Windsport Vol.28-4 No.122 by Pete DeKay

INSIDE:

MIKE BURNS : : WYATT MILLER : : BARRY SPANIER : : JACE PANEBIANCO NORTH AMERICA’S WINDSURFING MAGAZINE

O H N I Z W BRA UNDERURE PRESS

RIDE GUIDE: CABARETE, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

ROS P W O L L E F 13 S N O I T S E U FIRING Q

ES V A W T N E I ANC OF S R A E Y 0 0 2,0 TS R O P S D R BOA EW R C D A E H THE D , WOMEN LEGENDSNABES AND WAN G N I M O Y W WINDY RD’S PRITCHA UND PLAYGRO DISPLAY UNTIL JANUARY 31, 2010

BIKE! A N O R A UR GE HAUL YO

SUMMER 2009

WINDSPORT.COM $5.99 US

Forecast

A big Texas storm. Sloat photo

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teXAs tWisters

Nasty storms are definitely not the norm here in Corpus Christi, Texas. The spring can bring some interesting weather. And while the particular cell pictured here was all bark, storms always incite horror stories from the regulars that end with a caution to de-rig every night because you just never know when a squall will hit (2 a.m. seems to be a popular time, though). Last year, a similar-looking storm whipped in funnel clouds, hail, fire (started by lightening), 80-plus mph gusts of wind and a torrential downpour of rain. The windsurfing centre, Worldwinds, felt like a solid hideout until you are hedged in by tornados, grass fires and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s blowing so hard itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s somehow actually raining inside the building. We were all desperately trying to remember what to do by recalling scenes from the movie Twister. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Angela Hurley

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Features 48 Wide Open Spaces

Kevin Pritchard explores Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in search of the ultimate mix of hardcore recreation and relaxation.

56 Diamond Head

This famous Oahu tourist attraction is also an amazing sailing venue. Let Sonja Evensen introduce you to the diverse crew of characters that frequent this amazing break.

64 Peru Boarding Odyssey

Manu Bouvet looks for waveriding’s true origins off the northwest coast of South America. What does he find? Epic surf, wind and a unique cultural experience.

72 The Brothers Houyvet

Patrick Bergeron introduces you to two of the best and brightest windsurfing photographers today: Jerome and Maxime Houyvet.

On the Cover

Rider: Marcilio Browne Photographer: John Carter Brawzinho is hungry right now... hungry to learn, to compete and to win. Combine this with his raw talent and passion to windsurf and the end result is explosive. Working with him is a pure pleasure. He’s powerful, fearless and wants to sail all day… a photographer’s dream. —John Carter

contents one

Volume 28, Issue 4, Number 122

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Bergeron shot by a brother. M. Houyvet photo

THE BROTHERS HOUYVET

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contents two Volume 28, Issue 4, Number 122

Upfront 06 Forecast: A perfect storm 14 Launch: Windsurfing the Internet 16 Balance Point: Letters and feedback 19 In the Wind: Life on the beach

Departments 34 Radar Look out for Dean Christener 36 In the Lab Maui Sail’s Barry Spanier 38 Quiver Step into Jace Panebianco’s office 40 Guru How to tighten up your Pivot Jibe 42 Move of the Issue Mark Angulo lands the Mutant 44 Ride Guide: Cabarete Check out this Dominican Republic spot 96 Getting Real Michael Jamieson’s wind Buddha 98 Close Out Who’s on Mitch’s friend list

Ingrid Larouche in Brazil. Persson photo

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VOLUME  | ISSUE  | NUMBER  PUBLISHER EDITOR

proudly presents:

SENIOR EDITOR ART DIRECTOR GROUP EDITORIAL MANAGER COPY EDITOR

Stephanie Lake

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGS

John Carter, Brian Casario, Shawn Davis, Richard Hallman, Jerome Houyvet, Maxime Houyvet, Anna Persson, Benjamin Thouard, Mike Sloat, Michael Sumereder, Stephen Whitesell, Silvan Wick Patrick Bergeron

PWA CORRESPONDENT

John Carter

INSTRUCTIONAL EDITOR

Andy Brandt

TEST EDITOR

PRODUCTION MANAGER ADVERTISING TRAFFIC COORDINATOR PRODUCTION DESIGN CIRCULATION AND PROMOTIONS MANAGER CIRCULATION AND PROMOTIONS COORDINATOR

Derek Rijff Evan Sue-Ping Michael Moore x243 Mariangela Tesoro Stevie Shipman Mike Fraser Mike Hartman Christina Raymond x252

CIRCULATION ASSISTANT

Ilissa Maiatico

ADVERTISING SALES AND PROMOTIONS

Rick Bruner 509.493.4930

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR ADVERTISING SALES EVENTS

book your dream vacations at 1-800-223-5443 velawindsurf.com

Dan Parsons Luke Fox

Patrick Bergeron, Manu Bouvet, Mike Burns, Sonja Evensen, Graham Ezzy, Mitch Gingrich, Angela Hurley, Jerome Houyvet, Ingrid Larouche, Wyatt Miller, Maarten van Ochten, Kevin Pritchard, Phil Soltysiak, Silvan Wick

DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION AND DESIGN

the most beautiful windsurfing movie of the year get your FREE DVD at clubventos.com

Pete DeKay // pdk@sbcmedia.com John Bryja

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

MAUI CORRESPONDENT

life. clubventos.

Steve Jarrett

Matt Aiken x223 Jamie Reekie x230 Bill Jones, Peter Jones, Todd Elsley

CONTROLLER

Brian Jarrett

OFFICE MANAGER

Adam Jacobs

On occasion, our subscription list is made available to organizations whose product or service might interest you. If you would prefer not to receive such information, please write to us at the address below. Windsport magazine is an independent publication published four times a year —Buyers’ Guide, Spring , Summer and Fall—by SBC Media Inc., 2255B Queen St. E., Suite 3266, Toronto, ON, M4E 1G3 Phone: (416) 406-2400 • Fax: (416) 406-0656 E-mail: info@windsport.com • Website: www.windsport.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS: 1 year (4 issues) $17.98 Canadian ($17.98 U.S.) 2 years (8 issues) $29.98 Canadian ($29.98 U.S.) 1-800-223-6197 E-mail: subscriptions@windsport.com CHANGE OF ADDRESS USPS PLEASE SEE PAGE 98

Attention postmaster: Send post office returns, change of address and subscription orders to Windsport, 2255B Queen St. E., Suite 3266, Toronto, ON, M4E 1G3. Publications, mail registration #40036843. Indexed in the Canadian Periodical Index ISSN 0826-5003

Printed in Canada

launch

WorLD WiNDsurf WeB Attention, folks. The World Wide Web is not just another fad likely to go the way of the Rubik’s Cube, yo-yo or Hypersonic. I used to think that the Internet, as a tool for communication, would grow stale as people realized the importance of live human interaction. I couldn’t have been any more wrong. We, the people, have embraced the beauty of instantaneous and impersonal social interaction. Whether you choose to e-mail someone back immediately or months later (honestly, my junk mail filter thought your letter was spam) you no longer have to strain a vocal cord to keep up with a steadily growing number of friends (or BFFs if they’re really hot). Over the past few years the methods of communicating with fellow wind shredders online have propagated, becoming far more fun than plain old e-mail. Let me suggest a few and how they fit

Fraser photo

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into my social life of Windsurfing Accessible Networking Communications (W.A.N.C. for short). I used to think blog sites had as much worth as a typical ’90s narrow and unstable transition boards, but my view has recently changed completely. These sites, at least the many good ones, are the bread and butter of windsurfing’s online presence. If in the real world regular folks can become celebrity bloggers by publishing outlandish statements and circling exposed private parts in photos, then why can’t it happen in windsurfing? It actually can. It’s a big deal to see oneself on the Peconic Puffin, Bill’s OBX Beachlife, Maui Surf Report, James’ Blog or G-42 to name just a few sites. Most folks living in the region the blog site is based from not only follow it for informative and entertaining content but know and celebritize it more than Britney Spears honours

Perez Hilton. Also, windsurfing blogs do not expose private parts other than the occasional unintentional wetsuit hole or banana hammock malfunction. The most popular social networking websites are MySpace and Facebook. Both allow users to create personal profiles to share messages, photos, videos, etc. amongst their accepted group of “friends.” If you are unemployed and planning on staying that way, then you might have a profile on both sites, but for anyone looking to maximize their W.A.N.C., here is the difference. MySpace is like using a modern kid’s rig: sure, it looks cool but eventually you’ve got to grow up to the real thing. Facebook began at Harvard, so it must be for smart people. Be warned, Facebook is as addictive as heroin and the first time you ever planed. To sum up Twitter, a website that lets users send short text messages (up to 140 characters) to computers and cellphones of a group of people, you just have to learn what the technical terminology for sending a message via this site is: a tweat. It’s like a session on

By peTe deKay my 3.7-metre sail: short, generally uncomfortable and something that happens in very infrequent spurts. I know some people have tweating dialed in, but I doubt it’s the same folks who look good on a 3.7 m2. Two more online sources of info and communication, RSS feeds and Yahoo! Groups, have been around for a while but are new to me so I probably shouldn’t comment on them, but will anyway. To be honest, RSS might as well stand for RS:X (the windsurfing Olympic class), as I have not the foggiest idea about it other than knowing that Jimi Sobeck kicked everyone’s ass on his at the East Coast Windsurfing Festival. Yahoo! Groups and other online user groups are easy-tosetup forums where members pass along very useful information to clog up your e-mail inbox, like where they hope to sail and how they found a potato chip resembling Robby Naish, so it will be a windy year… yahoo! Finally, I want all windsurfers to check out windsport.com, because my job depends on it. If you want to help me out, please e-mail me your content (info@windsport. com) or at least embarrassing photos and videos of your friends exposing themselves on the water.

balance point Letter of the issue I’ve got a few things to get off of my chest. After many years of windsurfing, I enjoy it as much today as I ever did. The gear has come along way since I first got into the sport: boards plane quicker, sails are way more stable, booms don’t wobble, and wetsuits fit like a glove. There are, however, some simple equipment improvements that are desperately needed and this is where my venting begins. First, to all board manufacturers, enough with the lightweight exotic materials. You’re building a fancy surfboard, not a space shuttle. We really don’t need to shave an extra half-pound off because it doesn’t make a difference for most of us. Also, while on the subject of boards, who is coming up with the graphics? You can walk into any surf shop and see some beautiful surfboards that just ooze cool. Well, I just don’t get the new windsurf boards. I want a board that performs under my feet and looks cool hanging in my garage. Now, to all of the sail designers, how come I always need to buy a new mast with every new sail? A different bend, a different stiffness, a different diameter. Please

get together with your counterparts and standardize on something. I should be able to buy three quality masts and use them with any brand of sail. For everyone who makes booms and mast bases, every increment of adjustment and harness line index mark should be numbered. I document boom length, base height and harness line location for every sail size I rig. Life would be simpler if I could just write numbers down instead of writing a rigging manual for each sail size. Finally, to all of the guys selling wetsuits, stop telling us not to pee in them. We all do it and will continue to do it. It is not like we have any choice here. Besides, on a real cold day, it kind of feels good. So, come on, guys, you’ve got great stuff, just give it a few tweaks. Give us cooler boards, simpler rigs, and wetsuits we can all pee in. Paul Mertz, Mahwah, New Jersey Awesome advice for the industry… I hope all the brands read this and take notes. We are awarding you a Windsport prize pack for your constructive venting. —ed.

Total BS

I was reading your Wellness column with the sun sensitivity test and you need to correct it because it is total bullshit. The sun is actually our friend and the more active you are the healthier you will be. The people most at risk for skin cancer are men 55 and over because they are inside and they don’t do anything. Windsurfers are probably the least likely to ever get skin cancer or any cancer because they are out in the sun a lot and they are active, which keeps the blood and oxygen flowing through their system. John Wollner, via phone message Thanks for the opinion. We didn’t mean to scare anyone away from outdoor activities with last issue’s “Skin Cancer Risk Test,” but sunscreen is still good to use. —ed.

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ITw issue 

GEAR, ADVICE & ENTERTAINMENT

PEER PRESSURE Brawzinho answers the tough questions

SWELL RIDES

Kel Yip’s eco-friendly xtracycle

THE SKINNY negotiating fair baggage rates

HOW TO

Win a board toss with Mike Burns

MACGYVER

IN THE wIND

HIGH FIVE VOCAB WELLNESS INSPIRATION

Mike Burns... more than just a great freestyler. dekay photo

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Peer Pressure

BraWZiNho aNsWers to 13 of his felloW pros Marcilio Browne’s (a.k.a. Brawzinho) talent in freestyle and waves stands out on the PWA tour. We found 13 of his peers who wanted to learn the answers to his success and find out exactly what makes this young pro tick. Words by Phil solTysiak | PhoTos by john carTer

Q &A JUNKO NAGOSHI: What is it that motivates you most? i think my dream has always been to succeed as a professional windsurfer. apart from that, i love it. so every day i go in the water i have little goals that i set for myself, and that’s how i get motivated. also, i always think about contests and i want to do well in them. TINE SLABE: You are a world champion in freestyle and also compete in waves. Which do you like best? Wavesailing is my favourite discipline and i love training and competing in it more than anything, but freestyle is also super nice and the contests are a good chance to test myself. but i think wavesailing is a little more fun. MATT PRITCHARD: You won the freestyle title in 2007. How did it feel to not win in ’08? What are you going to do about it? When i lost last year in sylt, it was not the best feeling because i still had a small chance to win. but second was still a pretty good result and i am not even thinking about it anymore. i only think about my upcoming contests, and what i have to do that will help me out and make me better.

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FRANCISCO GOYA: What year will you win your ﬁrst wave title? I hear you’re going to buy a Ferrari when that happens? i don’t know. a wave world title is a life dream for me and still very far away. i will practice hard for the upcoming contests and try to do my best every time. i just want to be more consistent and get good results. a ferrari? That’s for sure not happening! Maybe i should change sports for that. GRAHAM EZZY: How do you prepare for your heats? i basically try to get my gear all set a few months before each contest. i try to find the best setup for it and make sure i have all i need. just before the heat, i prepare mentally. i try to relax, get fired up and take all negative thoughts out of my head. normally i listen to some music. BRIAN TALMA: What’s the biggest distraction during competition? i don’t really get distracted during contests so much, but i do get really nervous and that’s super bad, i guess. i have been trying to take care of that and i’m slowly getting to feel a bit better.

TYSON POOR: When training for freestyle, do you work on one move all day until it’s dialed? it depends on the place, conditions and who i’m training with. normally i start doing everything i already know, and if i’m ok with that, then i start to focus on only one move and go for bigger stuff. GREG THOMAS: Your brother Gabriel does PWA slalom and you’re waves and freestyle. How competitive are you two with each other? We really help each other and i really love to see him improving and doing good. We don’t really compete because what we do is very different. but Gabriel is becoming very good in waves. he also helps me a lot all the time. i guess we both care about each other, and we want to get good together, so we always try to take care of the other. MAARTEN VAN OCHTEN: Will you ever think of entering the slalom tour to join your brother? Gabriel is probably twice as fast as me. My legs are too skinny and start shaking after five minutes of slalom! [laughs] but i won’t say that i will never do it. Maybe one day, but far from now. i really want to focus on waves in the future.

EGOR POPRETINSKY: How did you ﬁnd your sponsors? i think spending some time in hawaii helps because that’s the place where everyone is. it’s a lot easier to get pics in magazines and movies when you sail there every day. YOLI DE BRENDT: What places do you like traveling to most and which are the hardest for you? My favourite places are hawaii and cape Verde for sure. both have really good waves and consistent winds, which really allows you to train a lot. sylt is pretty hard for me, as i am not used to the cold weather and port tack conditions. but i will try to improve there. KEVIN PRITCHARD: What’s it like being so good looking? Do all the chicks ﬂock to you or what? am i? Where are all those chicks? Please show me, i can’t find them! KAULI SEADI: Where would you like to see freestyle go: more bigair moves or sliding tricks? i really would love to see more big air and powerful moves. i think that can be harder depending on the day and conditions. i just think that the air moves look way better.

New-school waveriding.

BRAwZINHo REMEMBERS: Top  career highs 7. Winning the Expression Session at the 2007 Cape Verde Wave event. I did badly in the main contest but was happy to win this. 6. My first PWA win was at the Belgium Indoor. Kauli [Seadi] won the slalom and I won the jump contest. We were stoked for each other.

5. Finishing in second place last year in the overall freestyle ranking made me happy, as I was a bit nervous before the year started.

4. I got on a roll advancing eight heats in a row during the double elimination at the ’09 Cape Verde wave event. I was stoked to finish fourth.

3. My first outdoor event win was the freestyle title at Fuerteventura in 2007. I was excited beating Kiri [Thode] in the final.

2. One of my best contests was the ’08 Fuerteventura World Cup in which we did three double eliminations. I got two first places and one second.

1. It was my life dream to become a world champion and winning the world freestyle title in 2007 made it happen way before I expected it to.

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Swell Rides

PhoTo by shaWn daVis

Kel yip’s xtracycle

If it weren’t for my winter ski driving, this electrified xtracycle setup would be a perfect car substitute for san francisco living. The generic mountain bike frame is a craigslist special to which i added electronic goodies, including a geared rear hub motor, handlebar throttle,

Kel’s gear hauler.

52-volt lithium iron phosphate battery (good for 40 miles of range and 10-plus years of use), a Watts-up power monitor, 100-watt motorcycle stereo system, high-powered front and rear led lights, and ground effect green leds for visibility. i live about 5.5 miles from crissy field and it takes me

about 20 minutes per journey with the motor making quick work of the arguello Gate hill. Mechanical add-ons include rear-disk brakes, rear stoker bar for the kids to hold onto during our daily commute, foot pegs, and an xtracycle wideloader and longloaders to haul the windsurfing gear.

EVEN MORE SWELL BIKES:

indra photo

“My dream road bike is a Trek Madone 6.9 Pro with custom paint from flying ace, campy super record cT groupo, campy bora ultra Two Tubular Wheel set, 3T bars and stem and speedplay X2 pedals.” —Micah Buzianis

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Merritt photo

“My perfect bike setup is one i can ride all day but with enough travel and suspension to handle baja’s roughest terrain. santa cruz makes just the bike: the nomad. We also use them in our fleet at solosports.” —Kevin Trejo

carter photo

“i want the new 2010 fuel-injected honda crf 250 when it comes out. i’d redo the suspension and put on my favourite renthall bars and it would be good to go.” —Matt Pritchard

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MacGyver

Better Board Repair

Words by Derek Rijff Two issues ago I looked at quick-fix tips for keeping your board watertight. Now here are four hints for when you’re taking a little more time and working on a more permanent epoxy resin repair. Be sure to start by loosening the vent screw and end with a coat of paint (for UV resistance).

1. If damage has gone through to the core, then use a pen or hex wrench to dig out a small cave under the damaged area. This allows the repair to form a “plug” in the board that won’t pop out.

2. Micro-balloons are added to resin as filler for strength. If you do not have any, then chop up fibreglass cloth into nail-clipping-size pieces for a poor man’s version.

Fraser photos

3. If you need a couple layers of cloth to strengthen your repair, then use patches that get progressively bigger. The first layer barely covering the repair while each additional layer can grow one to two centimetres.

4. To ensure the repair stays

in place and is watertight, a vacuum bag is ideal, but who has one? Instead, tape Saran wrap in place. The plastic wrap will peel off once the resin hardens.

vocab GAERIAL [GAIR-EE-UHL]

A not-so-manly aerial (but it’s what 99 per cent happily end up doing).

Paddy and Daniel threw some wicked gaerials last fall in San Carlos, Baja. Origin: Irish wavesailors 24

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The Skinny

Words by Graham Ezzy | Illustration by Don Jackson

Negotiation 101: Windsurfing Excess Baggage

Traveling with windsurfing gear sucks. It’s not fun to drag bags that resemble extra-heavy living room furniture through the international terminals of every airport. Even worse, I get the feeling that the airlines hate carrying our bags more than we do, and this is why they charge us ridiculously large amounts of money to check the bags. The hardest part of the whole process is convincing the airlines to take the baggage at a reasonable rate. Bouts of negotiation with the airlines over excess baggage fees are normal in the life of a professional windsurfer. From this life, I’ve learned many tricks for easing the process. As with every windsurfing trick, you must start with the basics before you add some style of your own. After reading this and some practice, you should be able to negotiate a reasonable fare for a full quiver of boards and sails, a free upgrade to first class and a

resolution to terrorist conflicts. The more you travel the more small tricks you learn (a $10 tip to a porter could save you a couple hundred in baggage fees). If all goes well, you should be windsurfing all over the world. Before you can be a truly expert excess baggage negotiator, you must understand that the airline representative can charge anything she wants. If you negotiate well enough you can get the cost down to zero, but the flip side is that there is no upper limit to the price they can charge if your negotiation goes poorly. Get to the airport early, so you have plenty of time to negotiate. The basic negotiation process can be boiled down to four basics motions: concealing, flirtation, ignorance and persistence. Before you check-in, make sure you try to hide your windsurfing bags as much as possible. Place them behind pillars, around corners

and next to extremely fat people. Once you start talking with the airline representative, bat your eyes, flex your muscles, and try to charm the airline representative like she is the most beautiful woman in the world (note: if the representative is male, use the same strategy). Complete the check-in process up to the point where she asks you how many bags you have to check. Reply, “Just [fill in the blank] bags and one windsurfer set consisting of [fill in the blank] bags.” After hearing this she’ll most likely peer over the counter quizzically looking for your single windsurfer split up into six bags. Point vaguely in their direction and offer to tag the bags yourself. Of course, she’ll say “no,” but given the small possibility of her saying “yes,” go for it. Next, when she informs you that you have to pay for your bags, say, “No! Really?” Proceed to hold this disbelief for 10 minutes, asking as

many times as possible, “I do this all the time, why do I have to pay now?” Once you come to terms with the fact that you’ll actually have to pay, tell her that you have no money and are willing to offer windsurfing lessons as payment. If that doesn’t work, offer her a price you’re willing to pay. If she still refuses to cooperate, don’t concede anything, just keep offering the same price. As the line backs up behind you, she will eventually give in. All pros have their own artistic variations to the standard negotiation. For example, if I get a man at the airline counter, I outsource my negotiation to a female airline worker. Case in point: on a nonstop flight from Paris to Lisbon, the male Air France representative wanted to charge me €1,400 ($1,820) for my bags, so instead of pointlessly arguing with him for hours, I got one of the female representatives to argue for me (see: flirtation). I sat back and watched them argue in French for an hour, and in the end, I only paid €200 ($260). My good friend Alex Mussolini (no relation to Benito) has a more fascist style; he asserts his demands until they are fulfilled. Once we were boarding a plane going from Lisbon to Cabo Verde and he looked out of the plane’s window and noticed that his bags were still on the tarmac. He quickly went to the nearest stewardess to assail her with demands to put his equipment on the plane. She was flustered, but could not say “no” to his assertive charm. She wanted to help but was powerless, so Alex targeted his demands to her superior. Eventually, they closed off the curtains to the First Class cabin as Alex and I watched them tie the bags on top of the oversized First Class seats. That’s how windsurfing gear is meant to travel! Graham rides for Ezzy Sails, Dakine, Quatro, Maui Jim, Vikteam, Chinook, and Maui Fin Company.

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I T w Wyatt now rocks Naish gear.

High Five

PhoTo by shaWn daVis

Wyatt Miller’s top 5 pieces of WiNdsurfiNg WisdoM if you are not getting wet, you’re not getting better.

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looping is 90 per cent guts and 10 per cent skill (ok… maybe 85/15).

if you really want to improve, get out on a big beginner board in lightwind and practice your sail handling.

Quit your job. you can live lavishly down in baja for six months on just $2,000.

Windsurfing will keep you young and safe. To ensure both, never let go of the sport and the boom respectively.

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Wellness

RELIEVE SHOULDER PAIN

As a physical therapist, many of my windsurfing friends come to me for advice on pain they have. The most common has to do with shoulders called impingement syndrome. It results from the rotator cuff tendons, which cover the head of the ball of the shoulder (humerus), being rubbed or “impinged” against the front edge of the shoulder blade (acromion). As the arm is repetitively lifted, like when doing

a waterstart, the space under the acromion is compromised and can create inflammation and irritation over time. It’s main symptom is pain in the front of the shoulder during overhead movements or when bringing your arm down. Try to avoid these painful movements to prevent further irritation and allow healing. Ice to decrease inflammation and improve your posture by keeping your shoulders down and

BY INGRID LAROUCHE back (no slouching). A better posture will help provide space for your rotator cuff tendon under the acromion. Since the rotator cuff muscles help keep the head of the humerus down in the socket, strengthening of these muscles will also increase the subacromial space. Some simple exercises may help prevent the condition from needing medical attention.

Shoulder internal/external rotation: Keeping a 90-degree bent elbow at your side with a towel under the arm, rotate your arm slowly toward your body for

the internal rotation and away for the external rotation. Maintain your shoulder back and down while using an elastic band for resistance.

Shoulder squeeze: Stand or sit with your shoulders down and back maintaining your arms to your side. Bend your elbows at a 90-degree angle and slowly

pull them back, squeezing your shoulder blades together. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat three times. Use an elastic band for additional resistance if appropriate.

Ingrid is sponsored by MauiSails, Tabou, Chinook, Dakine and NoLimitz.

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How to:

Win a Board Toss Mike Burns gives secrets on how he won the New England Windsurf Journal’s board toss at this year’s East Coast Windsurfing Festival.

1. Practice makes perfect, so don’t skip Skippers’ meeting. EFPT/Bikich photo

Inspiration

any events. Also, beer is available at most board tosses. Consume lightly before and heavily after your toss. If you can’t walk straight, you probably can’t toss straight either.

by Maarten van Ochten

Go Pro and Stay in School From the first time I stood on a windsurfing board I was stoked. When I saw pictures of somebody doing a Forward Loop in a magazine, I thought to myself, “One day I want to be that good.” After completing high school in Holland, I decided to continue my education at the Academy of Sports. Unfortunately, this didn’t give me much chance to sail as I was living quite far from the water and good wind conditions. I still had the dream of competing against the best windsurfers in the world on the PWA, so I decided to take year off from school and train while working at the Vela Resort in Aruba. With the consistent trade winds, I was able to sail almost every day and

prepare for pro competition. After the year off, I went back to school and was once again frustrated with my lack of sailing. I wanted to go to school but not at the expense of my windsurfing. So I changed to a new school where I was able to windsurf, compete, and study all at the same time. I think it’s really important to both follow your dreams and go to school. These days, you simply can’t do without an education in order to prepare yourself for a long-term career. The life of a pro windsurfer is not all just sailing and parties. You need to represent your sponsors, stay in shape with conditioning training and a proper diet, and do research to understand how

It’s really important to both follow your dreams and go to school. 32

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other people have succeeded in sports. All these things will give you an advantage when it comes to competition. My first PWA event was in Austria. It was a large and well-organized event with big crowds lining the beach every day. I decided beforehand that whenever I had some free time, I would do some homework to keep up with my schooling. I have to say it was really hard concentrating but it was worth it. I was stoked to finish 17th out of 48 riders in my first-ever pro competition. While touring I’ve studied on airplanes, boat rides, and with my travel mate (Steven van Broeckhoven) driving. Fortunately, I passed all my exams with my best grades ever. I proved that I wasn’t wasting my time and could 100 per cent succeed at both my dream and education. I give special thanks to my family for their support and my sponsors: JP, Neil Pryde, Vela windsurf, MFC and Bodyguard.

2. The measurement is taken from the board’s final resting place, so a good slide from the board is as important as airtime. For the board to slide it must land flat, so adjust your toss and gage the wind direction accordingly.

DeKay photos

3. There is one secret that Bill Reed (the Canadian champ) and I only know and will never tell. But, if you pay close attention to us at the next event, you may just figure it out.

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dean chRisteneR WoRDS anD PHoTo bY JeRoMe HouYveT I remember seeing Dean for the first time about a year and a half ago at Ho’okipa. He was sailing pretty well, but he displayed an attitude showing that he wanted to get a lot better. His training has paid off, as now I can say that Dean is really good and has a great style. It’s no doubt that being one of Kai Lenny’s best friends has helped as the two boys push each other every day. Age: 19 | Number: uS 7777 | Specialty: Wave Home: Spreckelsville, Maui | Heroes: Robby naish, Jason Polakow | Sponsors: naish, Dakine

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Dean smacks the lip.

in the lab

A true legend.

MAUI SAIL’S

baRRY sPanieR

What has been your proudest moment in sail design? There have been many great moments but breaking the speed record at Weymouth [england] with Fred Haywood in 1983 stands out as the most satisfying and enjoyable. It was pretty dream-like. as a young sailor-sailmaker in the ’60s, I studied lots of books on the subjects of sailing and voyaging. one all-time great is The Aerohydrodynamics of Sailing by C.a. Marchaj. There are many chapters and references in this fine text that cover speed in sailing, and many references to the trials at Weymouth and the radical craft called Crossbow that had established what was then a benchmark that seemed far out of reach. While attending a conference about commercial use of sail power in London in 1980, I was able to meet Mr. Marchaj and have a great discussion over

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lunch about sailing speed. He felt someday all the records would fall to the windsurfers because they had such a good ratio of sail area to displacement and would be able to succeed just because of the effective horsepower that could be used. at that time we were working on three sizes of wavesails as a total product line and had no idea we would be getting involved in speed sailing. The whirl of circumstances that pulled Fred and I into the speed quest aimed at taking our ideas to Weymouth and proving the guys from Maui could be the fastest. We left Hawaii sure we would do it. When it actually happened (we had never doubted) it was still pretty satisfying because I could remember reading about the far away places, the exotic crafts, and the tradition of the efforts. and now we would be in the record book, too. That night,

WoRDS bY PeTe DeKaY | PHoTo bY JeRoMe HouYveT When it comes to important figures in windsurfing history no one has done more than Barry Spanier. Windsport contacted him to find out a little more about this legendary designer.

when we were being honoured with a boisterous piss-up at the Weymouth Yacht Club with all the “names” in speed sailing cheering our success, it really hit me. Youthful dreams played out. What recent design innovation has made you really proud? For MauiSails it’s the counter-intuitive shaping that we developed in the evolution of the TR-3 designs in 2006, and we’ve been able to carry into all our sail ranges with great success. It’s been a real advancement in our ability to control leech tension and twist separated from the total rig tension applied by downhaul. We worked our way into this by totally rebuilding several sails, ripping them apart and reassembling them with the new shaping in place. now we’re able to keep the overall skin tension smooth, wrinkle-free and maintain the downhaul at lower levels while still

getting the twist we are looking for. This keeps the rig feeling soft and builds a springy gust response into the leech tension that is good for acceleration and low-end. by utilizing our custom load cell, we’ve been able to keep all the downhaul tension settings in a good relationship from size to size. Outline your “perfect day?” I wake up, dive over the side and swim around the boat, checking the mooring and everything underwater. Then I row to shore and stroll around finding fresh fruit for the day, getting some land exercise. after that, row home and do some boat maintenance and write a little about anything that comes to mind. In the afternoon, I go sailing in the perfect sea breeze and catch a big Mahi or ono for a nice dinner with friends in the anchorage.

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TRAVEL CASES My Dakine Sequence backpack and Pelican Case come in handy for traveling around the world.

PANASONIC HVX- CAMERA Placed on a bogen 503 tripod with custom-installed Dakine leashes as tie-downs to withstand any gust of wind.

B&H DOLLY allows me to incorporate Hollywood techniques for more dynamic shots.

Jace Panebianco’s MOVIE-MAKING SETUP

PHoTo bY JeRoMe HouYveT Jace Panebianco is busy these days filming The Windsurfing Movie II, the sequel to one of the most-acclaimed action sports movies of all time. Here’s some of the gear he uses to capture the story for next year’s release.

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SWIM GEAR My Redly flippers and a SPL waterhousing keep me safe, mobile and my camera dry while in the water.

Making The Windsurfing Movie 2.

guru

A Nice and Tight Pivot Jibe

Words by Brendon Quinn | Photos by Lisa St. Clair

Stand tall on entry.

Head back with sail across board.

Are you sick of having your non-planing jibes start in Pacific time zone and end up in Mountain standard? Well, with a little work and the following advice, you can learn to jibe without having to set your watch mid-turn. Reducing the board’s waterline will tighten the radius of your turn. Whether you’re having to take three giant steps back while riding a longboard or arching your back as if you’re trying to put your pony

tail in the water behind the tail of a smaller shortboard, the further the centre of lateral resistance (waterline) moves back the less board is left in the water to pivot through the turn. Positioning the sail’s centre of effort (balance point) into a better spot will help tighten your turning radius. Leaning the sail forward of the waterline and to the outside of the turn (to windward) will allow for a snappy pivot. Heading

either across the wind or slightly upwind to start will make it easier for you to reach back further on the boom for proper hand placement. With both hands back on the boom, you will be able to lean the sail further away from the waterline, gaining greater leverage for a tighter pivot jibe. If you can get both of these two techniques to happen simultaneously, you will achieve Pivot Jibe perfection. Combining a

strong-and-balanced weight shift (through arching your back) to the tail of the board with proper sail steering (moving the hands back on the boom to help lean the sail forward and to windward) will allow you to turn around “on a dime” and exit your Pivot Jibe, clew first, with style. Brendon Quinn (a.k.a. Windsurfing Gypsy) teaches full time for ABK Boardsports.

5 Reasons to Get Tight… Pivot Jibing 1. Longboard Racing You will be amazed at how many competitors you can pass with a tight jibe around the mark.

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2. High Wind This is the only way to Pivot Jibe and stay in control when you’re powered-up.

3. Waves It will give you more options when positioning to catch the next set wave.

4. Freestyle If you want to learn how to Snap and Jump Jibe, a super-tight Pivot Jibe is the place to start.

5. Just Do It It’s not hard; it just takes a little practice. Get out there and make Dr. Quinn (Medicine Man) proud.

making moves Mark Anguloâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mutant I dedicate the Mutant to up-and-comers like Zane Schweitzer, Conner Baxter, Bernd Roediger, Kai Lenny and Noah Angulo to help instill in them the value of creativity and individuality, and to let them know that we all sail with different strengths, yet thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a place reserved just for the talent that each bring to the table.

Words by Mark Angulo | Photos by John Carter

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ride guide

Cabarete, Dominican Republic Words and photo by Silvan Wick

8 7

5 6 2

Once you get past the hurdle of learning to waterstart, Cabarete is one of those must-go-to-sail places because of its tropical warm waters and the steady tradewinds that blow from late December through August. The water temperature is over 80ÂşF, nearly matching the air temperature during the cooler days, and the wind blows steadily 15 to 25 mph most afternoons. Lighter breezes in the morning

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allow beginner and intermediate sailors to practice in the protected bay before the trades kick in harder in the afternoon, roughing up the water a bit and causing the wind swell to pick up on the reef. Any storm systems leaving the North American continent will deliver a good ground swell for proper waves that can get pretty big. The reef is relatively forgiving, not too shallow and not so sharp, making Cabarete Bay an ideal

place for entry-level wavesailing on most days other than the massive bone-crushing winter swells. During the winter months, occasional huge swells arrive providing excitement for the most experienced wavesailors. Fortunately, for most tourists, these conditions normally only last a few days before more manageable-size waves return to the reef and the shorebreak diminishes to a less threatening level.

The hotels or apartments located right on the beach are beautiful and offer many services but at a higher cost. Other smaller more secluded places to stay are less expensive, but may be slightly off the beaten path, a few minutes walk from the beach. You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need a rental car since you can arrive in Cabarete via a 20-minute cab ride from the airport and everything you need (the beach, hotel, restaurants, gift shops and

AERIAL HIGHLIGHTS 1. Main street The only road through the heart of town. 2. Cabarete Beach a sweeping half-moon beach facing due north. 3. Reef Break The place for wave aficionados. 4. Point East a shallow reef extending out to sea sheltering the bay.

5. Vela Resort Go to velawindsurf.com to book a reservation. 6. Club Mistral Check out club-mistral.com for any info. 7. Bozo Beach You’ll end up here if you can’t stay upwind.

TRADE WINDS

8. Kite Beach Downwind where those string-surfers belong.

supermarket) is within walking distance. If you do feel like renting a car to explore beyond the town limits, you can always rent one locally, but beware of the Dominican driving style: let’s just call it slightly unconventional. Cabarete is great family vacation destination, and if you want to hire a nanny you can do so as most hotels will be able the help you finding a suitable person at an affordable price.

There are loads of alternative activities such as mountain biking, horseback riding, snorkeling or diving (best in the nearby town of Sosua, where the water is clearer), canyoning, whale watching in Samana bay (late January until mid March), wakeboarding on a river, or simply just taking long walks on the beach. Happy hour in Cabarete is a great time, and even more so after a hard day of windsurfing. Sailors

all come together to reminisce about all the stratospheric jumps and mind-blowing wave rides. Following this I suggest you head for the shower and maybe even a quick nap, as your day is nowhere close to ending. Later, as the evening progresses, you can head out for a nice dinner on the beach, resting your bare feet in the sand as you enjoy a reasonably priced meal. Don’t head for home yet, but go partying to the tune of

merengue, Reggaeton and salsa that you’ll easily hear before you see. especially toward the weekend the nightlife turns quite lively. Don’t worry about going late into the night, as the wind understands by providing you the entire next morning to recover.

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W I DE S

Wyoming.

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P A C

OP E N

A C

Words and Photos by Kevin Pritchard

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ever in my life have I thought of going to America’s Wild West to windsurf and do all the other sports I love. I have been on the PWA world tour for the last 14 years, traveling to more countries than I have my own country’s states, but upon landing in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, I fell in love. This place has it all: whitewater rafting, mountain and road biking, hiking, motocross riding and yes… incredible windsurfing. Oh yeah, I shouldn’t forget to mention it’s also the home of one of the best ski hills in the United States. Most windsurfers focus on the Gorge as their main summer windsurfing destination, and until I ventured to Wyoming I would have agreed. But after discovering some amazing lakes with steady winds blowing throughout the summer, I now know that if you are craving a new adventure, look no further than Jackson Hole. My adventure starts with friends picking me up from the plane and taking me straight to the water for some tubing. In Jackson Hole there are three main rivers to play in. We start with Fall Creek, which is out of town and considered more of a local’s paradise. You won’t find any tours going on or rapids to make it super exciting, just peacefulness and beauty. The water is snow runoff so it’s a bit cold, but after the first five minutes everything is pretty much

numb so it’s all good. The other tubing river is Flat Creek, which runs directly through town. At the start of it you realize why they call it Flat Creek as it runs slowly and peacefully, but once it gets moving it becomes really fun for the amateur tuber with turns, twists and bumps making it exciting but not death defying. The big river, Snake River, boasts some pretty crazy rapids. It’s not really recommended for tubing, but whitewater boating tours are plentiful. For my tour of the Snake River, we pick up a boat at a friend’s house and are on our way. I haven’t been down too many rapids before but feel more than up for the challenge. We pump up the boat, a vintage inflatable named Elma, and she seems all right despite a few small leaks, broken oar wells and withering seams. We get everything ready and aboard and hit the river. Lucky for me we’ve brought along a couple other guys to help us get down the river and as soon as everyone is in I go for the cooler and pop open a Pabst (the cheapest beer in town). After about 30 minutes of enjoying some beautiful and peaceful scenery, I begin sensing a change

Elma and the crew.

in our speed. The rapids are heating up and Elma is starting to fill up with water. We elect my buddy Chris Summers to do the steering, as he is the most focused on trying to get us back to our car safely. I, on the other hand, have been sipping on a few Pabsts leading me to think that since the boat is filling up with water, the last thing we want to do is loose our prize possessions… so I am drinking them as fast as the water is coming in. It continues to get more and more fun with us now ripping down the river. Everyone is getting soaked and laughing. Suddenly my friends start talking about a Lunch Counter thing coming up soon, which sounds interesting me. With Elma filled to about knee-high in water, we decide to pull over and try and get some water out of the boat. But with no bailer or bucket and just a pile of empty Pabst cans we say screw it and put her back in the river and head for the Lunch Counter. I can see it coming as I look down the river. I also can hear screams from a super-deluxe whitewater tour-guided boat that has turned upside-down with people swimming around trying to get back on the boat in the icy water.

I Am hAvINg mAJOr DOubtS

but WE ArE WAy PASt thE POINt Of NO rEturN.

It CAN’t bE ANy WOrSE thAN rIDINg A WAvE At JAWS.

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A land of wild rapids.

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Going sailing.

Biking at Yellowstone. Stiegler photo

The Wild West.

Elma is getting some real funny looks from the fellow rafters as we start to drop in. I am having major doubts but we are way past the point of no return. It can’t be any worse than riding a wave at Jaws. Soon we’re rolling through the rapids with beer cans flying everywhere. Chris, who is still steering, is laughing from both fun and fear as Elma fills with water to the brim. We bounce along the six-foot rapids that toss and throw us around almost to the point of flipping. But at the last second Chris gives it one last thrust pushing us through the Lunch Counter unscathed. Elma, by far the most

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unriver-worthy boat, has made it straight through without losing a passenger or can of beer much to the dismay of the many onlookers. The next mission is to get out windsurfing. The only problem is which of the many lakes to choose. Jackson Lake seems like the most beautiful place to start with a great view of the Grand Teton mountain range penetrating up into the sky. I get excited noticing the rustle of wind in the trees. I pull up to the boat ramp and quickly rig. The water is a bit chilly but it’s fun to blast around in front of some of the most beautiful mountains I have ever

seen. I sail around and the tourists just seem to love seeing something different out on the lake… it gives them something to talk about and take pictures of. After a couple of sessions I called it a day and head home for some much-needed sleep. The next day I am excited to go mountain biking, thinking that the trails that I road on in my youth will provide enough experience to allow me to ride the trails around here. Well, I am very wrong. I find myself clipped into the pedals of a borrowed bike riding along a sheer cliff behind a guide that has grown up in the mountains. The ride up is beautiful and

Jibing in paradise. Stiegler photo

really challenging and I feel my heart beating through my chest. Having lived my entire life at sea level, this high altitude stuff is killing me. After a couple hikes, crashes and a lot of pedaling, we make it to the top and a view of wide-open perfection. The area is littered with vibrant yellow and purple flowers with breathtaking views for miles. I am experiencing one of the best feelings of my life and I can’t get enough of it, but as the sun is setting we have to get going. The ride back is a long single track meandering down the mountain. We coast for miles, twisting and turning on the trail and speeding past deer and a moose along the journey. By the end of the trek down I am speechless from the exercise and thrill of going full speed down a mountain for 45 minutes. After a day off of windsurfing, I am ready to get back on the board again. I want to try a new spot so I head to Slide Lake, which was formed by a massive landslide that blocked up the river back in 1857. It created a natural dam forming a beautiful small lake right in the middle of a valley where the wind whips through funneling down the lake. I rig in a nice little park and enjoy some lunch as I wait for the thermal winds to kick in. Just as the locals predicted, the breeze gusts up to a solid 15 to 22 knots through the canyon and I head out. Blasting back and forth I see the intense red mountains through my sail’s window. I spot three huge deer coming down from mountains to drink. It’s cool to see nature up close while sailing. The deer check me out looking at me as if I was from the moon, but none-the-less continue drinking. As the sun goes down on another day, I now really believe that I have found the ultimate little playground for all of my favourite little adventures. Now that I am feeling in the swing of things, it’s time to venture out a bit more. I decide to go for a road bike trip up in Yellowstone National Park. This place is biking perfection. I pedal for Just as the locals predicted,

the breeze gusts up to a solid 15 to 22 knots…

blasting back and forth I see the intense red mountains through my sail’s window.

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miles through nice rolling hills and beautiful flat straights through the woods. I have only been road biking for six months but I can’t imagine there being a more perfect spot. Upon reaching Yellowstone Lake, I check out the natural geysers, which are deep, clear and blue like nothing I have ever seen. They are steaming from the heat—a natural beauty you need to see to believe. At the lake, despite not having my windsurfing gear, I still search for a place to launch. It looks like a great place to sail and local legend says the Yellowstone Lake can get some great wind with some pretty big swell. I continue to ride in the park for miles until the sun sets over the Grand Teton mountain range. What a great way to end the day. Next on my list is dirtbiking. To top off any true adventure I need to get dirty in the mountains. Some friends and I load up the bikes and drive out of town to

Mosquito Creek. I start up the YZF 450 and blast around the amazing hills and valleys—places you can only get to with either a long hike or a fun motorcycle. We are hitting the single-track lanes all the way up to the top of the mountains. After a day in the dirt, it’s one of the best times to hit the river and do a float down stream to clean up. After an hour and a half running fall creek we end up at Wilson’s world famous bagel shop to fill up our stomachs. My final mission is to go camping out in the wild-open spaces of Wyoming. Since I am into photography a bit, I had one request: to get the early-morning reflection of the Grand Teton range shining on the lake. To find the most scenic wideopen space requires a full mission trip. So we get a canoe and fill it with our food, camping supplies and everything else you can think of. After miles of paddling and a portage to a lake buried even deeper in

the wilderness, I knew we found a spot where I would find my dream shot. After setting up camp we light a fire and start cooking. After a tasty meal in the wilds we store our food in some Bear Aware containers and are off to bed. I wake up to one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen: clear bright-blue skies with the thunderous mountains rising into the air. I pull out my Canon 1D MK2 and take what I think is possibly my best shot ever as a photographer. It’s a dream come true. I think I will even make it into a poster when I get back. The Grand Teton range, the lake and the reflection are a sight I won’t forget for quite some time. The opportunities for having fun in Wyoming are endless. There are so many places to discover, adventures to go on and things to do. I strongly suggest you go there and check it out for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

Worth waking up for.

At Yellowstone National Park.

A river runs through it.

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I wake up to one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen clear bright-blue skies with the

thunderous mountains rising into the air.

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o m n a d i D ead H Where everybody knows your name. Diamond Head, a.k.a. D Head, is like the ’80s TV show Cheers: it’s a great place that feels like home to quite a cast of characters. There are the usual top rippers, wannabe rippers, the occasional world champion and any other type of windsurfing personality you can imagine. We’re all out there yukking it up and watching each other progress, or not. Words by Sonja Evensen | Photos by Stephen Whitesell

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The most famous volcanic crater.

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A glorious day for Frank Baensch.

Local Knowledge Windsurfing Oahu’s Diamond Head is an addiction. We, the resident windsurfers, continually find ourselves dragging our butts down the hot-and-dusty hill over and over again, even if we swore we hated it the day before. Sure, we complain that the wind is too gusty, too light, the wrong direction, or the waves are too small and crumbly. But who ever said windsurfing is always going to be perfect? I have been willing to make this trek, overloaded like a pack mule, for over a quarter century (though sometimes I wish for a Sherpa). It seems that D Head has become a nearly forgotten jewel tucked away

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in a back drawer, but some of us know better. Located on the southwest side of Oahu, D Head is one of the few breaks available with sideshore wind and a fairly steady supply of waves. You can’t talk about D Head without starting with the king: Robby Naish. He was ripping here before Maui became the hot spot. He acknowledges, “The conditions can be quite varied, where the wind and waves can be anything from big and light to strong and windy, though it tends to be on the small and light side most of the time. There are many days that you don’t get any jumps at all, but the waveriding is

awesome. It’s quite a forgiving spot with lots of room on the different peaks, so most days are a mix of good sailors and up and comers all having fun.” The top regular, Frank Baensch likes the fact that the varying winds, swells and tides make it different every time, which keeps things exciting. Another bonus he points out is that the crowds are small and on good days everyone gets plenty of waves. He says, “When the winds are light the surfers take over, but we all get along primarily because everyone respects each other.”

“Besides being where the Waikiki dancers go to lose their tan lines it’s a high performance playful wave.” —Scott Carvill

Ashley Baxter, visiting D Head.

Claudia Manno, getting ready.

Frank’s wife, Claudia Manno, is also one to watch when the surf picks up. “When the waves reach about five to six feet, the fun starts,” and becoming nostalgic she adds, “When the waves are about four to five feet, low tide, the sun of April and May reminds me the spring has arrived and my friends are out there. It reminds me why I moved to Hawaii.” Former pro sailor and resident “wise ass” Scott Carvill suggests, “Besides being where the Waikiki dancers go to lose their tan lines it’s a high-performance playful wave. It works with real swell or windswell and it’s got multiple

peaks with different setups and is very forgiving if you go down. Once it gets a bit bigger (eightfoot faces plus) it starts to get some thickness to it so it’s not just a soft pushover wave.” Laurie Menviel, a French transplant who is likely the best female windsurfer at the spot these days, thinks that it’s the perfect place to learn waveriding. She says, “The atmosphere is great; it’s not a competitive spot like Maui. I feel it is much more relaxed and friendly here... like a small family, which makes it even more fun to sail.”

The D Head Scene For years, when the world-class events and professional photographers ensured that the D Head backdrop was plastered over magazines all over the world, this place was highly recognized as a mecca for windsurfers. Now, there are occasional photo shoots, no contests, yet still some of the guys out there are really topnotch material. Carvill says, “When I was a kid the media was here. Every day I sailed we had Darrel Wong, Warren Bolster, Steve Whitesell, Sunstar, and various European film and still photographers traveling through. We got a ton of photos published and spots in videos just for showing up and sailing. This was the launching pad to get us sponsors and off the island. Now we don’t have any type of filming going on unless Wong or Whitesell shows up for a planned photo shoot. Even if a kid becomes the best port tack wavesailor in the world from Diamond Head, there is no professional event for him to shine at. The skill set you will get from Diamond Head won’t help you on the current tour. And the editorial media outside of the tour seems to judge wavesailors strictly on their ability to sail starboard tack Ho’okipa.” Baensch says that as a proving ground, “Diamond Head is challenging because the conditions don’t get good as often as in Maui. Waves on the south shore are smaller and the wind is much more inconsistent. We only have one kid right now who comes out here regularly. His name is Kaoru Lovett and he’s from Kailua. He’s doing really well and has pro potential. It’s definitely harder to stay focused on training and have fun when you don’t have others your age to sail with.” Kaoru’s dad Randy, says he finally got to sail with kids his own age when he went to Maui, and that was a real eye-opener. On Oahu all the old timers look out for him, but he is the lone youngster. He likes the friendly attitude, the mix of people and ages, and likes how everyone pushes each other to do better. Kaoru says, “It’s too bad they don’t have contests at D Head any more, like when Robby was in his youth.” Kaoru has been to Maui and comments on the difference, “At Diamond Head you learn to ride waves without wind at times and you also become way better at balancing. Ho’okipa usually provides a constant flow of powerful wind, which enables you to constantly rely on power in your sail. On the other hand D Head is gusty and variable at times. The two locations have completely different sailing conditions.”

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Claudia Manno in front of a monster.

“If more women only knew how good windsurfing is… they would ask their boyfriends for more windsurfing equipment and less liposuction.” — Claudia Manno Tatiana Howard prepares to launch.

Da Rippa Chicks Naish claims that, “There are always at least 40 per cent girls on the water when I go to D Head, which is the best percentage that I have seen anywhere. There is no shortage of ripping chicks out there to show you how it’s done.” I always like to describe Italian Claudia Manno as a little fireball. She’s petite but packs a punch, with abs of steel from years of gymnastics. The benefits of her strength and agility transferred nicely to the sport of windsurfing. She moved here to windsurf, from Rome (a good trade) and still loves her former training ground at Lake Garda, but she’s a wave addict and can’t go back now.

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Manno thinks that the few women that are involved in windsurfing have a real passion for the sport. She says, “They don’t do it for the image, or money. If more women only knew how good windsurfing is, not only for their spirit and mind, but also for their upper body strength, core strength, hips and thighs, legs and buttocks… they would ask their boyfriends and husbands for more windsurfing equipment and less liposuction.” Windsurfing is a passion that Manno and Baensch share, even if they are now busier than ever with jobs and career. “I’m proud to be a windsurfer for ever,” she maintains. Manno and I joke with our good friend Yukiko Sato of Japan that, “We’ll have to help each other roll our wheelchairs down the hill and push each other off into the surf.” Sato is as sweet as can be and a real inspiration to all the

other women on the water. She has become a great role model for many, keeping herself in shape to windsurf and snowboard. Like many of us, she works hard, plays hard, and is probably someone who will rip until 80 or beyond. French transplant Laurie Menviel is another one of those Europeans who moved here to “study” but has now earned her spot as part of the local crew. She doesn’t miss a day, has put in more mileage than anyone out there these past few years, and maintains a respectable position at the university, but somehow makes daily trips to Diamond Head, with often an additional afternoon session down the coast at Toes when the tide comes up. She hits the lip harder than most guys, and if there were more port-tack pro wave events, the other ladies would have to step aside and make room.

Ashley Baxter riding D Head.

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D Head Legends Frank Baensch never made a name for himself in competition but his athletic ability speaks for itself. He gives his sponsor and friend Naish a good run for the money, sometimes outperforming him. I overheard a visiting Spaniard comment while watching from the lookout, “That blond guy with the Naish sail is always here at exactly the right time, for the right hour, and makes the most out of an hour than anyone I’ve ever seen.” Baensch is a thoughtful, intelligent guy, equipped with both smarts and athletic ability. His family brought him up in the Bahamas, so he’s got that laid-back island style but hasn’t

Clay Wiggins in the green room.

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forgotten his efficient German roots. He’s a marine biologist working on his PhD, which requires a lot of self-discipline yet allows him certain freedoms, “My work usually allows me to sail when it’s good, and the fact that it’s not good that often gives me time to work without being irritable that I’m missing out.” Baensch has worked hard to master some pretty difficult manoeuvres and studied them until he got it right. He says, “My most exciting moment is still the time I first completed the second rotation of a Double [Forward Loop]. That was back in ’95, I think. I had been trying the manoeuvre for many months and gone

through several sails in the process. Finally figuring out how to come around that second time was pure adrenaline.” Baensch could have easily turned pro but chose to do his own thing. Naish has been riding with Baensch for years and as he puts it, “Frank lives right up the hill and sails D Head almost every day, wind, waves or not. He is a die-hard. If he says its three feet and windy, you know to cut that in half, but that optimism is reflected in his sailing. He loves it and he rips, making the most of what is out there... even when it’s not much. That is the best attitude for sailing D Head, or you will be let down a lot.

“[Baensch and Carvill] are great ambassadors for the sport, and for this wave spot that started it all.” —Robby Naish

Frank Baensch bottom turning.

Like anything, you have to make it fun, and Frank has that attitude.” Yes, Naish is still the king but Baensch rules D Head these days. On occasion, but only when it’s really good, Scott Carvill will show up. His life is busy with twins and the family’s real estate business, so he has no time to waste. It’s not the first time we’ve seen him sail for 15 minutes only to pack up due to it not being worth his time. Naish confirms, “Scott goes over when he knows it’s decent and will often not get out of his truck and drive all the way back to Kailua if it doesn’t look good enough when he gets there. But he’s still one of the most committed and ‘balls out’ windsurfers in the world. If it is big, Scott is charging as hard as or harder than anyone. “ He’s got a sarcastic wit, sparing no one, not even himself. Carvill candidly admits, “I probably have evolved less than anyone. When I was a kid, I was all about the bottom turn to

top turn. Now that I’m 36, I am all about the bottom turn to top turn. Jumping is fun, but just something else to entertain you while going out to get another wave. And tricks are for kids, I didn’t even do tricks when I was a kid.” Carvill is a pro from a generation after Naish and learned to sail as a kid growing up in Kailua. His favourite training grounds were D Head and Backyards. Cravill was able to claim his position on the professional world tour at his first event in Fiji where he earned a respectable second place. Following that, he won the trilogy tour. But, as he claims, “The rest of the tour was pretty dismal for me. The only regrets I had were when I had to leave a perfectly good wave to go to Europe and compete in 40-knot onshore slop.” Naish sponsors both Carvill and Baensch and says, “They are great ambassadors for the sport, and for this wave spot that started it all.”

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2,000 years Of riding waves a peru bOarding Odyssey Could Peru possibly be the birthplace of surfing and actually all boardsports in general? This question has been on the minds of Manu Bouvet and Carine Camboulives ever since their first trip to Peru five years ago. Now they have returned to this beautiful country of the Incas to answer this question and to windsurf some of the longest waves found anywhere in the world.

wOrds by manu bOuvet phOtOs by benjamin thOuard

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Huanchaco beach.

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Before leaving I got the chance to talk to several fishermen who told me, “You see these Caballitos that we use to go fishing every day? They are exactly the same as the ones that were used 2,000 years ago, way before the Incas.” The waves were here then, so there’s no reason why they wouldn’t have ridden the waves for fun. Ever since that trip I keep remembering these words from the local Peruvian fishermen and I promised myself that if I returned I would look further into whether or not these endless waves had seen the first surfers. Plus, I also wanted to keep searching for more perfect lefts with side-offshore wind to ride.Now, five years later, we return to Peru. Upon arrival in Lima we begin our trip by heading straight for the mountains rather than staying on the coast. The beautiful colonial city of Cusco is our first stop, which

The original SUP.

hat if surfing was born in Peru? What a weird thought coming from two people now living in Hawaii, the world famous surfing nation. I’ve seen the pictures of Duke Kahanamoku standing proudly next to 15-foot long and 100-pound koa wood boards on Waikiki beach in the early 20th century. Before that the first images of people riding waves come from the drawings and paintings of the artists who were on James Cook’s ship when he discovered Hawaii in 1778. I’ve always thought that they were the

first surfers… until recently. Five years ago Carine Camboulives and I traveled to the small fishing village of Huanchaco on the northern coast of Peru. Famous for its ceviche (a local raw fish recipe) and its wave that peels for about a half mile, Huanchaco was a real surprise to us because of its history related to surfing. The beach was lined with reed boats named Caballitos de Totora, which translates to “small reed horses” due to their instability on the water. For more than 2,000 years they’ve been used by local fishermen to go

through the waves and drop their nets into one of the most fertile fishing grounds on earth. On their way back to shore they catch waves with the aid of a bamboo pole and ride them all the way to shore, on their knees or standing up. With stand-up paddle surfing just being reborn in Hawaii I was amazed by the resemblance between both activities. We didn’t get much time in Huanchaco because the wind was never strong enough to wavesail the amazing point break and we knew there was a similar wave further north with perfect side-offshore wind.

On Lake Titicaca.

On their way back to shore the fishermen catch waves with the aid of a bamboo pole and ride them all the way to shore, on their knees or standing up.

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Trading places.

Louâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favourite memory.

Machu Picchu.

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used to be the Inca’s capital. This is a place that takes your breath away, not only because of the lack of oxygen at 11,000 feet above sea level, but due to its beauty. The landscape and structures are marvels all over the sacred valley. We also want to cruise on our stand-up paddleboards on Lake Titicaca, the highest sailable lake on earth. On this lake the locals travel using reed boats propelled by a simple wooden stick. At first sight of me cruising on my SUP the people

living on the reed islands, called Uros, approach and ask if my board is “a modern reed boat?” I happily let them try it in exchange for getting to ride one of their historic versions. It’s just like trading gear with a fellow windsurfer back home, but with no comparing of length or nose rocker… just pure stoke for everyone. Carine lets some of the local girls paddle on their knees on the Bic Jungle, while I get on the reed boat together with our daughter Lou who wants to go for a cruise.

I had been dreaming about this moment for many years. I hardly ever go the mountains, as I guess I love the ocean too much. If there is one thing that we never experience when living by the sea is the silence. It penetrates you and is actually something you can hear, something you can listen to and it’s an amazing experience for me. The perfect glassiness of the lake reflects the sky and the surroundings. Lou is sitting as if frozen at the tip of the boat. I stop paddling to enjoy the moment

even more and stop breathing, which is not a good thing to do at such altitude. I take a deep breath that seems like making a lot of noise. “Anybody?” shouts Lou, as if that silence is disturbing her. “No, there is no one around, that is what’s great,” I reply. On our way back to the small reed island where Carine is, I spot a local man on my Bic Jungle cruising around. He asks me right away if I can give him the board when I leave but “you can keep your paddle, which is not good,” he

“You can keep your paddle, which is not good.” —a local’s response to preferring his traditional wooden push-pole.

Whose turns better?

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says. I can’t believe he prefers his wooden stick that hasn’t change in 2,000 years to my brand-new $300 carbon paddle! I have to keep my SUP for the coastal town of Huanchaco where we head back after a brief stop over at Machu Picchu, the mysterious Inca city. In Huanchaco, nothing has changed since last time we came five years ago. I should say nothing has changed over the last 2,000 years. Fishermen are still going out every day on their Caballitos de Totora and they are still riding waves on their way back to shore. Of course, nowadays, they share the waves with modern-day surfboards. Today they’re even going to share waves with a SUP, the modern-day Caballito. Carine is the first to go out and immediately catches the attention of all the fishermen. They all want to try her SUP. We spend the rest of the day exchanging boards and sharing waves. Despite the historic differences in the two crafts the family resemblance is obvious. This coastline of Peru

Carine hits the lip.

is where all boardsports started and it’s a great feeling to see that even though the sports keep evolving they are still not that remarkably removed from their original source. Here, not only are the signs of surfing’s origin on the ocean itself, but it is evident in the elaborate architecture, ceramics and drawing of ancient Peruvians on display in the various archaeological sites along the coast. It should come as no surprise that everything here has a deep maritime influence with curling waves, lines to the horizon and peeling pointbreaks appearing everywhere. One other thing that hasn’t changed either is the lack of wind in Huanchaco, so we head up north to fulfill our appetite for windsurfing. A grey desert made of stones and dust, which ends in a dark ocean giving the scenery a depressing atmosphere, borders the entire coast of Peru. This is how the fishing town of Pacasmayo can appear on a foggy day, at least until you hit the water with your wind-

Huanchaco.

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Northern Peru’s perfect waves.

surf board. This is the moment you enter a whole new dimension where you forget everything else but the amazing conditions. You’re riding the longest wave on earth. On a good-size day you enjoy a two-mile long ride that peels perfectly with 15-20 knots sideoffshore wind. Carine and I share a magic session with the only local windsurfer, the Italian owner of the Cactus, a local nightclub. No matter how good it can be, we don’t extend our stay in Pacasmayo and keep driving up north where we believe the waves can be even better. The Mancora region is the true discovery of our trip. This area has several advantages compared to the previous spots. First of all the cold Humbolt current drifts towards the west and lets warmer waters penetrate the area. There is no fog and more tropical vegetation. Plus, the wind, still side- offshore, is a bit stronger. What remains the same is the quality of the waves, although not as long (yet still a few hundred yards) but more powerful. These wave breaks are often located in oil-digging areas with numerous check points to go through with most of them being easy going. They require long drives off the main road on deserted tracks. But the reward at the end of the road is worth the time and dust.

Manu at Lobitos.

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The north Peruvian desert does not open its doors to every gringo that shows up. We heard stories of a mythical wave and about the few who got the fortunate pass from the petroleum company that has restricted access to the area. They say it may be the best wave in South America. This legendary break is one of the numerous remaining mysteries that Peru is still hiding for us. I challenge you all to embark on a great adventure to try to find it and perpetuate a ride that started more than 2,000 years ago.

Hard-working locals.

Beautiful Mancora.

Build your own Caballitos de Totora Go green by building your own 2,000-year-old stand-up paddleboard. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how to do it.

step 1 Harvest the natural materials from your local swamp.

step 2 Prepare the sections and lay them out to dry.

step 3 Carefully shape your boat to the way you want it.

On a good-size day you enjoy a two-mile long ride that peels perfectly with 15-20 knots side-offshore wind.

step 4 Use netting to solidify structureâ&#x20AC;Ś ancient glassing.

step 5 Hit the water and shred like a Peruvian.

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THe Brothers Houyvet Going behind the lenses with windsurfing photographers Jerome and Maxime Houyvet

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Words by Patrick Bergeron

The mermaid shoot. Jerome photo

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How did you get your start in photography? Jerome Houyvet: I started simply as a means to get souvenirs of windsurf sessions with friends. I liked the camera as an object in itself. From there I got my first camera and became addicted to photography in no time. After meeting with a professional photo-reporter, I considered this an interesting line of work. I found a school in Paris and the next three years were spent studying the subject. Maxime Houyvet: I remember vividly when I started. In reality it was quite progressive as I was spending a lot of time with Jerome and such a lot of time in his office. I began to help him with sorting and archiving his images, and then one day he loaned me a camera. This is how it all began. Do you do other kinds of photography? JH: I opened a small gallery four years ago in Normandy. It has nothing to do with windsurfing. Instead, I document the area from the

air and in panoramic format and produce limited-edition images, postcards and posters that I sell at the gallery. I am also attracted by sailboat photography and I’m turning myself more and more to this subject, which is one that I used to cover at the beginning of my career. It’s also close to windsurfing but at a much slower pace. MH: I used to shoot a lot of skateboarding, but then windsurfing became my passion and I felt I needed a change. I needed to find a way to travel where concrete was not prevalent. Though I would love to shoot a little skateboarding again. JH: Maxime is an unbelievable skateboarder. You would be amazed by his level, but he would never tell you about it. Do you have a preference for water, land or helicopter shooting? MH: I prefer to be in the water because I like to be part of the action. The show is so much more amazing viewed from the water. It’s incredible and very humbling

to find yourself in the middle of the waves. I love the feeling to be sharing those privileged moments with nature. JH: Without a doubt watershooting. It’s the best place to do things that are different and original. And it’s much better to be doing a little workout in the ocean than baking in the sun on the beach. In the water, we share the session with the riders and can also have a word, making the “job” more productive and fun. The heli is also a fantastic work tool, when you have a good pilot, of course! The pilot makes the difference, and believe me, you won’t get the same pictures working with two different pilots on a given day. On the other side, it’s more stressful than watershooting as you have to be thoroughly prepared with the riders. Once you’re airborne, there is no way to communicate with them, and if the clouds move in, which happens in an instant with Maui’s tradewinds, your nice heli session at a $1,000 an hour is ruined.

Tahiti lifestyle. Jerome photo

“When I finally surfaced, I found myself in front of an immense wall of whitewater coming right at me with full force.”—Jerome Houyvet

Peter Volwater through a wave. Jerome photo

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Wanna haircut? Maxime photo

Francisco Porcella at La Perouse. Maxime photo

Have you had any scary moments? JH: The worst happened during a surf session with Robby Naish and Robert Teritehau in New Caledonia. We were in one of the passes on Noumea and I was waiting for Robby to get into position while Robert was headed out at the peak near me. A freak set caught both of us and I stayed under for a long time… much too long. When I finally surfaced, I found myself in front of an immense wall of whitewater coming right at me with full force. Without enough time to catch a breath of air, I was hit head on and once again found myself deep underwater. After a few moments, which seemed like the longest of my life, I finally got my head out of the water to take a real breath of air. Robert was next to me and we had drifted nearly 300 feet. I can tell you that he had the same green shade as I did. This adventure gave me nightmares the following night.

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MH: I was out at Ho’okipa and saw a grey shadow approaching and thought for sure it was a shark, then it popped its head out of the water and I saw it was just a seal. My feelings went from shear panic to one of the most amazing moments of being able to swim next to him. It was incredible. Where was the largest wave you’ve ever taken on the head? MH: One day, I was at outer Sprecks with Manu Bouvet who was driving the Jet Ski. He was a little too sure of himself bringing us to the inside where the wave is the most powerful. He was waiting for a set to come so he could take off at the last possible moment. A huge wave was approaching dangerously and Manu hit the gas but the Ski refused to move. I still think that Manu did this on purpose to test me [laughs].

JH: I have memories of one particular Ho’okipa session last year. Inadvertently, I was getting dragged further away and out to sea as the swell was growing throughout the day. At some point, I looked towards Lanes where a mammoth set was coming in at a good mast-and-a-half or maybe more. I was caught pondering the awesome beauty and uniqueness of the moment and how insignificant we were in the vast ocean. Then I turned my head to realize the same beast was headed my way. I had to focus on staying calm and not give in to panic. I remember swimming underwater longer than ever before and drifting for a good 15 minutes before regaining control on the situation. There was so much water moving in the bay that the currents were actually deciding where I was going next.

Traveling in South America. Maxime photo

“I was out at Ho’okipa and saw a grey shadow approaching… then it popped its head out of the water and I saw it was just a seal. My feelings went from shear panic to one of the most amazing moments.” —Maxime Houyvet Levi Siver sailing Jaws. Maxime photo

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Have you ever been injured? JH: Thankfully no major injuries. Only a nice cut on the lip from hitting the reef on a four-foot wave. A few strategically placed stitches and I got my original grin back. MH: Yes, in reality, I hurt myself quite frequently. I’ll set my hands onto urchins or kick the reef. But the one event that really comes to mind is again with Manu Bouvet who landed an aerial on my back, the twinzers cut through my shorty and my top, but luckily I was more shaken than hurt. Do you have one favourite picture that you have taken? JH: That’s a hard question. I take so many images in a given year and have for so many years. I would have to make a very tight selection to compare them all. I have numerous images that come to mind; one particular one from Peter Volwater through the tube is pretty cool [see p.75]. I would love to do more in this style, but the best one is without a doubt the one I’ll shoot tomorrow. MH: Last year, when I had the opportunity to shoot at La Perouse on Maui’s south shore [see p.76]. The pictures that we did were

Jason Polakow at Backyards. Jerome photo

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simply amazing, not just from the action, but La Perouse is a mythical spot with lots of history. The crosses on the beach from the surfers that died there and the launch in the middle of the razor-sharp lava, gives you chills. For me, the pictures I shot that day represent more than simple pictures. Is there a particular shoot that stands out? JH: I was on a weekend getaway with my wife to go see a U2 show in Honolulu and were wandering around the North Shore. I had not planned any shooting but had limited equipment for vacation pics. We arrived at Backyards and I thought I was having hallucinations when I saw the quality of the waves and the strength of the wind. Then I saw the smallcoloured dots going back and forth in the distance. I thought I was dreaming. Naish, Jason Polakow [see below], Peter Volwater and Tristan Boxford gave one of the most stunning windsurf shows I have ever seen. What luck! I have to admit that my wife had to wait before we resumed our grand tourist tour, but the pics more than covered for the U2 concert and our getaway weekend.

Life on Taino’s Island. Jerome photo

Keith Teboul’s happy place. Jerome photo

Jerome capturing a storm.

Duck diving. Jerome photo

“Manu Bouvet landed an aerial on my back. The twinzers cut through my shorty, but luckily I was more shaken than hurt.” —Maxime Houyvet

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A concrete wave. Maxime photo

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Describe your relationship with your brother? MH: It’s very good. On my end, I’ve spent a lot of time with him since I was very little. As with everyone, we have the occasional difference of opinions, but he is the coolest big brother. JH: We are real close despite our age difference of 15 years. He rapidly followed in my footsteps as a windsurfer and became passionate about the sport as soon as he was old enough to sail. I had been a professional photographer for many years when he expressed the desire to become a photographer himself. I’ve always supported him in his choices and tried to help him as much as a brother can.

Jerome, did you have something to do with Maxime turning to windsurfing? JH: I taught him to windsurf. We spent countless hours on the water and I would systematically give him all my old gear as soon as I would get new stuff. Let’s just say he’s always been able to sail in total comfort. It was a real special moment to be able to share my passion with my brother. Maxime, your brother is one of the all-time best windsurfing photographers. Any pressure? MH: Yes, the bar has been set really high. But I try not to do the same things as him. I always try to do things differently while using him as an example for the quality of his work. In reality, I think he might be having more pressure than me! [laughs]

Now that Maxime is a fellow professional windsurfing photographer, Jerome, has this changed your relationship? JH: Absolutely not. There was never any competition between us, even though each of us is always happy to take a cover from the other [laughs]. In reality, we help each other like a team. I am sometimes in the position of offering advice and pass on some good job opportunities from time to time, but I know Max will give the ball back at the first chance. In fact, he surprises me with his talent and his technique all the time. It’s not rare for the pupil to surpass the master. Did Jerome share some valuable tips with you, Maxime? MH: Jerome taught me a lot and still does, which is priceless. I try to do my best to make him proud in a way.

Whenever I need any gear he’s also there to help me out. He frequently lends me his 600 mm lens, which is not something to be taken lightly. How does your work differ from each other? JH: Maxime has a more artistic vision of photography and that’s understandable as he’s just starting out. Perhaps I have a more commercial view since I have many responsibilities. He can allow himself to try new techniques that I can’t experiment with when on the job. It isn’t the time to experiment with things that might not work when you’re doing a photoshoot for one of the major companies. Maxime has more time to try stuff as he currently shoots primarily freelance. We complete each other in our mission and we can exchange ideas and move forward together.

On the road. Maxime photo

A John Skye portrait. Maxime photo

“Maxime has already had to face a lot of adversity on a personal level, but he’s come out of it stronger and more determined than ever. I can only hope my experience will help him in some ways.” —Jerome Houyvet windsport

Antoine Albeau from the mast. Jerome photo

“There was never any competition between us, even though each of us is always happy to take a cover from the other.” —Jerome Houyvet MH: We have a very different eye on things. Every photographer brings his own signature through his experience and take on things. There are no two pictures alike and no one way to look at a picture. His pictures inspire me to progress and his approach is very efficient. What is your brother’s biggest strength? MH: Jerome is successful because he is extremely talented and he’s a professional before anything. He’s always happy and he exudes positivism, which brings good things in return. JH: His youth and his determination to succeed are huge assets. Maxime has already had to face a lot of adversity on

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a personal level, but he’s come out of it stronger and more determined than ever. I can only hope my experience will help him in some ways. What’s your favourite photo that your brother has shot? JH: The images he took at La Perouse last year made me very jealous. MH: There are too many, but I do remember a trip to Molokai where the action shots were amazing. And the Polakow pictures at Backyards were quite incredible. What’s in the future for Jerome Houyvet? JH: For myself, I see a few more years of windsurfing photog-

raphy. I feel I haven’t achieved everything I’ve set out to yet. There are many places where I’d like to bring a board and take some images, and many shots I still dream of getting. Maxime, do you have any parting words? MH: I’d like to thank my granny Simone Beghin for all of her support. Without her, I would not be here today. Also, my big brother Jerome and his wife, Marie-Laure, for their precious advice and support. It’s clear that without them I would not be where I am today, and a big thank-you to Lilou who’s way too cool. Patrick Bergeron is sponsored by RRD, Sailworks, Dakine and NoLimitz.

A classic of Brawzinho. Maxime photo

Jerome views his hometown.

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ross WiLLiAms, CAmp one, mAui. Carter photo

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Whit poor, Arroyo Laguna California. Casario photo

Taty Frans, Lac Bay, Bonaire. Sumereder photo

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Sarah-Quita Offringa, Camp one, Maui. Carter photo

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getting real

Michael JaMieson I am a stonemason, a member of the second oldest profession. I live in new York and construct everything from fireplaces to stone clad houses. I love carving stone, providing it isn’t windy as I am also an avid windsurfer. I have carved several buddhas, and last spring I brought one out to the Hamptons for sale at a local garden centre. That same weekend I was attending the spring abK boardsports clinic at nearby napeague beach so the buddha rode along in the back of my truck. It was a hit as people seem to like buddha and it ended up on the Peconic Puffin windsurfing blog (peconicpuffin.com). That weekend we had solid wind for three days and I made my first vulcan attempts.... coincidence, maybe. at the next clinic, in the fall, I didn’t bring a buddha and the wind and vulcan attempts were nowhere to be found. So, this past May I figured, “What the heck, I’ll bring along buddha.” This one is carved out of hard sandstone from the palisades along the Hudson River and guess what? It worked.

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The wind Buddha. DeKay photo

learned to sail together, so I know his style pretty well, but he’ll still pull things off that simply amaze me. But, mostly, it’s just comfortable to sail with him. It reminds me of the childish enthusiasm we once shared. It takes a strong personality to reinvigorate such a feeling in someone so cynical.

Top 10 Friends List Words by Mitch Gingrich | Photo by Richard Hallman

4. Nathan Mershon: He is the surreptitious smack-talker. Nathan’s best all-time line, “I think mine was a little better.” We often tried learning the same move simultaneously. The first time I heard Nathan say this, I couldn’t believe it; so well-timed, such an unusual delivery. His smooth sailing style, grace of motion and competitive drive don’t match his reticence. When he unleashes the fiery beast inside, it comes out like a roaring teddy bear. He’s cuddly but explosive and powerful. One more thing, he’s the only person I’ve ever seen plane out of a Double Forward. It’s about time that got put in print. 3. Frederic Steineck: One word for Frederic is “aggression.” He doesn’t push you, he pulls you. I’ve had so many fun sessions with him, and they were so fun in so many different ways that there’s no way to even describe how fun sailing with him is (given my word limit). If you get the chance to sail with him, do it and hope he punches a hole in his sail. That’s always fun. Casey is number two.

Friends amplify the fun you feel while sailing. There’s nothing like having a friend out there, trying to learn the same trick you are, talking some smack, hooting and hollering, and just plain feeding off each other. Different friends bring different elements to the table. Often the bonding agent is a story from off the water. Regardless, those stories make their way out there and help bring the session to life. Here’s a list of my Top 10 favourite people to sail with and reasons why. 10. Dale Cook: He’s so freaking fast and jumps so high. I love to lock on a tack with him and drag race. I beat him... when he falls. Plus, Dale’s the victim of my best prank ever. It involved a 75-pound goose eating cookies off his chest. 9. Nick Allen: We’ve been sailing together for a long, long time. He chases moves like he does women, one at a time, over and over again.

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8. Lars Bergstrom: He’s flat-out smart-crazy, and completely understands why we’re out there. A few years ago, I got pretty high on a Back Loop and ended up with some tibia plateau fractures. As I was recovering on the rocks Lars gave me a deliberate look and said, “One of the best I’ve seen.” I said, “Yeah, but I broke both knees.” He said, “It was worth it.” Exactly why I love sailing with Lars. He gets it.

7. Drew Cook: He tries to learn, and nothing’s more fun than watching someone learn. His crashes aren’t the best, but he’s curious and it’s fun watching him progress. 6. Kieran Devanney: Wild-eyed utter enthusiasm combined with an air of “what the hell’s going on?” He’ll make you laugh. He crashes as good as anyone. It was disappointing last summer to see him sticking his Push Loops so cleanly. Watching the explosion from that move was one of the great joys in life. 5. Luke Siver: I remember Luke throwing enormous Forward Loops when he weighed about 45 lbs. He’s nuts. Flat-out nuts. We

2. Casey Gingrich: My favourite thing to do is a Back Loop. Same with Casey. We have the same style, same approach. We never get in each other’s way. I always want to go higher than him and stick it cleaner. He’s usually the only one around that does that move better than me, so it’s fun to have a challenge like that on the water. 1. Gary Gingrich: There’s no one happier to be sailing with me than my Dad. He put so much time, effort and money into helping me learn to windsurf (and helping me with everything else) that when I do something out there, he’s happier than I am. That kind of enthusiasm and support just snowballs and makes time on the water the most fun it can be. Plus, he shouts a lot. Volume is essential to having fun.

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