2009 Flatwater and Crossover Photoshoot

Post by Tom
Photos by Anne Leete

Wednesday we did a photoshoot for the Flatwater and Crossover sails. Ray Mangan was shooting pics from the beach by Jeff's house at Camp One. My fiance Anne Leete came down and snapped a few pics with our camera too. The photos below are some of the images she captured.

The wind was a bit light and did not quite fill in as we had hoped. Ida was out on the 4.3 DD, but did not have quite enough wind.


Ida on DD 4.3

Japanese wave monster Taka came down to join in the fun and tried out the Liquid, Speed Demon and GPS.


Tom and Taka on the beach


Jay Spocks a Crossfire

Jay Lee put the Crossfire 5.0 through it's paces showing us a wide range of freestyle moves. I think he started the challenge to see how close to the beach you can sail!


Ray shoots, Hessel on longboard with Ala, and Ida on The DD

The light winds at the start of the session were perfect for the 5.5 Liquid on the Longboard. Our engineer Hessel enjoyed taking Ala for a ride.


Hessel gybes the longboard with the Liquid

Getting closer to the beach!


Left to Right: Andreas on Liquid, Taka on Speed Demon, Tom on GPS

The group shot is always a challenge, but it helps to have good sailors that trust each other and know what they are doing. Columbian ripper Andreas Joined Taka and myself to make it happen. The sailing got very close and the gybing got very late. Apparently we started to scare the people on the beach!


Tom on a 6.6 GPS


Ray shoots Tom gybing the GPS

Ray worked hard for a couple of hours until the sun got too far overhead. He took something like 370+ pics! Ala kindly brought food for lunch after the shoot which was greatly appreciated.

Thanks to all the sailors - Hessel, Taka, Ida, Andreas, Jay, Tom.

Thanks also to Ray and Anne for the photos and thanks to Ala and Sierra for the support.

That was a fun day at the office!

First Test of 2009 GPS

Posted by Tom
Photos by Bob Gilbert



Wednesday is a sail testing day and yesterday I got to test the first 2009 GPS 6.0 protoype and the new wide boom.



The winds showed around 30mph on Iwindsurf and the tide was good between 1 and 2 feet. I met Eric Beale at Sprecks at 2pm and Bob was there to document the afternoon. The wind proved very gusty and shifty with definate asymetry (different directions at different heights). At times it felt like the wind was blowing down and it was dificult to lift a rig on the beach or waterstart - very strange.



I initially rigged the sail too full as the super wide boom maked it look flatter than it really was. I quickly ended up at maximum downhaul to help deal with the gusts which helped a lot on Starboard tack but made going upwind on Port a real chore. I had meant to put an adjustable outhaul on but did not find the time. After this session I will definately make the time!




Erik Beale and Tom Hammerton discuss the conditions

The water was very rough, but there were a few good lanes that would periodically open up on the lower section of the reef. Unfortunately the wind had about 5 degrees too much east in it and the course was a little too broad. It all came together on one run and I posted a 35.7 knot 10 second run. I was very happy with this as 35 knots had been the stated goal for the day. It was definately a little hairy, but I only had one high speed crash. I did however manage to cut both heels!

Check out my Session below:

http://www.gps-speedsurfing.com/gps.asp?mnu=user&val=28374&uid=2626&cnt=

This is a new personal best for 5 x 10 seconds 34.38knots!

I was totally exhausted by the end of the day but very happy!

Stay tuned for upcoming details of the 2008 Maui Vmax speed ladder Eric, Marc and I are putting together.

Diony In Cape Verde

Here are some pics Diony sent us from Cape Verde.

He sailed impressively to come through the trials and qualify for the main event.

Unfortunately Diony came up against Kauli and Swift in his first heat of the main competition. Despite putting in an excellent performance the judges put Kauli and Swift through.

Well done Diony for an immpressive performance!

Looks like he had a lot of fun. He will be back on Maui the first week of April for the Mistral photo shoot.

Epic Conditions for Sail Testing

Blog by Tom

The new sample sails came in this week. First to arrive were the new Liquid crossover samples. I had a go at testing them on Tuesday but the wind died out before I got much done. I did manage to rig and sail both the 6.5 and 7.0 sizes. Pictured below is the 7.0:




Wednesday saw the latest wave sail samples show up along with a big swell and some good if a little gusty wind! The crew headed to the beach for an afternoon of testing and we managed to get 3 sizes on the water. Juan took a 4.2, Glenn a 4.7 and I rigged a 5.3 (I weigh about twice what Juan weighs!)

The conditions were epic! It was the perfect size of wave for Kanaha being head to logo high with the occasional bigger set. The wind was somewhat fickle and would come and go as it pleased. I rode the Starboard Kombat 89 for the first time, something I have been waiting to do since they first came in months ago! This proved the perfect choice for me and I had a great time with it. I found I could really drive a bottom turn with it and soon got the confidence to charge at the wave making some nice top to bottom turns. The Fire '09 behaved perfectly with that magic feel for down the line wave riding. All too soon I was worn out and having a hard time hanging on to the boom as my hands were tired. I took a break, but the wind faded and I had to smim out to catch a few last waves and then swim back in. It was totally worth it for the one nice logo high wave I caught and put a nice turn off the breaking lip!

If I can find any photos I will post. In the mean time there are some on GP's blog:

http://mauisurfreport.blogspot.com/

Testing will continue this week with Crossfire, Speed Demon and GPS sails to test.

Ola Helenius sent the below photos of the Sweedes in action. The first pic shows Glenn heading out on a 2009 Fire (all other pics show 2008 sails).

Thanks Ola!

Tom's Fish

Blog by Tom


OK, I know this is a Hot Sails Blog, but look at this fish!

It is a 28 1/4" long O'io (estimated 8 lbs) I caught at Baldwin Beach Park on Sunday at Anne (my fiance)and William's (her brother) birthday party. I also caught about a 1lb Papio.

March notes

Posted by Tom

I've been a bit busy recently and have not had any time to post or go windsurfing. So right now I am vicariously living through those who have actually made it to the beach!
First here is a little note from Diony who is down in Cape Verde for the PWA wave contest:

"On the 26th of Feb I jumped on the plane destination to Cabo Verde from Venezuela for the event that marked history of wave sailing last year!! We had two days of sailing already!! one spot called Hookipa, super light winds!! And then the next day at Punta Preta which was about head high in the sets!! Soooooo much fun that wave!! down the line full blast!!! I Hope conditions well get good for the event!! Stay updated with more news from Cabo Verde!! DG_V69"



The Sweedes are in town and seem to be thawing out nicely. Check out their holiday sailing pics:

"Here are some pics from the "swedish Hot gang" sailing Hookipa today
and yesterday. My wife took the pics which is the mot impressive
"action" considering managing two kids at the same time.

Click on the right part of the image for the next one. (Commentary in
swedish)

Tuesday:
http://www.olah.se/Maui/Maui7-hookipa/

Wednesday
http://www.olah.se/Maui/Maui8-Hookipa/



Sailors:
Jesper (white Smack 5.0)
Mats (blue Smack 5.3)
Fredrik (white/red SO 5.3)
Björn (blue SO 5.3)
Magnus (white/red Fire 4.7)
Ola (black/red/white Fire 5.0)"


Temira was over for a couple of weeks for thawing out too. She kept very busy and went home with a nice tan and 2009 Fire prototypes for testing. I look forward to hearing her feedback on the new 3.0 Fire - a Gorge special!

Jeff had a couple of good sessions on the 2009 Smack 5.0 and declared it perfect! You will have to wait for the June 1st release date to find out for yourselves just how perfect it is.

All the 2009 materials are in production right now and we have some exciting new introductions. I don't think I am supposed to let that cat out of the bag yet however so I can't show you the samples.

More 2009 samples will be showing up in about a week and then my job will consist solely of going sailing and testing - I can't wait! Maybe I will even post a few sneak peak photos...maybe.

------------Update--------

Ok, so Andreas sailed the Smack at Ho'okipa and the next day there are photos on the internet. So as the cat is out of the bag, check out this link to find shots of the new 2009 Smack:

http://www.raymangan.com/gallery/4469948_Sw2UC#262906539_Hzz35-A-LB