Trestles (day 3)

Third and last Trestles report. Let's start with a sequence of CJ Hobgood.

Again, this is a mushy wave. Look how much speed (spray) he was able to generate on it.


I think surfing is the sport in which one can more freely move the body.


CJ continues his dance.


Well, if CJ deserved a short sequence, this young blonde gal deserves a long one.






Mr 9 world titles is experimenting with stringers.
Talking about which, Gianfranco has invented a new way of building blanks. He patented it and he's now getting the attention of the first shapers and surf companies. Too early still to disclose details, I just hope that his intuition will be appreciated the way it deserves.


Slater vs Alves was a fun heat.
Kelly starts the exchange.


Heitor.


Heitor.


Kelly.


Heitor.


The crazy inventor.


The NW buoy reads 10 feet @ 18 seconds tonight. And the direction quickly turned to a less westerly direction around 320-325.
That means that tomorrow the waves at Hookipa will be massive and though a rather squally weather will make it ever trickier. Better recharge some batteries (both camera's and mine)...

Links:
1) Excellent second issue of the online Windsurfer International Magazine.

2) Norway blog reader Tormod is in Maui and took some photos of the surfers at Hookipa. Photos 13 to 16 are of a surfer with straps on the board. Rush Randle has been doing that for years so I assume it's him. First time I saw it from the bluff I didn't know he had straps and I went:"Wow, what kind of wax does that guy use?!?!!"
Here's Tormod's blog with his first impression of his custom quads.

3) The Quicksilver Pro France ASP surfing contest started. Here's the live webcast.

4) The PWA Sylt windsurfing contest started too, but the only live coverage you get on the PWA site is the usual lame text live ticker. No offense for the person who does it (it's actually brilliant!). What's lame is trying to cover a windsurfing contest with text updates!
I'd rather read the sailors' comments on their blogs. Here's KP's and Phil Horrocks' ones.

Trestles (day 2)

Welcome to Trestles: very civilized sign. For sure better than the bumper sticker "Welcome to Hawaii. Now go home".
BTW, why is Middles not in the middle of Uppers and Lowers??


The waves at Trestles are kind of mushy, slopy and slow, yet extremely rippable. Most pros' top turns were cut backs as Bede Durbidge shows in the expression session held on Saturday.


Heitor Alves impressed me a lot with the speed he could generate on those mushy waves.


He made it to the quarter finals where he met Kelly and lost his concentration...


Let's take a break.


Kai Otton.


CJ Hobgood. He surfed pretty good but lost in round 4 to a very inspired Micheal Bourez. I wish I recorded CJ's frustration scream at the end of heat...


One of those things.


The very fun right at Uppers. The swell was from the NW and Uppers was actually working better than Lowers most of the times.


Stay tuned for day three, I got a hell lot of photos.
And stay tuned for the Maui reports too, since the big swell is around the corner. On Wednesday morning the NW buoy already shows 2 feet at 20 seconds from 300. The Waimea buoy shows 1 foot at 22 seconds from the same direction. Wow, you don't see 22 seconds very often!

Longer period forerunners travel faster hence they reach the buoys before the main body of the swell. Soon they will be replaced by shorter period waves (in this case, I guess 14-16 seconds), but way bigger in size.
This directions gets blocked a lot by the West Maui Mountain, but my guess is that the size will be big enough to allow some energy to wrap around. Plus, as usual, towards the end of the swell the waves will come from a less westerly direction, since the generating storm is slowly moving east.

Well, if I haven't confused you enough with this, check what an El Nino year is. Thanks to blog reader Paolo for the link.

Trestles (day 1)

I'm back in Maui and that feels really, really good.

As you will see from this post (and the following ones), California is not a bad place for surfing. But even if the water temperature was, for a change, even trunkable, you just can't beat Hawaii's water. The color, the temperature, the cleanness.
I got in the water at Hookipa this morning at 6.30 and immediately got a big smile on my face.
Every Maui resident should make sure to go somewhere else at least once a year to come back and appreciate...

Anyway, here's a few pics of the first day at Trestles. The contest wasn't on, but that didn't stop me from snapping a few.


Beautiful sunset light.


Trestles is a wild place. Unless the train is passing by, you can't hear any noise other than the waves. I love that. As usual, there was not a single cloud in the sky and the sun was ferocious.
Gianfranco didn't seem to mind. He's probably conceiving one of this mesmerizing thoughts. What a mind.


A bit of surfing now. This guy was pretty good.




This kid surfed relentlessly (and well) for hours. I admit, I wished I was him.


Got even dropped in by the good guy.


Very good forecast ahead. Pat Caldwell does one of his memorable weather wrap-ups and explains us why we're soon going to have yet another big NW swell. Lots of west in it, but it should be big enough.
And with my new, fantastic, winter work schedule of 10 to 2, I'm looking forward to surfing it in the early morning and sailing it in the afternoon.

Life is a joy.

going to Trestles

I'm in LA packing up for a two nights camp at Trestle to surf and watch the contest.


I'll have the privilege to have the company of Gianfranco, the most analytical surfer on Earth. And philosopher too.
The level of excitement is extremely high. You guys don't know him. You guys can't understand...