Windsurf.me.uk

ALOHA CLASSIC 2014

My 2014, a year competing on the PWA world tour filled with ups and downs, ended with the Aloha Classic at my home beach, Ho'okipa. The single elimination featured light winds and big waves-- good but tricky conditions. I lost in the 2nd round, and I had to fight my way back through the double elimination. I fought to 5th place, and in that battle I had to face and defeat many of my windsurfing heroes (Levi Siver, Jason Polakow, Robby Naish, Alex Mussolini, Ricardo Campello)-- a daunting task! When I finally lost--to Marcilio Browne who sailed a near perfect heat-- I was exhausted. And happy to have won so many heats in a row.

During the Expression Session, I wanted to land a 1-handed taka, a move I started doing years ago but that evaded capture on camera. Towards the final minutes, I found a set wave with the perfect section to launch myself over the lip with one hand. The move is risky--most of the attempts end in hard crashes. Halfway through this rotation, I thought I was going to fall over into the pit of the wave. But somehow, I pulled the move. And won the Expression Session.

Robby Naish gives his thoughts on Hookipa and the Aloha Classic.

For sails, I used the Ezzy Taka 2 4.9, Elite 5.3, and Taka 2 5.3. For boards, I used an 83L for 2 windier heats, a 95L for the lightest heat, and a 88L for everything else. All boards are set up with K4 fins--16cm Flex and 10cm Ezzy. I used Chinook carbon booms and carbon bases. My harness, straps, and lines are all Dakine. My shorts are the best surfshorts in the world: Bluesmiths.

The music in this edit is "Bikini Weather" by Shortstraw, a song I heard constantly on the Cape Town radio while driving around looking for wind. The interlude is an excerpt from the Nina Simone song "Sinnerman."

Thank you very much to Alex Reinprecht and his company ZON3 for the footage. Also, thanks to Jace Panebianco and Joey Sanchez for additional filming.