even when the waves are bigger than a building, on either side of the wave at Jaws is a channel as calm as a swimming pool. Everything is easy, unless something goes wrong. The waves were not massive when Polakow was held under the water at Jaws for over a minute – while he was wearing a flotation vest.

After I launched and had caught a few waves myself, I saw Aleksy crash a crash that could have killed him. As I sailed back out in the channel, he rode towards the shore on a wave small for that day but huge anywhere else (over 6 metres). He was too deep, too far behind the peak of the wave. That day was windy and the wave was not too large, and Aleksy could have used the power of the wind to speed in front of and around the breaking wave into the safety of the channel. To my surprise, he instead went upwind and further into the no-man’s land. As he slowly turned more and more into the wind, my surprise turned to leaden dread – a wipeout was unavoidable. The wave rolled past me and began to break, and Aleksy went out of my view, still heading upwind, heading to nowhere but a wipeout. Worried, I kept watching. Eventually, Aleksy and his pink sail popped out of the whitewater wake of the wave – separated by a distance of 50 metres or more. The next waves pushed Aleksy’s rig onto the rocks at the base of the cliff. I knew Aleksy was still in the water, somewhere to the left of where the wave breaks from the perspective of a surfer in the water looking back at the land. I wanted to help Aleksy, but he was too far inside and too far upwind to reach with a windsurfer. I could have sailed upwind until where the wind died and then swam to where I thought Aleksy to be, but I would have been impotent to offer any real assistance. I would have just been there to keep him company, an act of solidarity, rather than a rescue. Half of the Tabou crew were stood on the Jaws rocks, but they too would be unable to help Aleksy – any attempt at rescue would be futile. With no jet skis or boats, he was on his own.
There was nothing I could do – nothing anyone could do – to help Aleksy. Maybe he was already dead or broken or scared to death trying to find a way to put land under his feet. So I continued my session.

SMOOTH
Even though the waves were relatively small, they were the cleanest waves I have ever ridden at Jaws. Often, the wave faces at Jaws resemble a mogul run from the ski mountain, and the bottom turn is all about not bouncing. But that day, the clean faces meant that it was possible to do a powerful bottom turn. A good bottom turn is the gateway to everything off the lip, which meant that I was able to carve cutbacks in the pockets formed below the lip in the moments when it starts to hurtle forward. Thomas one-upped me and hit the breaking lip as if the waves were mast-high.
“Just one more set,” Thomas and I kept saying to each other. Soon, the sun had set and only Thomas, Cedric, and I were left. We planned to sail the 11 kms down to Ho’okipa and meet our girlfriends and the rest of the Tabou team on the beach. We each wanted the feeling of riding one more set wave – a feeling that we might not have again for another year or two, or ever.
We waited, and we waited. But the longer we waited, the more the wind lightened and the more the sky darkened. The point of a guaranteed safe sail back to Ho’okipa had passed by half an hour. The one more set wave never came. We three sailed downwind to Ho’okipa. The wind was so weak that we could not plane the last half of the journey. We arrived at Ho’okipa, which normally takes less than ten minutes, after over twenty minutes. The sun had set so long ago that we could barely see the lines of the unbroken waves and the wind was so light that we balanced on our boards with one foot in front of the mast track. Eventually, all three of us caught a wave and rode it in as far as possible. The wind had completely died close to shore, and we had to swim the last bit into the beach.  The lights from the city of Kahului twinkled down the coast, and the first stars of the night were already shining brightly between the clouds. Full of that indescribable feeling only a windsurfer knows after a good session, we met the rest of the crew who had picked up ice cold Coronas. Aleksy, to my relief, was alive and uninjured.  He managed – through luck or adrenaline-fueled awareness – to come ashore in the safest point of the whole Jaws coastline, a little alcove upwind of where we launched, and he hiked across the cliff base back to where we started. He was calmly perplexed by his luck.

The next day, with the euphoria faded and fallen into an endorphin hangover, I was disappointed that I had not been more aggressive and hit the lip for a big aerial. Everyone talks about the ego-stoke of individual-centred action sports like windsurfing, but no one mentions the ego-drain, the ego-suffocate, the ego-shame that is the inevitable yin to the yang.  I’m not religious, but riding Jaws comes close to being a religious experience. Riding a Jaws wave is to be part of something so much more powerful than yourself, you become insignificant. But at the same time, in riding the wave, you become part of the wave, part of a force so inhumanely powerful. The self disappears in the power of the wave and becomes the wave at the same time – but only for an instant. And then life goes back to normal until the next set wave, which is what we are still looking for. Just one more. Just one more.

“ Riding a Jaws wave is to be part of something so much more powerful than yourself, you become insignificant ”

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New stylish edit from Jamie Hancock with Graham Ezzy in Portugal.

Guincho from jamie hancock on Vimeo.

The post GUINCHO | JAMIE HANCOCK appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

Another slick edit from Jamie Hancock. This time in Irealnd with Timo Mullen. Enjoy..

Ireland from jamie hancock on Vimeo.

The post IRELAND | JAMIE HANCOCK appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

Words Leon Jamaer

// Photos  Gilles Calvet

The island nation of Madagascar, off the southeast coast of Africa, was first pioneered for windsurfing in the 90s, when French lensman, adventurer and windsurfer Gilles Calvet travelled to its remote shores and found a break that inspired a lust to return. After more than two decades, Leon Jamaer and Thomas Traversa accompanied him on a trip back to discover that the passage of time has not made the journey any easier but set against our modern world of convenience, choice and comfort, the harsh reality of life in Madagascar forges an interesting and inspiring perspective.

DISCOVERY
In 1992 a young Frenchman and two of his friends travel through the south of Madagascar. Decent wind and wave statistics drew their attention towards this remote territory and they were confident that this coastline must have hidden treasures. They spent a week in Fort Dauphin, surfing, windsurfing and eventually came in contact with an influential local family. At a mutual dinner they hear a fisherman talking about his home village and the wave that breaks in front of it: “All afternoon the winds blow off the tips of the waves that break in a nice order along a rock shelf.” The newly found contacts helped them to organize an expedition. A few days later the French travellers loaded two 4×4 jeeps with water, food, tents, other supplies and, naturally, windsurfing equipment. Slowly but surely they made their way southbound across the hostile territory and finally arrived in Lavanono where they hit jackpot! “We were all amazed and knew we found something special!” said Gilles Calvet. He remembers the maiden voyage as if it was yesterday, even though the journey is now a quarter of a century in the past. Nowadays, discoveries like that are rare. The globe has been scoured for wind and waves over the last decades and nearly every corner of it has been explored and scanned. From Kamchatka in the Russian Far East to West Africa and from Iceland to Patagonia – almost every beach, bay or break has been named, filmed, photographed, described in detail and later archived online. Gilles agrees, “The number of locations that windsurfers have left untouched is shrinking. Though, the bare will to find these is shrinking too. When I ask pro windsurfers to come on a photo trip with me, in nine out of ten times their first question concerns the intensity of the travel and the chances for having a windless day.”

CONUNDRUMS
I often find myself endlessly weighing pros and cons before committing to a trip. Too many possibilities and options exist: starboard tack, port tack, hotel, bungalow, offshore, onshore, big waves, smaller waves, with or without wetsuit, travel by car or plane, around the corner or far away. It is hard to stay on track in this jungle of first world problems. Once there is a smaller selection of destinations, then the intensive research of magazines and the Internet begins. Whatever the global archives exhibit will be watched, read, compared and discussed with friends who might have been there before. One knows precisely what to expect and how the trip will turn out to be before even stepping a foot out of one’s own home. Hardly anyone ventures into the unknown anymore and, instead, returns to the same known places over and over again. The time of adventurers seems to have vanished and along with it the overwhelming moment that Gilles and his friends experienced when they saw the wave of Lavanono for the first time.

I get a call from a photographer whom I met during a contest in La Reunion a few years ago. My memories of Gilles Calvet, the insurgent who prefers to sail himself instead of taking pictures, are still bright and clear.  He says he is planning a trip to Madagascar to rediscover a wave that he found many years ago and asks if I would be interested to come along. By instinct, I ask about the travel and get “long and difficult” in reply. My mind starts spinning and I overhear the gnashing of teeth on the other side of the line.

ESCAPE
It was a hectic time at home to travel to the other side of the world. I had moved to a new flat and had to finalize my taxes, then deal with emails of marketing people of agencies that want me for a campaign to advertise cars. As payment they suggest the new currency, “Facebook-reach”, shorthand for will you do it for free? The bad weather hasn´t stopped for a while either. A cold has been constantly following me for a few weeks now and there is no sign of wind anytime soon – I know, the tough life of a pro windsurfer hey! Regardless, it´s time to escape.

At 30,000 feet we draw near to the equator. Thomas Traversa, next to me, is already asleep. I close my eyes and leave all negative thoughts behind. I try to grasp my excitement for this trip, which has been growing stronger and stronger in the last week, and then I fall asleep too. The next morning we arrive in Madagascar´s capital, Antananarivo, and take another plane to Fort Dauphin. From there we travel on land. From my German point of view our movements seem rather unorganized and improvised.
I am not sure if group leader Gilles doesn´t want to share his exact plans with us or whether he simply doesn´t have any. However, I am happy when we arrive at a campsite by nightfall. We are still far from our final destination and I am already overwhelmed by Madagascar. I saw people in their villages and huts, on the fields or, mostly it seemed, somewhere on the road. They travel, trade and transport goods, children play and many wave at us when we drive by. Some are smiling, some wear heavy expressions that must resemble their daily life I assume. With an average speed of 25 km/h we move south through vegetation that becomes more and more hostile, people and cattle appear thin and starved.

We cross a dry riverbed. Women dig for the last bits of water to wash their clothes. I realize my first world problems must be far away from the people here who actually have real struggles. Lavanono is a small village with a church, school, shop and lots of simple huts where a few hundred, mostly fishermen, live. The tribe is called Antandroy and gather in the main on the beach and centre their life around the sea. They seem to accept us and are happy to share the ocean. Every morning the fishermen swarm out with their tiny canoes while we play in the beautiful waves. They need the sea to feed their families whereas we use it for pure pleasure. Even though our motives are so vastly different, the people seem to like the commitment that we put into our outlandish looking activity called windsurfing. Some try to resemble us in our athletic doings, either on surfboards that were left behind, planks or whatever else was found and stays afloat. The atmosphere in Lavanono is warm and welcoming despite Madagascar´s in general difficult socio-cultural situation.

EXPLOITATION
The island of Madagascar physically separated early from Africa and that let plants and animals develop over thousands of years free from external influences. Many kinds live and blossom only here and nowhere else in the world. Madagascar’s ecology is unique. Since humans came across the island about 2000 years ago however, many species are now heavily endangered. Great parts of the tropical rainforest were slashed and burned. Nowadays, only ten per cent of its original forests are still intact with many animals extinct. In 1896 France established a colony against the influence of the Malagasy Kingdom. Until Madagascar´s independence in 1960, France´s military fought for their interests on the island. About 90.000 Malagasy died during a rebellion in 1948. The country´s politics have remained unstable with nature and its people being victim. Ninety per cent of the people live beneath the poverty line. Food and medical supplies are limited. Children work to nourish their families – around 19,000 under heavy and unhealthy conditions in Sapphire mines. Young girls prostitute themselves for money or the hope to meet a wealthy white man. Chinese and European trawlers empty the fishing grounds and tropical woods are cropped for international markets. Madagascar appears too weak to prevent exploitation.

SICKNESS
The at first so constantly blowing wind disappears and our idyllic adventure starts to lose its shine. Flea bites now cover the whole of Thomas Traversa’s body and he has spent another night on the toilet. Gilles is fighting hard to keep control over his stomach; he mostly loses. The lack of sleep must have made him paranoid. He accuses our cook, a shy little girl, of having poisoned him for the disrespectful behaviour of arriving late for dinner. “It happens all the time,” Gilles swears. A virus that is currently spreading through the villages is the more likely reason for our sickness. My symptoms are different to the others. A fever spread across my body and I can hardly walk to the house and eat. The bungalow turns more and more into a sickbay. We exchange paracetamol for charcoal, zinc for Imodium. I rely on an onion-garlic-ginger tea to get me back on track. While Thomas and Gilles are better soon, I don’t feel much change for over a week and consider flying home early. Shortly after this trip the World cup in Denmark will start and at this point I don’t see myself regaining strength. However, this would be logistically basically not possible. The closest city is 8 hours by 4×4 away. The dream trip seems to turn into a nightmare. Only a few hundred miles east is the windsurfing paradise of Mauritius with ultra constant winds, half the travel time and western standards. Why can’t I take the easy road for once and book an all-inclusive vacation?

WANDERLUST
Gilles explains his father was a seaman. When they were sailing it had been his task, as a little boy, to find bays or coves to anchor the boat. “It’s one of the reasons why I always change my focus while travelling and never take the same route – I improvise! A few years later no one will remember all the aerials I did. But one will always remember the unexpected accidents that happened along the trip. Those are the stories that my kids like to listen to,” Gilles enthuses. I ask Thomas what keeps him travelling to the most remote corners of the planet. “For me it’s something special to windsurf at a place where no one windsurfed before. Being on the water alone or with one or two good friends is pure joy. Even if the conditions don´t resemble Ho’okipa everyday. In these situations I just live for the moment. Also while travelling I will always encounter other travellers on the search that inspire me to take on new adventures!” The trip comes to an end and we prepare for the return to civilization. While the Jeep slowly progresses north, impressions of Madagascar run through my head. Without the distractions of Facebook and TV I remember the rich evening conversations about French and German differences – from the quality of bread to politics. We discussed the pros and cons of foil sailing, studied waveriding techniques or simply got lost in the stars that shine brighter than I have seen anywhere. I remember deeply red sunsets, strange animals, trees and bushes that better fit a dinosaur era. I imagine how the 3.6 metre high, now extinct, Elephant Bird had existed only 300 years ago across these lands. I remember the sailing and fishing skills of the Antandroy, the people from the South, who navigate the ocean incredibly fast and precisely. I remember the kids that carry my gear back to the camp after a session, singing and dancing.

We arrive in Fort Dauphin and check in for our flights to Paris. I notice I am full of inspiration for future trips and simply happy that I came on this trip and experienced those strange but beautiful weeks in a different world and have quickly forgotten about the bumpy road that brought me there. Special thanks to our partners for this great trip – Jean from Info Tourisme, Nico from Babaomby lodge, Gigi from Lavanono lodge and Benedicte from Beranthy lodge.

“ Every morning the fishermen swarm out with their tiny canoes while we play in the beautiful waves. ”

The post MADAGASCAR – EAST OF AFRICA appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

Earlier this spring (2016) in Maui, the GA / Tabou team, along with infiltrator Timo Mullen,  clocked into a surprise late season session at Jaws. The forecast medium sized swell by far exceeded expectations and late in the afternoon there was a golden hour, when the waves pumped over six metres and six lucky sailors scored a rare uncrowded session. John Carter and Graham Ezzy report on a lucky day at Pe’ahi.

Words  John Carter & Graham Ezzy  // 

Photos  John Carter

Originally published within the October ’16 edition.

OPEN MINDED
JC – One thing I have learned about Maui over the years is that you never know what the Pacific Ocean is going to throw at you. On one hand there can be all sorts of expectations and excitement about a massive swell looming but come the day, for one reason or another nothing develops. On the other side of the coin a mediocre swell can be predicted but all of a sudden it can pulse from logo high to mast and a half in a matter of hours. Back in the spring of 2016 we were in the midst of the GA photo shoot when such a day took Maui by surprise.

The fact there was a swell forecast was not in question. Windguru was giving around 2.3m at 14 seconds, which in my books normally means a pretty solid day at Ho’okipa. I drove up the Hana Highway first thing to check and at 7am there were absolutely zero waves rolling in on any of the reefs from Mama’s all the way up to Ho’okipa. With that in mind we made the decision to head down to Sprecks in the morning to finish off some urgently needed race and freeride shots before reconvening at Ho’okipa at three to catch the premium session on the rising swell.
By noon, I was kind of regretting the earlier call to spend the morning down the coast since during the course of a matter of hours the swell had kicked in and was already mast high and grinding. A quick chat with Thomas Traversa confirmed that the early session as the swell kicked in was all time with just a couple of guys out and the perfect size for water shots. By 1pm some of the sets were already closing across the channel next to the rocks and the likes of Jason Polakow, Robby Swift, Levi Siver, Brawzinho, Timo Mullen and Robby Naish were all out charging giant sets. This was probably the best wave day of the trip so far and we had spent the whole morning shooting hand drags and chop hops at Sprecks, doh!

BUILDING SWELL
I decided to head up the hill to join all the other photographers and kill the next few hours before our pre-arranged meeting with Thomas, Graham Ezzy, Aleix Sanllehy and Ross Williams at 3pm. Another hour passed and the swell continued to build, with some sets blanking out the horizon from beach level. In the past that has always been my benchmark where I reckon Jaws could be breaking but with no plan set in motion to head further up the coast it looked like we would be shooting Ho’okipa with the rest of the crowd. At 2.45 I found Thomas Traversa pensively gazing at the waves from the shade of the tree in front of the lifeguard tower obviously thinking along the same lines as me. ‘I reckon that’s almost Jaws size’ I randomly remarked not really expecting any major reaction from Thomas. But his reply was immediate, ‘Ok let’s go’ and off he went to de-rig and load up his truck like a man possessed.

Right at that moment Jason Polakow walked past and I shouted over to him ‘Hey ‘Pozza’ is that big enough for Jaws?’ He was obviously busy changing boards in the midst of the JP shoot but hollered back ‘Err yeah could be a couple of small ones sneaking in up there’. One thing I did not want to do at this stage was blow the whole day on a wild goose chase up to Jaws and with no jet ski or rescue cover in place, we could easily waste a few hours going up to check without any plan on how anybody would launch or be able to sail it. A few minutes later Timo came in off the water and when I mentioned that we might be heading up to the ‘Big J’, his eyes lit up as he rushed off to derig shouting ‘Don’t leave without me, whatever you do!’ I know sailing Jaws has been on Timo’s bucket list for a few years and maybe this was his one shot and there was no way he was going to miss out.

By this time, there was no stopping Thomas, his mind was set and by the time the rest of the crew rolled up for the 3pm meeting I was feeling the pressure that this day was going to be a write off. Ross was shaking his head with an obvious look of disapproval when he heard of the possible Jaws check, while Graham Ezzy seemed open to the idea but wanted to launch from the lighthouse and sail up, which apparently would require a 4 wheel drive which none of us had! Cut a long story short, and thirty minutes later the whole GA team, plus Timo were up on the cliffs overlooking Jaws desperately trying to fathom how big the sets down below actually were. We were alone on the hill. Not one other surfer, windsurfer or tourist had come up to even check it.
Most of the waves seemed to be barely breaking but Thomas reckoned he had seen one bigger set just before we arrived. With only a few hours of light remaining the clock was ticking but Thomas seemed totally relaxed and happy to just sit tight and wait. Another twenty minutes passed before a slightly bigger set reared up and then kind of faded. This certainly wasn’t the kind of day that would break big wave records but for the likes of Timo, Aleix and Cederic Bordes it was probably the perfect day to pop their Jaws cherry and tick it off the list!

GREEN LIGHT
Finally Thomas declared he was going for it and reached into the back of his car to grab his 4m, tiny wave board, harness, mast, boom and deck-plate. Once his decision was made, that was it; Lecky Gayda, Aleix and Timo all followed the Frenchman on the steep descent down to the water, all kind of oblivious to the dangers of launching off the rocks down below. Graham was slightly apprehensive, since he is more of a Maui local, has sailed Jaws before and knows the dangers this place can serve up, even on a so called ‘small day’. Were the guys being reckless doing this whole thing spontaneously with no on water safety? I was pretty sure Tommy T could handle himself in a big wave situation but as for Lecky and Cederic, who knows what could happen if either sailor had to take one on the head out there.

By 3.45pm Traversa had lead the way and jumped off the boulders while the others nervously watched his fate. He just crept out through the surging waves without getting pounded. Within two or three minutes he was already out to the line-up and setting himself up for his first wave. Last time I saw Thomas sail at Jaws he was incredibly impressive and by the looks of the way he approached his first ride, today he was not going to mess about either, charging deep from behind the peak with no fear whatsoever. With Tommy T belting a solid mast and a half Pe’ahi special straight off the bat, the others were left with no choice but to follow suit. After witnessing the first wave of Thomas, Graham Ezzy had to rush back up to grab his gear, there was no way he was going to miss out on the session no matter what risks they were taking.

LUCKY SIX
By 4.15 there were now six guys out on the water, Thomas, Timo, Lecky, Aleix, Graham and Cederic Bordes and the sets were starting to become much more consistent. Most of the waves are what the locals would call ‘small’ Jaws but still over mast and a half with a perfect channel. From the top of the cliff it was easy to spot the bigger sets looming up on the horizon and around every 30 mins there would be the occasional rogue bigger swell which not only had a solid peak but also connected through to the infamous west bowl. I was just keeping my fingers crossed that everybody would stay as safe as possible and not go for any ridiculous moves. But minutes after that thought, Lecky took off on the wrong side of the peak on one of the medium sets and the next minute I see him straighten and then go down engulfed in the white water. Without a ski to haul him out he was on his own and I was relived to spot him five minutes later swimming for the inside clinging on to what was left of his sail. By 5pm with just over an hour daylight left, a proper grinding set marched its way through the line-up. Tommy T was on the first wave of the set while Timo, Cederic and Graham were stacked up ready to take their turns accordingly. As per his ridiculous approach to sailing any sized waves, Thomas was stupidly deep and screamed into a bottom turn right in front of a treble mast high roaring section. Aleix charged through on the next wave on the conveyor belt and once again came straight down the face in front of an avalanche of heavy white water. Next up was Timo, I am not sure if he was aware this one had a chunkier west bowl looming in front of him. As he took his line towards the channel the wave just started wrapping towards him and barrelling behind him. It kind of reminded me of a famous moment back in the day when Josh Angulo caught a similar wave, took off his hand and stared straight back into the pit. From the looks of things, Timo’s priorities were more set on making it out to the channel and luckily he survived the wave unscathed and I am sure he was probably hollering out loud after that ride. The set was not over, Cederic the GA slalom racer was on the last wave and came charging down the line almost oblivious to his surroundings. I know Cederic has been sailing big waves with Thomas through the winter so maybe the thought of riding Jaws was not fazing him. But this wave was probably the biggest and meanest of all with a beautiful clean face and hollow end section. With Thomas jealously watching from the channel, Cederic took his wave bravely and made it out to safety unscathed.

THE GOLDEN HOUR
By this time I think the likes of Timo and Aleix were happy to survive the mission so they headed back down to Ho’okipa leaving just Graham, Cederic and Thomas alone for the last forty minutes until sunset. Right on cue with their departure, the next big set hammered through, this time with Graham Ezzy dropping into a huge clean wave with the west bowl throwing over into a cavernous gaping barrel behind him. Meanwhile Traversa on the wave behind changed his angle of attack and drove his brand new Tabou right under the throat of the main section, hitting it square on. Up on the cliffs, the show was simply awesome to watch. For the last thirty minutes Traversa seemed to go on a mission and was charging at the lip on every wave. Meanwhile the light was crystal clear as the warm evening sun dipped towards the crest of the West Maui Mountains. I really wish I could have been down in the water experiencing some of these waves from the channel but this whole session had been so spontaneous and last minute I was thankful enough to score a front row seat at the top of the cliffs. The last three sailors sailed until almost dark at Jaws before heading off towards Ho’okipa in the fading light.

THIRSTY WORK
I packed up my cameras and headed straight out through the sugar cane fields, onto the Hana Highway and then straight to the nearest liquor store and loaded up with two cases of beer. I was pretty certain the boys would have worked up a thirst and would be stoked after scoring this rare last season session at Jaws with just six guys out. By the time I drove into the parking lot at Ho’okipa it was pitch black, I was thankful to see all the crew were back from Jaws all safe and smiling, especially when I produced two cases of coronas.

Graham was slightly annoyed because it was the first time he had sailed Pe’ahi without hitting the lip but at the same time he reckoned it was easily the cleanest he has ever sailed there and he still scored a few memorable bombs. Timo was ecstatic, I knew sailing Jaws was one of his windsurfing ambitions but to score that one particular wave that caverned over in his wake was even more of a special bonus. Thomas was happy to be reunited with his wife and daughter at Ho’okipa and was definitely buzzing after charging a couple of those massive lips. I’ve seen a few top quality sailors riding Jaws in my time but Traversa somehow is in a league of his own and almost treats it like sailing a logo high beach break rather than a triple mast high ‘life or death’ threatening monster. I felt a bit sorry for Ross who was unable to sail because of an injured ankle but it was still cool to see he was genuinely stoked for his teammates after they had scored Jaws, especially during the GA/Tabou photo shoot. Needless to say, we happily sat around at Ho’okipa until most of the beers were polished off, but after scoring waves like that who could really blame us!

GRAHAM EZZY
Rivers of sweat washed the sunscreen off my face. The day was not hot and the only activity I engaged in was watching a bunch of tourists launch off the rocks at Jaws. I sweat the watery, odourless sweat of saunas – the perspiration of fear. I was scared. A relentless and barrelling shore break hit the rocks that are the beach at Jaws. The tourists were in the process of swimming out with their windsurfing gear.  The “beach” at Jaws is not really a beach but a gulch carved by the stream that flows from the Kaupakalua reservoir to the sea. There is no sand, only slippery boulders. The path down to sea level is a steep winding trail through ironwood pine trees, which are skinny and stunted from the sea-air.

After 20 minutes of waiting while holding his rigged windsurfer, Thomas Traversa scrambled like a crab across the rocks towards the ocean and swam holding on to his back footstrap to drag his equipment with him – the windline sat forty metres off the shore. The shorebreak paused for only 20 seconds, barely giving Thomas enough time to reach safety before the waves returned. Aleix Sanllehy attempted launching after Thomas. He mistimed and a man-high white water climbed over him and pushed him back and beneath his sail. He tried to stand but his foot was stuck between boulders and the weight of the sea pressed against the surface area of his sail. I turned away because I did not want to see his leg break. I climbed back up the cliff to my pickup truck.
Maybe my recollection sounds melodramatic, but you must understand that this is the scale of Jaws. Everything is bigger and more powerful – the consequences more dire, more real.
On Maui, tourists are always doing stupid shit and dying. The rules of engagement don’t always make sense to outsiders. Currents can’t be seen, and certain tourists think it ridiculous that they would be unable to swim back to shore. Yet, an Olympic swimmer drowned on Maui while swimming against a current. Same with flash floods. It rains on Maui more than almost anywhere else in the world, and that water can come rushing down dry river beds and carry people and cars into rocks and off cliffs and into the sea. “It looks fine. I can handle a little flooding,” is a common reaction to the “Flash Flooding Warning” signposts on the trailheads after a heavy rain. And despite my current morbidity, most of these tourists don’t actually die. They hike, the flood never comes, and life goes on. But when the floods do flash, the water knocks over their Jeep Wranglers and they drown. Those who live are just lucky. The survivors are not brave, just ignorant of the danger.

The whole problem is that most of the time, nothing happens. But when something does happen, the consequences can be catastrophic. The local rules are heuristics passed down from generation to generation – a collective wisdom.  One of these rules is that locals don’t launch off the rocks at Jaws. I’m not sure why. It’s just something we don’t do. I have sailed Jaws more times than I can count, but until that day, I’d never launched off the rocks at the base of the Pe’ahi cliff. I guess the shorebreak is too powerful and the current too strong. Luck becomes too big of a factor. Locals go to Jaws with boats or jet skis. Or, we launch elsewhere – Ho’okipa, Maliko, the Lighthouse. I have a favourite spot to launch, just to the right of the rocks at the Haiku Lighthouse where Robby Naish famously launched in the movie RIP (see YouTube). But ever since the timing chain blew on my Land Rover, I’ve been without a vehicle capable of making the off-road drive through the pineapple fields to the Lighthouse. I grew up swimming off the north shore cliffs. On winter nights, the thunder of Jaws could be heard from my crib. I’ve had to swim in from Jaws after crashing and breaking my gear. And yet, I was scared to go off the rocks – I was more scared to go off the rocks than to sail Jaws. And I was scared for these tourists who were also my friends.

DANGER
Thomas Traversa is the most experienced big wave windsurfer of my generation. I don’t know another human who can read the ocean better than Thomas. Despite that, there was a moment as he swam off the rocks when a wave rose up and I held my breath. Thomas escaped but only by centimetres. The others who planned to launch – Cedric, Aleix, and Aleksy Gayda – were much less experienced in big waves and tricky launches. With no boats or jet skis, there would be no ocean rescue if anything went wrong. Every man for himself. It’s not that I thought they could not handle the situation; I knew that they did not fully understand the risk of what we were doing.

Jaws is easy, which makes it dangerous. Most places, when the waves are big, the ocean becomes survival-at-sea – the currents become freight trains, the channels disappear, the waves close out into a single explosive line of erupting white water. Once the waves at Ho’okipa go above 6 metres, the best windsurfers in the world struggle to make it out past the breaking waves. In contrast, even when the waves are bigger than a building, on either side of the wave at Jaws is a channel as calm as a swimming pool. Everything is easy, unless something goes wrong. The waves were not massive when Polakow was held under the water at Jaws for over a minute – while he was wearing a flotation vest.

After I launched and had caught a few waves myself, I saw Aleksy crash a crash that could have killed him. As I sailed back out in the channel, he rode towards the shore on a wave small for that day but huge anywhere else (over 6 metres). He was too deep, too far behind the peak of the wave. That day was windy and the wave was not too large, and Aleksy could have used the power of the wind to speed in front of and around the breaking wave into the safety of the channel. To my surprise, he instead went upwind and further into the no-man’s land. As he slowly turned more and more into the wind, my surprise turned to leaden dread – a wipeout was unavoidable. The wave rolled past me and began to break, and Aleksy went out of my view, still heading upwind, heading to nowhere but a wipeout. Worried, I kept watching. Eventually, Aleksy and his pink sail popped out of the whitewater wake of the wave – separated by a distance of 50 metres or more. The next waves pushed Aleksy’s rig onto the rocks at the base of the cliff. I knew Aleksy was still in the water, somewhere to the left of where the wave breaks from the perspective of a surfer in the water looking back at the land. I wanted to help Aleksy, but he was too far inside and too far upwind to reach with a windsurfer. I could have sailed upwind until where the wind died and then swam to where I thought Aleksy to be, but I would have been impotent to offer any real assistance. I would have just been there to keep him company, an act of solidarity, rather than a rescue. Half of the Tabou crew were stood on the Jaws rocks, but they too would be unable to help Aleksy – any attempt at rescue would be futile. With no jet skis or boats, he was on his own.
There was nothing I could do – nothing anyone could do – to help Aleksy. Maybe he was already dead or broken or scared to death trying to find a way to put land under his feet. So I continued my session.

SMOOTH
Even though the waves were relatively small, they were the cleanest waves I have ever ridden at Jaws. Often, the wave faces at Jaws resemble a mogul run from the ski mountain, and the bottom turn is all about not bouncing. But that day, the clean faces meant that it was possible to do a powerful bottom turn. A good bottom turn is the gateway to everything off the lip, which meant that I was able to carve cutbacks in the pockets formed below the lip in the moments when it starts to hurtle forward. Thomas one-upped me and hit the breaking lip as if the waves were mast-high.
“Just one more set,” Thomas and I kept saying to each other. Soon, the sun had set and only Thomas, Cedric, and I were left. We planned to sail the 11 kms down to Ho’okipa and meet our girlfriends and the rest of the Tabou team on the beach. We each wanted the feeling of riding one more set wave – a feeling that we might not have again for another year or two, or ever.
We waited, and we waited. But the longer we waited, the more the wind lightened and the more the sky darkened. The point of a guaranteed safe sail back to Ho’okipa had passed by half an hour. The one more set wave never came. We three sailed downwind to Ho’okipa. The wind was so weak that we could not plane the last half of the journey. We arrived at Ho’okipa, which normally takes less than ten minutes, after over twenty minutes. The sun had set so long ago that we could barely see the lines of the unbroken waves and the wind was so light that we balanced on our boards with one foot in front of the mast track. Eventually, all three of us caught a wave and rode it in as far as possible. The wind had completely died close to shore, and we had to swim the last bit into the beach.  The lights from the city of Kahului twinkled down the coast, and the first stars of the night were already shining brightly between the clouds. Full of that indescribable feeling only a windsurfer knows after a good session, we met the rest of the crew who had picked up ice cold Coronas. Aleksy, to my relief, was alive and uninjured.  He managed – through luck or adrenaline-fueled awareness – to come ashore in the safest point of the whole Jaws coastline, a little alcove upwind of where we launched, and he hiked across the cliff base back to where we started. He was calmly perplexed by his luck.

The next day, with the euphoria faded and fallen into an endorphin hangover, I was disappointed that I had not been more aggressive and hit the lip for a big aerial. Everyone talks about the ego-stoke of individual-centred action sports like windsurfing, but no one mentions the ego-drain, the ego-suffocate, the ego-shame that is the inevitable yin to the yang.  I’m not religious, but riding Jaws comes close to being a religious experience. Riding a Jaws wave is to be part of something so much more powerful than yourself, you become insignificant. But at the same time, in riding the wave, you become part of the wave, part of a force so inhumanely powerful. The self disappears in the power of the wave and becomes the wave at the same time – but only for an instant. And then life goes back to normal until the next set wave, which is what we are still looking for. Just one more. Just one more.

“ Riding a Jaws wave is to be part of something so much more powerful than yourself, you become insignificant ”

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GA SAILS IQ 4.7M 2017 TEST REVIEW

OVERVIEW
The IQ has been in the GA Sails line-up as their 4-batten wave series for many years now, said to offer a “balance of power and neutrality”. Retaining the convertible batten system that was introduced last season (where the batten above the boom can be changed to a three-quarter length option), the IQ, like the Manic tested last month, has undergone quite a significant amount of work for 2017. Most significantly, the design now rigs on a constant curve mast, making the most of a reduced luff curve. The batten layout and angles have been refined, whilst the two top battens are now integrated into the middle of the sail to reduce weight and improve the sail’s symmetry. There is a large step in the leech by batten #3, which combined with the brand’s ‘posi-leech’ concept is designed to improve both power and agility. With double clew eyelets, a higher cut foot, stretch resistant strands radiating from the clew and improved detailing (such as a rope net in the tack fairing), the IQ comes in two bright colour patterns to make it visually stand out as much as its new features.

BRAND CLAIM
“What can I say about this sail. I love it. I can do anything when I want and how I want. I’m a small rider and love the easy feeling it gives me. This year the control is there. The drive is good and keeps my board turning under the lip, in the pocket or wherever I end up!”  Thomas Traversa

PERFORMANCE
We have used the IQ extensively in the centre over recent years, so know the sail’s pedigree well, and feel it is safe to say that all the refinements done for this season have made the most significant difference to the sail since the IQ was first introduced. Rigging on a 370, it is easy to set, the battens retaining plenty of rotation, whilst the leech falls away in the top two panels. There is certainly tuning range available to broaden the IQ’s wind range … yet we also found it had excellent manners across a wide range on one set. From the off, the power delivery is soft and progressive, the large Dacron luff panel enabling the sail to breath as the pressure builds, to deliver power smoothly to the board. Far from spongy in the hands, the IQ seems to possess an elastic limit, the tension in the leading edge enabling the rider to feel the mast’s response to gusts and lulls, the sail moving instinctively around the rider. The centre of effort is low and forwards in the draft, never providing control issues, even as the wind increases. The two clew eyelets also enable some small refinement in the orientation of the boom angle, but perhaps a wider distance between the two would offer even more distinction? It was in manoeuvres that the 2017 really captured our imagination. Whilst always feeling compact and balanced in the hands, it provides useable power to drive confidently into corners, before becoming strikingly light and neutral mid-transition, ready for easy repositioning. The three-quarter length batten option is a nice addition and can be used to extend the sail’s softness, neurtality and bottom end slightly, yet in our opinion the IQ works so well with its full length battens that only regular float and ride missions would really benefit.

THE VERDICT
The IQ has taken a massive leap forward for 2017, providing stunningly smooth, useable power that can be turned on or off at will.

www.ga-windsurfing.com

Other sails in this test:

GOYA GURU PRO 4.7M

LOFTSAILS WAVESCAPE 4.7M

NEIL PRYDE COMBAT 4.7M

NORTH SAILS HERO 4.7M

SAILLOFT QUAD 4.6M

SEVERNE S1 4.8M

SIMMER BLACKTIP 4.7M

Back to test intro page

TEST OVERVIEW PAGE

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THE SPORT’S HYBRID ENGINE
5.7M CROSSOVER SAIL TEST 2017

Test Editor Tris Best // Second Testers Maurin Rottenwalter & Joe North

Photos

Test location Ringstead & Portland Harbour

Reviewing crossover sails is always quite an interesting test to conduct. Take a look at the line-up and you get a glimpse why – all the sails look relatively similar – all possessing five battens and setting on 430cm masts; all with similar dimensions and outlines. It’s not until you actually get them on the water and use them in a variety of conditions that you really begin to understand their tendencies and leanings. So what are we expecting of this sail class?  

This test was originally published in the January/February 2017 issue.

The truth is, quite a lot. They have to be early planing, especially if they’re to be considered as the light-wind contender in a wave-rider’s quiver. They have to feel light, balanced and responsive in the hands to have any merit in a manoeuvre-oriented role. Speed, acceleration and efficiency are key for coastal blasting and the ability to be locked into place, pushing the board to ever greater velocities. And yet it still needs to have an ability to provide a forgiving, cushioned ride – so as not to unnerve the progressing pilot as they venture into increasingly challenging conditions. It’s a tall order, and yet there are many here that accomplish most on the list. There are others that have distinct inclination towards a certain field … which is fine. It is our task, therefore, to identify them and ensure the right sail is picked by the right person.

FINDINGS
As with the 2017 wave sails reviewed in the two previous issues, many of the crossover sails here see a reduction of the luff curve used. North Sails, Neil Pryde, Severne and RRD have all done so. The advantages are easy to feel on the water – the mast having more life and response and as a result the sail feels lighter and more reactive in the hands, with better bottom end power and ‘pump-ability’. The downside is top end stability, so measures have been taken to reduce any degradation as the wind turns on.
Framework structures, resistant tendons, Dacron luff panels … there are many tricks and features to help reduce the decay and keep the draft locked forward. The other three brands – GA Sails, Goya and Loftsails – use the more tried and tested of method of forcing more curve into the leading edge, increasing skin tension and keeping the sail’s body as tight as a drum.

Manoeuvrability is also high on the agenda for these sails, which means reducing the boom length to provide a more compact, controllable nature. Many brands incorporate a step in their leech by the main batten above the boom, enabling them to keep a good amount of sail area in the mid-leech, whilst the clew can be shifted inwards. North and Severne have gone a step further and cut a concave outline in the sail’s trailing edge between the clew and the batten above. It not only enables the clew to be brought in a touch, but also reduces the chance of any leech flutter, whilst helping to promote twist.

SUMMARY
Starting at the more manoeuvre-biased end of the scale, the Loftsails PureLip is a wave sail at heart, with the crisp response you’d expect … yet possessing the structure and speed to be at home in a coastal blasting role. The North Volt is also manoeuvre biased, yet caters for more marginal conditions, with an extraordinary ability to generate power through pumping. The Severne Gator and RRD Move are both supremely versatile options for the recreational sailor, both with a distinct lightness and balance to their handling. The Gator’s power delivery is more focused and defined, but both can be used in a variety of disciplines from cruising to venturing into waves. Then there’s the GA Sails and Goya, both with a good amount of skin tension and structure to their foils. They are high-performing all-rounders, more than a match for any experienced pilot’s demands, yet requiring a strong hand to get the most from as the conditions become severe. That leaves the Neil Pryde Fusion – a sail with a massive tuning range and a distinct taste for playing in flat-water conditions, be it cruising in marginal winds, or blasting against peers in stronger winds. There is something for everyone in this group – try to make your decision based on the style of windsurfing you most enjoy.

uk.otc-windsurf.com

THE LINE UP

• GA SAILS CROSS 6.0M

• GOYA NEXUS 5.9M

• LOFTSAILS PURELIP 5.7M

• NEIL PRYDE FUSION 6.0M

• NORTH SAILS VOLT 5.9M

• RRD MOVE MKV 5.7M

• SEVERNE GATOR 5.7M

TEST OVERVIEW PAGE

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New stylish edit from Jamie Hancock with Graham Ezzy in Portugal.

Guincho from jamie hancock on Vimeo.

The post GUINCHO | JAMIE HANCOCK appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.