For every great gybe, jump or reach comes the inevitable crash, splash and fail. At Pe’ahi / Jaws in Maui the stakes are high and navigating the thin line between the ride or wipeout of your life is a mix of adrenaline, fear and extreme skill. Antoine Martin and Marcilio “Brawzinho” Browne tell how they manage the challenge as they recount a session from the beginning of the 2016/17 winter in Maui.
BACKGROUND
The winter of 2015/16 in Hawaii was hailed as one of the best ever seasons for waves as a ‘super El Nino’ event took hold of the Pacific ocean producing back to back xxl swells. The winter of 2016/17 so far in Hawaii has been characterized by ‘La Nina’, which frequently but not always, occurs after an El Nino event. The two events represent opposite oceanic patterns: El Nino by a warming sea surface temperature and La Nina by a cooling one. The strongest El Nino event in the past two decades occurred last winter and contributed to the busiest Central Pacific hurricane season on record and huge swells, as well as an abnormally dry winter in Hawaii. The 2016/17 ‘La Nina’ event has seen less frequent big swells in Maui for their winter so far, but at the start of November Antoine Martin and Marcilio Browne were two of a group of sailors who lucked into an early start to the big wave Maui sailing season at Pe’ahi / Jaws and here tell their tales of risk and reward, pleasure and pain!
ANTOINE MARTIN
This wipeout was very different to the last big one I had at Jaws. I went up to Pe’ahi super confident this day. This is not my first time up there so I was not scared. So far I have not made any aerials so this time my plan was to try to hit the lip! After my first two waves I was getting frustrated. The aerial was all that was on my mind. That was my goal! My third wave was one of the biggest of the session. As I wanted to do an aerial I went deep to be sure I was in the right position to hit the west bowl.
Denne historien er fra Issue 362 - March 2017-utgaven av Windsurf.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra Issue 362 - March 2017-utgaven av Windsurf.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
New School
Slingshot’s windsurfing brand manager, Wyatt Miller, has noticed that kids are drawn to playing with wings and puts forward an interesting case as to why he thinks this could help entice them and others into windsurfing.
Changes
Wave sailor Flo Jung reflects on our changed world during his lockdown in Germany.
THE LAST WAVE
Lockdown stirred the creative juices of reader Björn Alfthan, who peers into the future to present a fictional story set in the wild waves of Norway, five years from now.
STILL IN THE GAME
After a horrific fracture in his leg from a crashed aerial in 2018, Alessio Stillrich is back! John Carter talks to the highflyer from Gran Canaria about his move to the Simmer team, recovering from injury and how he learned to windsurf in Gran Canaria!
MOVE ON UP - GET ON THE FRONT FOOT
This month we look at how our front foot weighting can affect and improve different aspects of our main windsurfing moves.
SOUTH' KIPA
Nik tweaking it over home waters.
A NEW NORMAL
On a trip to La Tranche-sur-Mer in France last year, Tris Best estimated over 80% of the windsurfers were foiling. This summer in Portland Harbour, foiling activity has increased dramatically too he reports. With the market offering plenty of choice to recreational windfoilers, our test team check out some of the latest foil offerings.
TACKING – THE SEQUEL
Having given you time to practice, Harty concludes his tacking series by critiquing various tacking options, including the carve tack, as well as offering solutions to common slip-ups.
‘NO VAPOUR TRAILS TO SCAR THE SKY' *
Realising we may be about to enter an extraordinary period in our lives, Harty decided to keep a windsurf-centric lockdown diary. Here are some of his choice excerpts.
REDEMPTION DAY!
Renowned for its windsurfing and variety of spots to sail at, Kimmerdige Bay is a wave sailing jewel on the south coast of England. Timo Mullen gives a guide to its shores while reflecting on why a recent session there was a reminder that there is no place like home!