surf-matic

Thursday morning is the start of the AWT Makani classic. I’m heading to bed now and will wake up around 6 or 7ish to make sure that all my equipment is in order. But I honestly don’t think that Thursday will be a competition day. Friday is looking better with some fun-sized surf, and Monday and Tuesday will have some big N NW waves– perfect for a classic Hookipa fall contest. The wind is a little bit trickier to predict. They call for it to be light, but that has been the forecast for the last month and the wind has not been light at all. So… So we are left with no valuable information. Fingers crossed for wind!

There are only a few days left to cast your votes to me for the People’s Choice expression session. Vote here on the right side of the page using the Facebook widget.

I’m off to bed! I’ll try to take some photos of the beach tomorrow for the blog.

Oh, and here is a great bit of writing I found online:

Tweaking an air off the lip

Tuesday was not a sailing day for me. I went to the beach to check it out but the wind was super light and gusty and the waves were tiny. Despite the lack of conditions, there was a surplus of people on the water. The upcoming AWT contest probably had something to do with it.

Speaking of contests and crowds, remember to vote for me (Graham Ezzy) on the AWT website. Vote on the right side of the page using the contest widget. I want to debut some new moves in the expression session!

Also on Tuesday was doing a small interview for the Maui News about the upcoming contest and making sure that I’ve got all my Chinook gear in order: booms, bases, and universals. Ready!

After reading what I’ve written and reflecting on today, it sure seems that the Maui Makani contest is invading the tranquil island life here on Maui. I guess that’s good though. Good for the riders to have a venue to exhibit the sport to which they’ve dedicated their lives.

Here are some pics from the last days. Oh also, in windsurfing you’re only as good as your last day on the water. Think about that. And I’ve got an essay coming that addresses the topic.

Boosting an air on a big section. Flying feels good.

Throwing a goiter around. I made this one, but the landing wasn't pretty.

Tweaking out a mutant 360.

Monday was cloudy but very fun at Hookipa. I got to the beach late-ish (around 3pm) and rigged up a Panther ltd 5.0 for the session. While the waves were smaller than Sunday, it was a ton of fun; with the offshore wind, the waves were very clean and smooth.

The water buzzes with people anticipating the AWT event at the end of the month. And with Brawzhino, Camille, and Bouj planning to compete, the event should be really good as long as the conditions are decent.

Conditions, conditions, conditions. All else matters nought. What will the wind and wave gods give us for this contest? The forecast seems to indicate mediocre (or less) conditions but hopefully they’ll be good enough. Windguru is calling for the wind and waves to drop until the start of next week and the end of the contest window.

Windguru's predictions on the AWT contest conditions.

Speaking of the AWT contest, remember to cast your vote for me now in the AWT People’s Choice contest. The top 5 guys will be invited to enter a supersession at Hookipa. If I get in it, I can’t wait to bust some big moves in an uncrowded Hookipa. And I even have 2 never seen before moves that I would love to debut. Give me as many of your 10 votes as possible and get your friends to vote here http://americanwindsurfingtour.com/ . Spread the word– I can’t wait for some action.

Here are some shots that have surfaced from Sunday’s session. I like the colors in most of them.

Making some spray at The Point.

Off the lip with a cloud bursting of spray. Powder days at Hookipa!

Cranking a bottom turn.

Carving the board back around in a cutback.

Back from my mini 3-day break from the beach, I hit the water Sunday at Hookipa, the NW swell picked up intensity as the afternoon wore on, and I had a fun session but not an amazing one– some good turns and big wipeouts without anything that really stood out. Mediocre sessions are good and are perfectly normal. It’s easy to think that all the other Pros are busting one-of-a-kind maneuvers on every wave, but that is simply not true. One of the reasons that art colonies are so successful is that they reveal to the artists that a masterpiece takes many days of toil, creative block, and shitty work. Windsurfing is the same way– getting good days takes a lot of bad days.

Flattery has the same root as flatulence– both being about air rather than substance. But compliments are still nice and necessary. Maui Windsurfing expressed a very nice like for surf-matic, and for that I’m happy. While I’m not sure how surf-matic ranks among the other Maui blogs, I can definitely say that it is in the top 3 of Graham Ezzy blogs (or so I hope!).

On a side note, I made some comments last week about always holding on to the equipment while being worked. Sometimes that is just not possible. Sunday, for instance, I hit a big lip and my head was broadsided by the boom, which smashed into my brow. As much as I wanted to hold on through the chaotic tumble in the white water, I couldn’t. What do you do when you can’t hold on and get separated from your gear? Swim! Swim hard for the gear because every second that you’re separated allows it to drift farther and farther away– and it will drift faster than a body. So, after holding, swimming is most important when getting worked.

Here is a pic of me and a pic from Kevin. Mine is from last weekend and his is a back loop off the lip from Sunday.

Kevin Pritchard throws a big gnarly back loop off-the-lip at Hookipa Point.

Here I am trying something a bit new.

Twisting an air off-the-lip.

Tomorrow my 3-day mini vacation from the beach will come to a close. With its end comes a beautiful NW swell and offshore E winds– a very normal combination at Hookipa. The offshore easterly wind is gusty and full of deadspots. This can make getting around a challenge, but it gives the waves a beautiful smoothness and is the perfect combination for down-the-line riding.

Hookipa is a machine, a grand conveyer belt that windsurfers can ride. The currents flows around the rocks and out the channel. When the wind is light or even nonexistent, one can use the channel, while either floating on the board or swimming, to get past the rocks and then out past the waves. Without using the currents and the channel, Hookipa can be impossible to windsurf when the wind is characteristically light and offshore. This gives a small advantage to the locals that know the ins-and-outs of Hookipa’s watery details.

Throwing a taka for the photographers in the water.

Also, the forecast is looking good for the AWT contest too, with another NW swell predicted on the 28th. This one seems smaller, which will probably be better for most competitors. But I’m still crossing my fingers that it will be big and gnarly!

I love the feeling of having to pushing my self beyond fear to hit the lip.

Pitching a goiter back inside.

Cranking a bottom turn on a Hookipa swell.

(Another glorious foto friday is here. Remember to hover for comments and click for larger.)

1) Cate Parr paints a colorful, masterful, loose-alive portrait. I love it.

2) Why don’t you just jump…

3) Jeanloup Sieff captures a young Mia Farrow in a timeless stare– oh, and hair.

4) Jackson Chameleons were a popular pet on Maui for children. Though, given their illustrated behavior here, I can’t really see the appeal.

5) Art is our only salvation from the horror of existence. And windsurfing is the highest art.

6) The face of the sail is full of wind, but the water is glassy and without a single whitecap. Ah! how I love the surreal.

7) Google doesn’t have the answer to that!

8) I love clever math jokes. Pi hahahah. It would only be improved if the order was for pie.

9) Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning. But always, sailor, live by the sea.

10) Beauty is what lies underneath it all.

A Hookipa cutback.

I’m a bit exhausted and destroyed from running around the last three days– hiking on Monday, Oahu yesterday, and teaching classes today. But it’s good, good to be tired from doing so many different things. The next three days I’m going to take a short break from windsurfing (there might not even be wind), and I’ll hit the water again Sunday with a passion. I’m going for an interval break so that when I come back to the water on Sunday I can hit a peak 3 days later at the start of the AWT contest. I want to win. The competition is really steep, so winning is no easy task for anybody.

Here is a pic from the last days:

Hitting a taka at the point. Tricks like these are important in contests.

And here are some pictures of Kevin Pritchard from the last days. He’s been on fire lately– sailing the best I’ve ever seen him sail and nailing sick turns and some of the best 360s I’ve seen in years. He’s set up to win the AWT overall title (I’m not because of missing 2 events). Anyway, here are the pics:

Kevin Prtichard tweaks an air!

Kevin goes vertical on a small Hookipa wave

Kevin slides a taka! The new school better watch out...

I love this photo that Sofie Louca took on Sunday. It captures so much of what matters to me in my windsurfing. Ever since I started really getting into wavesailing when I was 10 or 11, my dad always impressed on me that a good bottom turn is the key to good wave riding. Period. With a solid bottom turn, anything is possible because you can hit the lip fast and in the right direction. One reason Polakow can kill it in big waves is his fast, dedicated bottom turn. It’s all about committing forward and carving hard on the toe-side rail. Love it. There’s nothing like working on the basics.

I love everything that this photo captures. Thank you Sofie Louca! (click for larger version)

Today I went to Oahu for my car search. And I think I may have found something decent for a fair price. That’s good!

I’m tired but before I can sleep, I have to plan a lecture that I’m giving for the senior English class at my old high school in the morning. Oh my! I’ll procrastinate that by posting some more pics from Sunday below:

Hitting the Hookipa lip!

Going for a 360! Or is that a Mutant?

Slashing the face off a wave.

Off the top!

Doing a hand plant on a 1-hand taka.

Today the wind was funky and I didn’t even bother trying to sail (and after my 6 hours on the water yesterday, I was quite sun-tired). Instead I did some logistical work in the morning and then needed to get out of the house.

So I went for a hike in the West Maui Mountains. The views from the top of the mountains looking onto Maui’s body are simply breathtaking (literally I was breathless, and not just from all the hiking). It was a lot of fun and so beautiful.

And now, here are some windsurfing pics from the last days of Kevin and me.

Kevin Pritchard throws some spray on a Hookipa wave.

I throw a back loop in a crowded Hookipa.

Kevin tweaks it.

I hit a taka off-the-lip.

Hitting a cutback and letting the tail slide.

Maui lately: wind and waves. The season has begun! I’ve had some trouble trying to get in a good groove. But it seems that Kevin Pritchard has found a perfect rhythm in the newly arrived waves. Every time I watch him he throws something cool: sick air 360s, air takas, backside 360s, and everything else. I’m impressed.

Kevin throws an air. He has been on fire lately!

The Pritch is on fire!

I’ve got some more to report, but I’ve got to get to bed at the moment. I was on the water for 6 hours today! My session started bad but I wasn’t going to let it stay bad, so I forced it around and ended up with a really fun day.

A couple days ago, there was a post on Facebook advising Hookipa windsurfers to choose body before gear when in trouble. When going on the rocks or getting smashed in the waves, the post advised, save yourself and then worry about your gear. I think a bit differently on the topic. My thoughts:

First off, your board and sail are both a flotation device and a sailing craft, so in the event you get sucked out to sea, they could save your life. Full stop.

Second, one of the most important rules at Hookipa for NOT going on the rocks is to never let go. Holding onto the equipment, letting the current work its magic, and putting in some swimming effort will almost guarantee safety from the rocks as the channel carries you out to sea past the breaking waves.

Third, my bones and skin will heal themselves, but a good custom board is irreplaceable. Custom boards require so much handshaping and non-machine work that they are all unique in the sense that they are one-of-a-kind. So I could try to get copies of a favorite board, but the copies, while being similar to the original shape, will be slightly different and therefore act differently on the waves.

I dare not be arrogant enough to tell others what to do, but rather, those are my thoughts on the matter. Take it as you will.

I promised a look at windsurfing psychology, so here it goes:

The last week or so, I’ve been quite frustrated with my sailing. I guess I feel that I’m not doing everything on the water that I want to be doing in terms of landing tricks and connecting turns with a good flow. This leads to unhappiness on the water (and the massive crowds inhabiting Hookipa lately don’t help). Normally, landing a trick like a taka or a goiter or a 360 is an instant injection of dopamine providing happiness and excitement for the next 20min or so. But lately, I land a trick and because I expected to land it I don’t feel that instant rush. Clearly my perspective needs to change!

I thought about changing it by working on 2 new moves that I’m trying to invent. One of the moves I got really close to pulling down in Baja on one of the days where we weren’t competing. And the other move isn’t actually a new move (so I’m not inventing it, but bringing it back to life). Josh Angulo invented it years ago and called it the Gu Press. But then Nat Gill got into doing them too and called it the Hangover. But since the move seems forgotten by the windsurfing world. I like the name “Hangover” and hope it sticks. I worked on the Hangovers but even though I got really close, I didn’t make any.

I was unhappy with my sailing and even more unhappy with my attitude, so I just decided to force myself into a good mood and good sailing (as sailing is an expression of emotion). So I was on the water for 6 hours yesterday. At the start, I was unhappy, but I just wrestled with myself to focus on the sailing. I recited a mantra that I used to always say to myself when on the water: humble and flow, humble and flow, etc. And after about 4 hours, I was in an amazing groove. I was happy and sailing amazing.

Through a brute force breakdown of my bad emotions, I was able to turn my session around and have a great day on the water. And even better, I broke out of my rut. So now, once the wind comes back at the end of the week (it’s light konas right now), I’ll be more than happy to hit the waves.

And for now, here’s a pic:

I love carves off the lip like this.