I always hated HAVING to go to school for some reason. Maybe it was because it was such a structured environment and that we were like robots having to do the same thing, same place, same time etc….. that might be why windsurfing really grabbed me and sucked me in! You rarely ever get the same wave, the same chop, the same jibe, the same jump…… nothing is ever the same really. They say "variety is the spice of life" and I can't agree more. I dropped my kid off for his first day of school, he is 3 years old. Fortunately for him, he is in a place that mixes things up, keeps you guessing- just like windsurfing!

 

Well, just got back from a fun Baja trip. I went to Abreojos for the first time and that place is pretty fun for sailing. Spent a week there and we had some good times. Went with the Quatro crew and those boys are ripping. Was fun to watch and learn and push my own sailing a bit.

Then up to Punta San Carlos where the crew at Solo Sports really took care of us. The waves flattened off pretty hard for our week but it was still filled with fun and plenty of action. From standup to mountain biking, it was all good fun. The crew at Solo Sports really know how to do it right with the food too. Never a hungry or thirsty moment at the Campo. With so much flat wave time, I started to think that we should do a photography clinic down there. I know Matt gets his wave camps pretty booked up, so what about doing a Photography workshop down there. I have a ton of ideas, from either doing a video workshop with the Maui Nerd Productions or maybe doing something with John Carter as a photo workshop leader. I can be the windsurfer, he can be the photographer and you guys can all learn from both?? Could be an idea. The other idea I had was to bring in some famous guy like Joe McNalley to do a workshop on the landscape, the sunsets, the birds, I mean this place is filled with photo ops. For windsurfing, around 6pm, it is like a studio light goes on and the shots just come out amazing. Check out all the photos we took in San Carlos .

Anyhow, everything else is good. Just getting ready to go to Peru for some fun down there.

One thing about windsurfing is you never get bored!!! There is always something new to learn or another challenge that lies ahead! No matter if you are learning to jibe or rip the waves to pieces, all of these tips help you to build a platform to better your performance!
We just finished our Punta San Carlos July Wave Camp- We had some great waves the first half of the camp and they slowly decreased towards the end of the week. Students came from all over the world as far as Israel to learn some new moves in one of the greatest windsurfing locations on the planet!

What did we learn?
Wave Selection- Just because you are coming in doesn't mean you should! LOOK at what is behind you and pay attention to set waves. Watch and follow the good guys that are catching waves.
Rig Separation- keep the sail further away from you so that it can pull you through the turns. When you choke the sail and have your arms bent you lose the input from the sail driving the board.
Hand Movement is a big Key- Backhand back in the bottom turn, slide it forward coming off the top as you twist your body and redirect your path.
Body follows head- when coming off the top, look back to the beach to where you want to go so that your body twists in the hips while you weight your heels and pull down on the booms to keep mast foot pressure and your speed going.
Knees- get em low and move your body like a surfer. This helps pump the board and keep your speed going down the line. Straight legs=braking! The more speed you have on the wave, the easier it is to turn and look like a pro! Speed is your friend-

Not every location has perfect side-off shore winds blowing up a nice smooth face! It is very important to know what direction the wind is blowing. If it is more on shore, you will need to work much harder to go down the line. You need to open your sail sooner in the bottom turn so that you don't get backwinded. When the wind is side-shore, you don't have to think about this as much, same with off-shore winds! The common denominator for riding waves is starting off with good speed before you initiate your turns and being able to keep that speed down the wave. Keeping that front arm straight helps you get your weight forward and driving through the front foot to keep your rail engaged in the turn. Having your knees bent and your weight low drives you through the turns and gives you forgiveness if you hit any chop.
This is exactly what is required for a great JIBE! A good base foundation helps and no matter where you sail, you can practice perfect wave riding skills in flat water just by working on your jibes…..
So get out there and have FUN! Any questions, please comment……

Check this out- Moral of the story, if you are going to go for a forward loop, make sure you keep your feet in the straps! Don't forget your board. This was a great first attempt and he would have made it if the feet stayed in!

If you want to check out a day in my life, Boardseeker.com just did a little ditty.....

The Podium Boys

Pelting sand, frigid waters, strong winds and some of the best windsurfers of the world gathered for an unforgettable display of the sport! Known for consistent winds and cold waters, for the 3rd year in a row Pistol River fired with all her guns blazing!

I had the privilege of flying over with the Quatro/Goya boys consisting of Keith Teboul, Levi Siver and Bernd Roediger. These guys are a great crew and we had a blast. The 6 hour flight into Portland was pretty minor- We had a total of 10 bags and unanimously decided to rent a pickup truck- Keith and Levi went and got that sorted while Bernd and I gathered the bags. Bernd decided to take out all his boards in the baggage claim to check for dings/dents. After paying $250 for 3 bags, they better not have even scratched them he said! II don't blame him, he got the bad end of the stick on that deal.  Needless to say this caused quite a show as everyone was inspecting all this gear and wondering what we were thinking bringing all this stuff- Crazy windsurfers!!!

An hour passed by and the boys showed up with the shiny new quad cab truck. We chucked in all the gear and started our pilgrimage down the mighty I 5. The thought of 7 hours didn't seem too bad and we decided to power it all the way. About an hour into the drive, we were all starving. Bernd was all over the iPhone and found an AppleBees that was open till midnight… Perfect. It turned out to be Tuesday night Trivia so it was pretty annoying but the food was awesome- Keith took us all out- Thanks Keith!

Time seemed to slow when we jumped back into the car and we were starting to get delirious. We kept occupied trying to figure out the best way to get more people into windsurfing. Levi was convinced we need to sell the complete package and make it easier for people to get the right stuff. If you are going to get an 85 liter board, start off with this 5.3 sail, here is the right mast, boom and base for it. Use these fins and you are set to rip! All of this while keeping the price tag reasonable. I ask him if we would sail the same thing and he said Yeah, why not….. that is the goal to get people on the good stuff. Keith chimed in talking about costs and logistics to which I quickly agreed to. Bernd was passed out cold- too much thinking sent him off to dreamville. Our arrival to the hotel was just past 3:30am- Lights out! We concluded our conversation over breakfast and came to the agreement that there is no perfect answer except to spread the love and stoke as much as we can. A perfect example of that stoke is the AWT (American Windsurfing Tour).

The AWT has brought the sport of wavesailing back to life in the USA- the last wave sailing contest prior to the first AWT event in 2010 was in 2000- 10 YEARS!!!! That is pretty sad. But now we are back in the game and people are coming and you can feel the energy and stoke that is growing. Their is a good group of youth sailors that are charging and learning how to compete. The women are even starting to step out of their comfort zones and getting more into it. Ingrid LaRouche is leading the charge and ripping. Fiona Wylde is a 15 year old prodigy that is an incredibly gifted individual in all aspects of life. She is one to watch for a long time. The Master division was pretty full with 16 competitors and an awesome crew- west coast legend Brian Casserio has been taking his time to help with judging as well as battling for a podium position. The Pro's are also ones to thank for showing up- Levi Siver is the one to watch and he is supporting the AWT. One of the top dogs in any windsurfing arena, Levi has made a name for himself as one of the worlds best! My brother Kev is also involved, more so than just competing, he is helping out with all the media and video endeavors and making these events come alive to those that can't make the trip! Newcomers, Bernd Roediger and Morgan Noreaux are also ones to watch as they are turning it up and making the veterans quiver!

The contest summary goes a little something like this…… The Pro men, Levi dominated. He made it look easy. I don't know if there was anyone else in the world of wind that could have beat him here. Bernd was 2nd although he had to fight for it against his rival, Morgan Noreaux. Fourth place went to the veteran, Kai Katchedorian. Graham Ezzy had his issues with a heat that he thought he easily won, not so according to the judges. Brother Kevin saved all his hot moves for the SuperSession- HUGE one hand/one footed back loops, front side 360's, backside 360's…. he was not happy not being left out of the final and put down an impressive performance to win the Chinook Carbon Boom. The masters had a close battle with Atilla Tividard and Brian Casserio- these guys were great to watch. Brian took the top honors. The Amateur sailors had their work cut out for them as Ingrid LaRouche decided to enter and she schooled some of the boys- battling all the way to the final against Atilla, the masters runner up. The youth are the future and there is some good talent coming from there. Zane Schweitzer and Morgan Noreaux were battling for 1st and 2nd and Fiona Wylde, Casey Rherer and Ben Grodner were dicing it up for 3rd and 4th and 5th. Bernd has graduated and chose to focus only on winning the Pro division. For the women, AWT Tour organizer Sam Bitner was in a heated battle with Fiona Wylde for 2nd place. In the end, the enthusiasm of Fiona sent her to 2nd place right behind Ingrid LaRouche! Jen from Canada made a long trek down for all the fun and she took 4th place. Nice work girls!!!

I wasn't sure how I was going to make it back to Portland Airport for a 10am flight the next day. Fiona happened to ask me when I was going back to Maui and I said hopefully tomorrow!!! She offered me a ride as she has been learning how to drive with her learner's permit and wanted to show me how she was able to navigate the big Ford 15 passenger Van….. I experienced no frights or scares as she operated that machine with ease. Thanks Fiona and her dad MacRae!

An epic contest and an exciting journey to and from. Pistol River did her thing and gave us the goods. Spectators from all over came to watch and it was great to see old and new friends supporting the windsurfing spirit. Next time you have an opportunity to check out an AWT event, don't hesitate, there is fun for all…

See you there!

MP

Our snowy bike Ride

Well I thought it was a good idea to drive to Gold Beach Oregon from Jackson hole. I mean it is just across, Idaho and then across Oregon. Easy. Looked it up on Google maps, 18 hours. Hmmm.Let me think about it. Well if I fly from Jackson to meet up with Ruben in San Francisco I have to go from Jackson to Denver and Denver to SFO, It takes about 6 hours, plus your checkin time and then a 10 hour drive from SF to Gold Beach. So I thought, it is only two more hours to drive. The good thing about flying is, well you dont have to drive.

The Beautiful Open Road

So my trip was late from the start. I thought well it might be a good idea to get a ride in before I sit in the car for 18 hours. So we went for a epic ride through the snow, well, we weren't riding through the snow, we were hiking with our bikes. Resi's cousin Elise, says, if you ain't Hiking, you ain't biking.. so we did a killer ride, but that set me back for leaving around 5pm. Bit late to start a long drive, but great way to make the most of your day.

The drive from Wyoming to Idaho is amazing. Well it takes about 25 minutes, but it is through the Teton Pass. After that, Idaho is pretty beautiful as well. The sun was setting, green, green pastures, just amazing. Loving it, road trip, all on my own, wind in my face, just happy to be hitting the open road. I have my sleeping back in the back, my tent, my bbq, all ready for the road ahead.

My goal was to make it Boise, and stop around there, find a place to camp, and take the rest the next day. I made it Boise, and started heading into Oregon, looking for a nice place to stop. I was looking and looking, and finally found this killer spot right on top of the mountains. When I pulled up, I saw a dead mountain lion, and got me a bit scared. I pulled up a bit more and made my camp site out in the middle of no where set up. I looked up and was amazed. Wall to wall stars. Just amazing. I made some room in the back of the truck, no need for a tent, just beautiful, star gazing, not a person within 5 miles, I hoped anyhow, just me and the great outdoors. I got scared, though, all alone, the cry of coyote's, the hum of the owl, kooing around me, the distant frogs, and all I could think about was the mountain lion trying to attach me. What a wuss. I got in my sleeping bag, all snuggled up, and was looking at the stars, and was like, this is too amazing, i have to capture this moment. So I get out of my sleeping bag, set up the camera, and tried my first ever bulb exposure. Here is the result. Pretty cool, I think.

From there, the temperature just dropped. I was cold, scared, but I needed some sleep. I found Johannes's sleeping bag, right next to me and since he wasn't there, i used it as well. The temps were below freezing I think. Sure felt cold anyhow. I calmed myself down enough to get some sleep, was warm, and happy and felt like a real mountain man. If my love Resi would have been there, I am sure I would have been more confident. She knows about all this mountain stuff, and could crush a mountain lion with her bear hands, bear hands?? No pun intended. Anyhow, I was first awoken by a coyote fight, where something got killed in the wild, next was the amazing moon rising that woke me up, and finally woken up by the sunrise. Not the best sleep I have ever had that is for sure.

So, I knew the pistol river forecast, and knew I had to get there. I was desperate for a sail, and wanted to get on the water. Boy was it a long way. I think I took the longest way, but eventually pulled up and had a epic session. I wouldn't say the conditions were epic, but I would say it was definitely fun after such a long road to get there!

The contest starts tomorrow and the forecast looks great!!

I snapped this pic yesterday with the GO PRO Hero as I was doing a jibe lesson! Pretty amazing picture quality to say the least! I'm going to have to dial in the settings a little more- there are some pretty cool features on the camera to say the least. I had my Contour video camera running on the side of my helmet and the GoPro up top.... talk about a techno weeny!

I have been filming with the Contour ROAM without any case on it-  it has been solid for 3 months straight with absolutely no problems. The image may not be as tip top perfect as the GoPro when there is no fog in the case- I have had a tough time with that.... Don't worry, I'm not sponsored by either of these brands..... just some good input having used them both!

June came in hot and we just have been getting smoked with wind here on Maui! Shawna and I just finished an incredible Aloha Windsurfing Clinic and it was AMAZING! We were blasted with wind everyday, in fact the first 3 days may have been a bit windy but it got everyones attention to say the least! With a big crew we had our hands full all week long and the energy that was flowing throughout our team was awesome. I was fired up everyday to get into the days and watch people learn! I felt like everything was smooth as silk. We have a great program and delivered information that we could see people were grasping and putting it into use on the water. Everyday we would go over video analysis and really study each other so we all are learning as we go. Most everyone was at a similar level and this created a pretty tight knit group!
The big word of the week was CRUNCH! Handling the high winds takes a stance that prepares you for battle. Shawna calls it the crunch, kinda like a half sit up. You would have to see it in action to appreciate what it can do for you! We had very few catapults all week long and this is largely due to this stance!
How about the turns…… Well that is pretty tricky in the high winds and we had to iron out a lot of bad habits! Shawna has a good checklist that she threw out… It goes something like this- "Did you reach far enough back on the boom? Are you low enough? Are leaning into the turn? Is your front foot sliding out fast enough. Did you continue to stay low. Do you step up and stay low. Did you look up wind again before throwing the rig forward. Did you slide you hand up to the mast before you flip the rig and stay low enough?" Once you can do all this, you have the ingredients to make jibes in both light and high winds as well as use these techniques for learning your bottom turns etc….. Our theory is build the right base and everything from there is achievable! If you have been thinking about joining us for an Aloha Windsurfing Clinic, sign up now!!! Next one is October 13-20th