surf-matic

I’m in California for the first stop of the AWT tour. Unfortunately, today was stormy and lacking in waves– and I happen to be under the weather as well with a really annoying head cold. The forecast on Friday calls for gale force winds and a new swell. It might be the only day of competition, so it’s going to be a long day… I’m expecting a variety of wind strengths and tidal conditions.

The internet connection is somewhat nonexistent, so updates will be scarce. However, a foto friday will go up tomorrow.

JP Bowles rips. Period. He is the star of the best Gorge windsurfing photos I have ever seen. As The Gorge is the mecca of North American windsurfing, this is quite an accomplishment. The Gorge is a river with wind and waves in the middle of the Pacific Northwest, and every summer windsurfers drive and fly from all over the continent to get an annual dose of those healing waters. But the vapors aren’t from springs; they rise off the water from the howling winds!

I had seen JP around (windsurfing circles are small) but never got a chance to really meet him. So, I did a small interview to shed some light on the man in the air.

Graham:
Give the world a little background about you. Where you’re from. What you do. Etc.

JP:
Hmmmm… About me…….

I grew up in Mt. Shasta Northern California. I literally grew up on the mountain as a youth. Skiing and snowboarding every day, racing and teaching skiing. I was pretty hooked.

I tried to master every snow sliding device I could get my hands on. Straight skis, Sidecut skis, telemark skis, Bigfoot skis, boot skiing, lunch trays from the cafeteria, snowboards of every shape and size. A couple of years were spent addicted to race snowboards and hard boots and laying down super silly G force turns. I was riding every day and getting instruction from some Olympic hopefuls at the time.

My winters were pretty cool. I was constantly learning about the smallest most trivial aspects of drawing lines in the snow. More importantly, I was learning about how the community around me lived. I soon figured out who my heroes were, the people I respected and looked up to. The healthiest, happiest people on the planet.

Shasta is a hippy mountain town. I saw all these people living, no ego, no grandiose plans of grandeur, just living……… Not looking for the almighty dollar but people just living simple happy lives. I always looked up to the seasonal crew chasing their dreams. Winters on the mountain summers on the rivers. Poor by any yuppies standards, but as rich as one could possibly be by any real life standards.

This model that I witnessed growing up set the tone for me later in life. Working 9-5 with two weeks off a year so that I could fill up a bank account and spend money on crap just didn’t seem to hold much for me.

My family and I learned to windsurf when I was 9 or 10. We got a book Zen and the Art of Windsurfing…. A really good beginner book by the way. And we spent many a summer day down by the lake trying to figure out what we were doing with the worst possibly winds ever. It was sooooo fun.

I spent 4 years up hauling and cruising the lake. Eventually, we all learned how to waterstart, like 5 years later. We all got smaller and smaller boards and started chasing wind. Well, I was full on hooked.

As soon as I graduated high school I moved straight to the gorge. Lived out of my car for my first summer and worked for Big winds. That fall I went to school for mechanical engineering. I really wanted to build skis at the time and figured an ME degree was my ticket.

Well, I graduated from the Oregon Institute of Technology with my ME degree but my dreams of building skis had vanished. I WANTED TO WINDSURF….. So after 4 or 5 summers in the gorge. I was Maui bound.

I lived on Maui for 3 seasons. I sailed Kuau mostly probably about 80 percent with about 10 percent at Hookipa and 10 percent at Kanaha. I worked for Ralph Sifford at Second Wind Maui for those 3 years. Surfed and Windsurfed my ass off over there. Ralph was my north shore mentor. He was always letting me know where I should go for what swell and what wind. He had the island dialed. Surprised I never drowned over there listening to his directions. But Ralph was the man. Towing jaws, paddling outer reefs, the ugliest most consistent back loop on the planet.

My Maui winters were pretty epic, followed by gorge summers. To this day Jake the Snake Miller claims the biggest day he has ever sailed Maui was with me at upper Kanaha. Double mast plus, Triple mast?

I probably would have been going back to Maui forever but…..I broke my foot in Maui in the spring. It was really really slow to heal. I had zero strength in my feet. I had to kite all summer in the gorge. Windsurfing hurt. When fall rolled around I realized Maui was out and I should do something a little less extreme and get my body in tune.

That winter I took the winter off and went to Panama and Costa rica for an extended surf vacation. I felt a little guilty at the time for taking a winter off but… I haven’t worked a winter since.

The next winter I spent in Baja. And the next winter in Baja and Mainland mex. I think I’m up to 6 or 7 Baja winters chasing wind and waves. I’ve got the Baja pretty dialed. There is some really good winter wavesailing down there and I average well over 50 barrels a winter.

Every summer I’m back in the gorge though. Gorge summers are pretty classic. I wait tables at an underground Italian restaurant North Oak Brasserie. I also wait tables at a steakhouse in the woods Stonehedge gardens. And if you got a boom that needs to be re-gripped, I’m the boom Dr. These all allow me plenty of time on the water.

Graham:
Windsurfing is a huge part of your life then. I dare to say it is somewhere near the center. What then do you think about when you go out for a windsurfing session?

JP:
It kinda depends on conditions and who is out. If I’m sailing solo or with a bunch of old guys I try to just have fun and enjoy. If there is some talent on the water I try to push it a little, go a little bigger sail a little faster.

If I show up and it’s full on. I’m usually frothing and not thinking at all. Rig as fast as possible and get on it. Not to much thinking involved.

Graham:
I know the feeling! You spend so much time in The Gorge, what do you like most about riding the river?

JP:
The river is a bit of a love hate. I’m an ocean guy. I love the ocean, I love the power of the waves. The river can be a little flat and disappointing at times. That being said the gorge has it’s days.

When you get some smooth rollers out east, I love swell ridding. I really like trying to draw surfy lines on mellow open rollers. Trying to find the power and flow out of a mellow gorge swell is way different than the ocean but there are still lips to hit and smooth turns and slides and style to be had. Swell riding is definitely what I enjoy most about riding the river.

The jumping is pretty good, and always a crowd favorite, but for me it’s drawing lines in the water and not in the air. Also the gorge is really consistent in the summer. That’s huge.

Graham:
You have a true surf mentality. But your jumps also really stand out and are incredibly photogenic. What goes through your head when you launch into an air?

JP:
It depends on the ramp, wind, crowd etc etc…. There is usually a lot going on in my head pre jump. But I think the loudest voices going into a ramp are usually don’t break your board.

I had a few years where I couldn’t stop breaking boards. Windsurf boards are not cheap. I came to a point where it was either quite windsurfing and just kite or alter my sailing a lot. It was touch and go for a while there, I was sooo pissed at my windsurfing boards that I almost just went to the dark side. I ended up altering my sailing, basically no forward loops or flat landings period. I still sneak a forward in here and there but I make sure I land it on the tail. Big planning forewards are the bomb, but I’m grounded from those.

And if it’s really big and windy my thoughts turn to don’t break yourself.

Graham:
I know the feeling! It still looks like you charge pretty hard. And finally, I’ve gotta ask: Why do you windsurf? What keeps you coming back to the board and sail?

JP:
FOR FREEDOM…….. If conditions are epic nothing else matters. Windsurfing has the power to literally clear the mind.

Thank you JP! I hope to see you on the water at some point soon. If you want to see some sequences of JP’s Baja waveriding action, click on the photos here to see the sequences.

 

I am a child of windsurfing. The sport is practically imprinted in my DNA– I grew up with Aloha Classics and windsurfing magazines all around me. My father, David Ezzy, was of the first generation of Hookipa windsurfers, and he is the only one still there, giving him the record of windsurfing Hookipa for longer than anyone else. Funnily though, I didn’t actually step onto a windsurfer until I was about 9 years old. I spent the winter when I was 9 learning to water start at Kanaha and by the time the summer replaced the wavy winter season, I began to windsurf Hookipa.

Hookipa in the summer is easy– the wind is steady and the swells are playfully small. It was the perfect time for me to acquaint myself with the currents and the rocks. Oh, and to learn how to jibe– a skill that at that time still eluded me.

When the big waves from Japan rolled in during the autumn following that summer, I was ready for the real beast of Hookipa– winter. The wind gets light and the waves get powerful (on the plus side, the shore break is less menacing and the thorns in the grass go away). My first winter at Hookipa, I couldn’t jibe (nope, still didn’t learn even after that entire summer!). This meant that I got worked a lot.

If I was going out and a big set wave was about to break right in front of me, I could not mimic everyone else and “chicken” jibe back to the safety of the inside. Rather, I would tighten my grip and get ready to hold on like hell. Sometimes I would even hook in (despite the warnings of my father) so that I would stand a better chance of staying with my gear. After all, the main secret to not going on the rocks at Hookipa is: Don’t let go…ever.

Getting pounded isn’t so bad. Especially if you know how to get worked. And believe me, after that first winter, I know. So even today, so many years later, I enjoy taking a good beating on a good day. There is almost something calming about going over the falls on a mast+ size wave and getting thrown around in the clutches of the sea.

I’m not going to say it is romantic or motherly and make a reference to either sex or a return to the womb– although there are parallels there (how Freudian!). But I will say that it is akin to a kind of meditation. The breath is stopped and time seems to stop too. When getting tossed in the white water, there is no up, there is no down, and you have no control of anything. Panic is your only enemy. The only way to get worked is to just calm the mind and take what comes, moving with the forces of water as they push and pull your body this way and that.

I like it. I guess I could say that I windsurf because I like to surrender myself to the waves, to meditate in the chaos of the sea, and to leave all sense of grounded control.

And that long winded thought brings me to the topic of this post. Why do you windsurf?

I love windsurfing and I’m fascinated by people who windsurf and why they love it. Windsurfing is more than a sport, it is a lifestyle. Windsurfing is so hard to learn, and yet we have all gone through it– we windsurfers are part of this exclusive club where everyone has the tenacity, courage, and mental strength to push through the sport. We have all conquered physical pain and mental fear. Pretty cool.

Anyway, I want to know more about why people windsurf and I want people to share their reasons with everyone else. Of course, no one has just one reason, there are many reasons. But anyway, here are some of the comments I’ve received through Facebook (note: these are the comments I could see, there might be– and probably are– other comments that I can’t see because they are shared on someone else’s page/wall).

I want to compile these comments into something, but I’m not sure what. For now I’ll post them here, and please! reply to this post with your own “i windsurf because” statement.

The responses (all from Facebook or twitter):

Peter H T Dobinson
I windsurf because the sea sets me free

Arrigo Bellone
I windsurf because I’d feel totally empty if I wouldn’t

Reef Navigator
I windsurf because I didn’t know I could, and then I learnt how.

Michel Claasens
I windsurf because it gives me a limitless amount of different experiences that make me happy.

Glenn Woodell
I windsurf because I can. There’s a story behind my reasoning.

Andrew Dack
I wish I could…

Jerry Evans
I windsurf because it is like re-booting my brain!!!

Lucas Kunneman
I windsurf because wild water and strong winds calm the turmoil inside, ripples fade and I feel quiet, just content. Absence of distracting associations and stories, as all attention must go to (keep) sailing. I become a happy antenna of physical sensations.

Simone Fa
I windsurf because it’s my soul and Mother Nature fusion to explode adrenaline!

Adrien Grelon
I windsurf because…hmm, never really thought about it. However, I can’t imagine my life without windsurfing so I know the reason must be good! I’ve yet to figure it out, but I’ll let you know when I do 😉

Panagiotis Arnokouros
I windsurf because I want to put in a test and to check in every new session my body and my mind’s strength against the nature’s elements: sea, waves, and wind!!!

Uros Wsurf
I windsurf because I am different

Spiros Douros
I windsurf because I can express my feelings

Benny Vervoort
I windsurf because I love the sea and the wind. I feel free when windsurfing

Human Torch
I windsurf because… I like to feel Free

Alvaro J Betancourt
Nobody bothers me while I am breathing!!

Anthony Burros
Skipping along, fingers in the water

Ken Gothman
I windsurf because….it’s absolutely exhilarating to fly across the water powered only by the wind as your body and mind come alive conducting a powerful, yet delicate, dance between you, the board, the sail, and the sea!

Mike Magee
I windsurf because of the thrill I get from controlling and converting aerodynamic and hydrodynamic life forces into acceleration and velocity.

Di Pagoni Originale
I windsurf because I like to fly across the sea and become one with two of the elements of nature! It’s freedom!!!

Rob van Dijk
I windsurf because….I still can.

Panagiotis Arnokouros
I windsurf because I always feel free and younger!!!

Chris Muzza Murray
I’m with this guy… “I windsurf because of the thrill I get from controlling and converting aerodynamic and hydrodynamic lift forces into acceleration and velocity” epic

Geoff Hautman
… keeps me sane

Max Power
Because I know it’s the most amazing sport i can imagine. Life is too short to take a pass on…

Roy Thompson
Freedom, the wind, the sea

Julio Pereira F
‘cos it make me free!!!!

Jimo Simo
cos 67% of surfers are idiots ..

Ezio Papalia
I Love Windsurfing Because:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD4wNsEd6rU

Aaron Anderson
Because its pure play where much of life is great mundanity, the adrenaline produces a smile that lasts a lifetime.

Caro Weber
because, there is peace and silence..no trouble…and a nice session frees your mind perfectly…

Kostas Argyrakis
‎…cause what you see is what you get !!!!

Kostas Argyrakis
‎…eternal love !!!!!

Fernando Portella
I windsurf because my body needs, my mind deserves. And my soul is grateful.

Kai Lenny
it is Super Duper Fun

Peter Brooks
I love the freedom, the challenge, the feeling, the people in this sport and its just awesome fun!!

Carl Wilson
Because no other sport gives anywhere near the same buzz, with awesome feeling of freedom as you cruise out to sea catching air

Brian M. Watson
I windsurf because their truly isn’t anything better to do.

Ken Kuramoto
I windsurf because I feel sync with mother nature.

Aaron Anderson
I windsurf because it is pure play, pure joy whereas the rest of life is heaping helpings of mundanity. Because, the adrenaline + fun + joy combo produces great wide smiles all over the beach

I think takas are my favorite move-- there are so many different styles to do!

Another week goes by on the “Valley Isle” and the wind still blows. The very mountains that give the island its nickname accelerate the trade winds making the North Shore of Maui one of the best windsurfing training grounds in the world.

And that is why the water is soooo crowded at the moment. The Hookipa Zoo makes it all seem so hectic and wild. And with the obligatory cuts and bruises (yes, everyone must sacrifice part of their feet and shins to the reef and rock gods), the place seems quite intense. Cuts here have the magical property of getting bigger before they get smaller. A small scrape will turn into a crater before it takes its stubborn time healing into a pink scar. No amount of cleaning or antibiotic ointment will help! The culprit is daily bathing in seawater– a medicine for the mind but a poison for the wounds.

Photographers are on top of photographers.

And the rocks! They sit there waiting to claim the next board, sail, or ankle. Us locals tend to know the maps of the currents and therefore avoid the rocks most of the time. But I would be lying if I said that I don’t think about them at all.

That said, however, Hookipa and Maui’s north shore are actually incredibly safe and beautiful. Yes the waves are powerful. But the currents guarantee that no one will be sucked out to the abyss of the Pacific Ocean. If one were to lose his rig at Hookipa it would wash up safely either at the Harbor or at Waiehu. What a bathtub!

On Sunday, I saw a hammerhead shark at Hookipa just past the waves. I sailed up to it for closer inspection. The little guy was around 6 feet (pretty small for a shark) and very beautiful. It was my first time seeing one of these in the wild and it made me pretty happy. I mean, I wasn’t about to jump in the water and start swimming with it, but it was really cool to see. And it was a nice reminder that there are tons of sharks in the ocean and very very very few that are vicious towards humans. This guy was quite calm.

Windsurfing Hookipa then is like eating a nice cucumber sandwich. After all, Hawaii was once “named” the Sandwich Islands by Captain Cook in honor of Lord Sandwhich, who is also the inventor of the sandwich.

Anyway all this talk of sandwiches makes me crave windsurfing. I’m off to Hookipa.

Getting air!

Flying through the green Irish sea. I love the sky color vs the water color.

Are you comfy and curled up in the cozy glow of your computer? Perfect, just the time to revisit cold cold Ireland. Goodbye warm, windy Maui. Hello to the chilly, rolling green hills of NE Ireland for the final installment of my Irish Saga.

Ireland skunked me. Well, kind of. I did not get the big waves and strong winds that I imagined, but I did get everything I wanted from the trip. I saw Ireland (a land whose literature I love), I spent time with my close friend Brendan, I revised a lot of my poems, and I planned an upcoming project with Brendan/umi that I’ve thought about every day since. So, the trip was pretty perfect for me. But all those things are boring for you, so I’ll instead tell tales about the locals.

Who are the locals of Easkey Village? Butchers and pubs. Butchers and pubs. Butchers and pubs. A town centered around meat and beer sounds intimidating, right? But NO! The rural Irish people are some of the nicest, most welcoming people I have ever met. Ever.

And is there anywhere else a more local people! The old-timers still live within a village or two from where they were born. In Hawaii (Hawaii is for hate), there exists a hell of a lot of animosity between “locals” and everyone else. And of course in Hawaii there are different levels of localness, and where you exist in this hierarchy determines who you can look in the eye or who you can poach waves from. As with Hawaii, in most places it seems that localness translates to a hate for the outside: a closed-mindedness about the world. But Ireland is the exact opposite!!!

Curious, friendly, and open to any sort of conversation, the Irish were the perfect remedy to the impotent windsurfing conditions. And with a strong pub culture, I had no problems finding a conversation to forget the weak winds.

One of the friendly Irish locals!

Case in point:

We spent the late afternoons and evenings trying to mingle with the locals at the Fisherman’s Weir Pub. There was one old man there who was in the same spot every single day. If you snuck into the pub during off hours, he’d probably still be sitting in the same spot sipping his Guinness. He had white white ever-white hair that fell down over his forehead. And he seemed to be missing a significant amount of teeth. His age was unplaceable— he was probably 80…or maybe 40. At first, in my stupidity, he seemed quite intimidating.

Our first contact with him was when Brendan and I stepped out of the pub one of the first times and he said, “Good luck lads”. These were his only words to us, and they made him even more of a mystery! Good luck? Thanks? But what do I need to be lucky about? Just life I guess?

So I made it a point to talk with this man. And I did. As with many conversations, ours started with talk of football (ie soccer). A game was on the television and somehow words were exchanged between the Old Timer and me. And then it got interesting.

Mr. Oldtimer went on talk and tell about his philosophical wisdoms gained in his life. He told me with authority that people don’t go to heaven when they die. “There is no Heaven,” he said. Put this in perspective: we were in Catholic Ireland, and a local is refuting one of the most fundamental tenants of Christianity! He said, the dead become stars. He was completely serious and cited Steven Hawking as saying that there are millions of new stars born each day and therefore it is possible that they are the souls of the dead (it appears the approximation for the number of new stars in the observable universe is 275 million per day). I was impressed by the vigor with which he applied his scientific reasoning to the problem of the afterlife. Respect!

The beauty of Ireland is layered, always with more under the surface or around the bend.

Talking about religion…what’s next, politics?… Yep!

Old Timer said that if a doctor told him that he only had a few weeks to live, he would strap himself with explosives, drive to Dublin, and blow up parliament. A veritable Guy Fawkes we got here! (btw, did you know that the slang word “guy” comes from Guy Fawkes?) Such intimate revelations to some strange boy from Hawaii.

Honestly I love the openness and honesty.

Speaking of honesty! I haven’t even yet said his best story.

Old Timer says that a few years ago, a big golf course opened in the town next door, Innischrone. Some of the best and most famous golfers in the world showed up for the grand opening of the new course. Being the big fan of golf that he is, Old Timer decided to watch the inaugural tournament.

After the first hole, it was 400 yards to the second. At this point in the story, Old Timer pauses, looks at me, and repeats “400 yards” so as to imprint the number in my brain. So then Old Timer says, “So I says to me friend, ‘400 yards! Me walk 400 yards? Fuuuuck that! Let’s go to the boozer.’”

He didn’t want to walk 400 yards to watch some of his favorite athletes play one of his favorite games. … … Let that sink in. …

What I love about that story is not that he didn’t want to walk 400 yards (I won’t go on to talk about how Brendan made the comparison to the 400 yard distance between the trenches in WW1) but that he was comfortable being completely open with a stranger.

Most people would be embarrassed about not wanting to walk 400 yards to see some of their favorite athletes in action. But Old Timer didn’t give a ****.

Going for a Nethanderal style air.

I want to express this candid honesty in my art. Is windsurfing an art? I don’t know. But I do know that I want to use windsurfing to express the philosophy I like. And what is art if not that?

I want my style to be completely honest, like the Old Timer’s. I don’t want it to be too polished or clean. I want my movements to be a bit wild and a true representation of how I feel. On one of the umi videos about me, someone commented “nethanderal style!” I don’t know what that means. Is it a compliment? Does he mean Neanderthal style? No matter; I love it. Nethanderal style to me symbolizes the rough, wild, powerful, playful, and honest approach that I try to bring to windsurfing.

Well, to be honest: it is a feeling I want SOME of the time, not all of the time. But anyway… Nethanderal style has become a term now for a certain kind of sailing that I love, a sailing that is marked by openness and honesty and the willingness to just put it out there. To step into the chaos and know that I will find footing somewhere.

0083_GrahamEzzy_Ireland_01 from umi rough cuts on Vimeo.

And while we are on the topic of telling the truth, I should confess that there are no perfect windsurfing trips. Every perfect trip or “I’m so stoked to be here” or “I just want to get wet” is a lie. A godawful lie. The conditions are NEVER actually perfect, and people complain 99% of the time. No one comes in from a session and says “wow, it is perfect today”. The wind is too onshore or the waves are too choppy or it’s too crowded or the wind is too light, etc. The only truth is that it was always better before you got there and after you left.

The point of all this is to say that even though the windsurfing conditions were not perfect for my January trip to Ireland, the conditions are never actually perfect anywhere. AND, my experiences with one of my closest friends and with the strange strangers made my trip as perfect as anything can ever be perfect.

In the end, I have only one thing to say. December. December. Remember December. I will be back to try again! Because traveling is not about amassing knowledge of places but instead a way to constantly refresh the mind like bathes in the sea.

And for me the best part of traveling is coming home. Coming home with new eyes. And Ireland did that and more and she will do it again. And hopefully next time I’ll get more windsurfing!

Thanks for reading (or just scrolling down the page),
G

Here is a new move from me. It’s an evolution from Josh Angulo’s sick ANGover– a front side floater 360. I think I’m the first one to do the alley-oop version. Here’s an interview with Josh and the move is below:

I love windsurfing. Even as a child, I would go through old windsurfing magazines from the 80’s and read them to learn about the early days of the sport. As my dad (David Ezzy) has windsurfed at Ho’okipa longer than anybody, I often turn to him for stories about the old days. Now as a professional windsurfer, I am still obsessed with the histories and intricacies of our sport.
A long time ago, Josh Angulo invented a move he called the ANGover. Basically it is a frontside floater into a sliding 360 (for you freestylers, think of a floater to grubby). I’ve only seen Josh and Nat Gill come close to pulling them. And I saw Camille rotate something similar by accident. It is a rare move, and I don’t think it has ever been caught on camera. A few years ago I started working on it, I tried a bunch and made one or two wet ones, but then I got frustrated and focused on other moves instead. Time to get a clear head and refocus!

Hi Josh, I hope you’re doing well and it’s not too cold on the East Coast!
Josh: ‘Howzit Graham? Actually it’s been a record breaking warm winter over here and I’ve spent five weeks of the winter in Cabo Verde, so quite smooth.’

You’ve been an inspiration for my sailing. And I want to do an interview with you for the web about the latest inspiration: a move I’ve started doing. Years ago, you invented the Gu Press or Hangover (I’ve heard both names for the frontside floater 360). How did you come up with the move? And which name do you prefer?
Josh: ‘I actually called it the ANGover (no h). I guess taking a page from my brother who used GU in the GU screw. It’s basically a surfing move that’s done a dime a dozen by surfers, but is significantly more challenging on a windsurfer. I did a couple of em many years back and I’ll still try one every now and then, just because it’s a cool feeling move.’

It’s a rare move; in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one landed. I’ve seen you get really close and Nat Gill too. Have you seen anyone else do it? Do you have any footage or photos of you landing one?
Josh: ‘The first one I ever did, I think Dave Nash was filming, but he missed it. It was the best one I ever did, a long slide over a barrel and when I pulled the clew in, it was just the right timing and it shot me out into the flats and I landed it dry. Kai Katchadourian was right there and saw the whole thing. I think that’s the only real proof.’

I kind of feel like no one else has done it for a while; it’s almost as if it was forgotten in the last ten years. Any thoughts on why? Maybe it’s too hard?
Josh: ‘It’s a pretty hard move… like why isn’t anybody except Mark doing Mutants? It’s so much a timing and finesse move that comes from a surfing background and not so many windsurfers have a strong surfing background. I think some of the neat stuff my brother and I have come up with is because we see a move in our mind and we go sailing with the excitement to pull that particular thing off and then pay the necessary dues until we do it.’

Do you think it’s the hardest of the main modern moves like takas, 360s, goiters and backside 3’s?
Josh: ‘I wouldn’t even call it a modern move because nobody does it. 99% of the world won’t know what you’re talking about… seems to me that the moves that aren’t done and getting perfected by the general pro population is because nobody can do it. Guys try and give up, so I guess by default that makes it harder, similar situation to the mutant that my brother does, but his I’m sure is even harder. I wouldn’t even know where to start on that. His is so rad that MauiSails even named a sail after his move.

Did you feel any pressure on yourself after seeing your brother invented the two other standard moves?
Josh: ‘I’ve never felt in competition with Mark. He’s been my windsurfing hero since I was a little boy and still is. That guy really is in a class of his own. I just get fired up watching what he does and chuckle to myself as he continues to stump all the youngsters who will pretty much never be able to touch his level.’

I’m trying to be a link between classic Hawaiian windsurfing and the new school. What do you think I should focus on and learn from your generation of wave riding? What about the generation before you?
Josh: ‘First important tip I can give you is to make sure you give waves to me and older generation Ho’okipa sailors who were out there when you were in diapers. Jump back on a single fin every now and then to remember how much more drive you can get and “burst” off the top, but mainly that first tip is the most important.’

I’ve been trying the hangover a ton of different ways: in the air, floater to sliding down, and a combination of the two. But any way, it’s a bitch to land! The problem is coming up on top of the sail at the end of the move. Any tips?
Josh: ‘It’s all about the right wave. You almost want it slightly bending away from you, but it needs to have power, get up on the top slow and once you get those fins free, you need to get some speed down the line on top of the barrel from the power of the wave and the wind, then just flick the sail around when it feels right.. You can force em all day long and land wet, but it’s when you get that slippery one on top the barrel and you’ll get launched so quickly around that you’ll land planing… that’s the one!! Double shaka!’

So I returned to the ANGover. I started out doing them the traditional Angulo way. But after a month of working on the move, I saw a new rotation inspired by the original. I took out the floater and put the spin in the air. So now my variation is like an air grubby off-the-lip or an alley-oop in surfing. This move is totally indebted to ANGover, and so as to keep the lineage alive, I’ll refer to it as a Hangover.