Maui Windsurfing Blog

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Sunday Morning

It's a beautiful Sunday morning here on Maui and time to catch up on the blog. After sailing on Thursday, I was sitting around at Kanaha BSing with a few other windsurfers. Of course the topic of conversation moved to the forecast for the next day. The forecasters were calling for the wind to lighten up on Friday and into the weekend. Local sailor, Jazz, however, predicted that the winds on Friday would be better than on Thursday. I asked him what information he had to come up with that prediction. "Simple," he said. "The forecasters are calling for it to get lighter and they're always wrong!"

Well, it turns out Jazz was correct. Friday was supposed to be pretty light. I demo'd a 90 liter wave board and put on a 5.8 and sure enough, the winds kicked into the mid 20s. I had to go in and rig a 4.5. Though a bit gusty and shifty, it stayed in that range the rest of the day. The waves were a bit smaller than Thursday but still plenty big. Lowers got a little less crowded, but there were still lots of Hookipa refugees sailing Kanaha due to the Red Bull King of the Air Kite event being held at Hookipa. Speaking of that, I was talking with a friend at the beach about it. He says the event is being referred to as "Carnage on a String." Hookipa has had 20 - 25 foot faces the last few days. Even kiters are having a tough time clearing the waves. Lots of lost boards, tangled lines, shredded kites. I've heard that windsurfing legend Robby Naish is kicking ass in the competition and even one unconfirmed report that he won.

Moving into the weekend, yesterday we saw pretty light wind on Maui - low to mid teens with diminishing waves. Probably not sailable unless you had Formula gear. Speaking of that, lots of the pro racers have been out at Kanaha testing their big stuff, Micah Buzianis, Jimmy Diaz, Nick Baker. I can't imaging testing big sails with the surf up as big as it was but they were.

Today's wind looks like it's going to be even lighter than yesterday. The high pressure ridge has crumbled so it looks like light sea breezes or southeasterly winds today. Into the week, even the forecasters are afraid to commit to any prediction. Might return to light trades. Then again, it might not.

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