|
Maui Postcard No 2
03.06.04
Well known Wellington sailors Leland and Carmens latest report from the windy island of Maui, don't you wish you were there.
Aloha to the first 'Maui update live from Maui'. Here we are back in the world of boardshorts, jandales, sugar cane, pineapple, plimerias, bronzed beauties, monstrous four-wheel drives, dinner at Paia Fish Market, bad coffee, bad food, hairy hippies, tattoos, and body piercing like you're a pin cushion - this is Maui.
The Wind 
The Trades have been very finicky so far this year - something we put down to the global 'weather weirdness' . During our first month we only had approximately one week of sailing and the wavesailors here for the winter wave session also experienced uncharacteristic windless conditions .i.e. January 2 days, February no days etc. The light winds on the north shore meant sailing at Kihei in grovelly and desperate conditions. During late April and early May we had a number of days with Kona winds, which was something of a novelty for us. The Trades are blowing at present but they are certainly not the Trades winds we have experienced in the past, with direction being quite offshore, windy at night, windy early in the morning, a clear Haleakala during the day, and no rainbow. For those of you who know Maui conditions well, will know that these characteristics are not signs of typical Trade winds. However, locals are telling us, not to move on, as June and July will bring 'typical' Trades and this is also what the weather forecasts state - a synopsis for one month ahead?
Thierry, an ex wellington sailor, exploring the Maui highlands
Photo - Carmen
The Waves
With the swell having all but gone for the summer, our newly established wave sailing comrades have now left, leaving only the funky freestylers here to enjoy the somewhat fickle winds and small waves. It is worth mentioning how different the waves are here to back home - here they are really steep and fast.
The Pros
It seems that most of the pro's are passing through at the moment and we see a large number of them at Sprecks almost daily - which makes any 'stalking' of pro windsurfers totally unnecessary. The pros are truly hot sailors and we are so out of their league it isn't funny. When Robbie Naish is on the water he stands out from all the other sailors with blistering speed and it is obvious why he is the greatest windsurfer ever. As we watch the Pros, we have noted that they sail all over the place, everywhere, one run upwind, the next downwind - never are they coming in and out on the same reach.
 Naish's Michi Schweiger has been out testing some new hybrid wave boards. These babies look really short and chunky with plenty of v (or maybe double concave). The conditions were 4.7 and choppy, but that board was fast. So stay tuned to see if this becomes a production shape. We have also noted Michi testing Naish learner boards.
On the freestyle front, the Brazilian team are always out practicing and seem to really enjoy sailing about trying stuff and crashing a lot. Kauli Seadi is riding a really short freestyle board that has a lot of volume in the tail. It also has a massive spoiler tail and the front straps are right on the centreline of the board. Some of the other Brazilians have cut the nose off production freestyle boards, which seems to be working for them as they are pulling all the moves as well.
Over the last week Arrows have been doing the photo shoot with Daryl Wong for the new season's sails. The kit looks great. Arrows is not a brand we see much in New Zealand, but with smooth foil shapes and clean construction this is a brand that knows how to make sails. Metalized X-ply also features heavily in the wave sails.
Leland pushlooping at sugercove - photo Carmen
The latest move
Kauli Seadi seems to be working on a reverse stance diablo. This is reverse stance, not switch stance. So he is sailing with his hands behind his back, facing the water. Photo's in the next update. We have also noted that a lot of the moves the Pros and fully sponsored sailors are cracking out are our normal everyday moves but switch stance and clew first.
Leland
| 
