The return of Noon Island

So since arriving in Bahrain from Hawaii at the beginning of September I've hardly had the time to stop and think let alone type, but I guess that I wrote plenty over the summer so maybe it was good to have a rest from the blogging scene for a while. During my 6 week or so break I really did enjoy watching online footage from Cold Hawaii and hope that such coverage continues. More recently I have been checking out p as the winter swells start rolling in. Having left my trusty twin fin with Colin I keep seeing it pop up online (kinda makes me feel a little more connected with the island!)

It has been windless here, totally still for weeks and super hot. Yes I have kept busy, plenty of training, lots of running and even a biathlon last weekend which was somewhat fun. Trying to run between 30 and 40 km a week, keep in the gym and work on my swimming and biking. Work does seem to get in the way but I keeping active and ready as best I can.

At last the weather broke and today we were treated with a decent breaze, perfect for my 5.6 Bolt and 105 Sumo. It was great to see my buddy Carl getting some rides on his kite too. The water was perfect, about 28C with the air in the low 30's. After not being on the water in ages it felt amazing to be blasting about and chucking in some freestyle moves (I mean crashes of course!). As for the title of this post, Noon Island refers not to some deserted spot but one of the big ships that is mored just offshore where I sail here and it was great to see her again close up.

No, this isn't Noon Island!

So here's me hoping that's the longest I'll have to go without wind for a while, looks like to could be windy tomorrow too, heres hoping.

Hope all those in northern climes are not getting too cold!

More to follow...

Summer Waves - 60 Days of Summer Day 27

The recent strong trades have generated a little bump on East facing shores so Ho’okipa has been getting some wasit to head high waves. While not of the best quality or longest period the swells have comes as a welcome boost to the wave starved North Shore community. Getting me on the water took a fair bit of preparation and plenty of New Skin (still excruciatingly painful to apply!), I am looking forward to this nasty gash to heal but I figure that I could stay out of the water for 5 days and it would still not heal fully so I have been taking care to keep it clean and protected as much as possible and it is healing slowly and hasn’t bothered me too much on the water.

Today wasn't a day for big moves but a day to have some fun on whatever you found out there.

I was a little late to the beach but on arrival I reaslised that I had not missed anything yet and it had just rained. There was a little more rain in the air before a I got my gear ready. As it cleared I rushed out to take advantage of empty waves even if the wind was a little light, although when I planed out and launched into a back loop others quickly rigged. Maybe I should have made it look like it wasn’t so windy! I knew that it wouldn’t be long before a ton of people jumped on it so I was super motivated to get the most out of the very technical conditions.

Not too much opportunity for jumps but managed to get a few backs.

I must say that the reduced weight of my rig this year really seems to make a difference in these marginal conditions and I felt really comfortable while others struggled. I was testing some more prototype Black Project Twin fins today and they felt really good with plenty of grip on the bottom turn but enough slide when I wanted it off the top.

Getting air was hard today with little power from either the wave or the wind.

As expected more sailors soon joined me out there but it stayed light and rather stormy so there were never more than ten or so sailors (mostly my friends) so it was great fun to be getting some rides and the odd jump. As the rain returned I headed back to the beach quickly before the wind dropped, others were not so lucky and swam home!

Happy to have had some fun uncrowded waves. Not sure what is happening with the hair!

Sailing Record = 96% (25/26)
All pictures (c) 2010 Jimmie Hepp

More to follow…

New GoPro Mount, waves and new challenges - 60 Days of Summer Day 24

I woke up this morning and could not believe that it was August already, the time is flying. I also realised that my foot was rather sore; I had cut it on my fin yesterday. The forecast of 20 knots and 7 ft wind waves looked promising and I had arranged to go sailing with my buddy Marc at Sprecks.

Plenty of duck tape later my foot was ready to hit the water. It was such a joy to be on super light kit today after two weeks of being maxed out on big heavy sails. There were some fun waves on the Camp One reef and while my 4.5m Bolt was a little small for jumping it was great fun to be in some swells and getting some backside rides.

The sun was shining, the wind blowing and the waves somewhat peeling but one problem, my right foot! The cut on my right foot was rubbing too much and it was super painful to do anything particularly when in the front strap. I tried to loosen the strap but that didn’t seem to change anything, I was OKish riding with it in the back but I knew what the real solution was and it wasn’t long before I limped back to shore and packed my gear. It was only then that I realised just how painful my foot was and I was rather angry at myself because I should have known better and sat out for the day, the waves have just been too tempting! Tomorrow I will have to stay off the water and likely avoid running or walking much too. Maybe I’ll hit some golf balls but I want to be super careful in the hope that I can get back on the water after just one missed day. GUTTED!

Before I went on the water I tried out a new mount on Marc’s gear and on review I am really pleased with the new angle and when I am back sailing and we have some conditions it will hopefully produce some good shots. I do need to solve the water droplets issue and will try the RainX solution.

I used a mix of bits from the bike seat post and roll bar mounts. It attached to the mast about 6 inches about the boom and facing towards the sailor in a portrait orientation. We had the camera at a slight angle, you really need to try to think about the sailor, sail and board positions while sailing to ensure that you get the shot you want. We realised later that we should have rotated it into landscape for the video footage.

This will be a great angle and I look forward to trying it!

I really like landing shots with tons of spray. Can't wait to get this to Ho'okipa. Thanks Marc for your camera work today.

With the racing finished and the wind blowing hard one of my next challenges will be too see if I can break 40 knots on a windsurf board. Last year I had one day on a slalom board (the same one I used for the racing) and a 6.0 and managed 33 something. This year I have a F2 Missile to fix and I know that can go REALLY fast in the right hands. The board does have a few issues but nothing a grinder and some resin cannot fix. While 40 knots does not seem fast by modern day speed sailing terms we do not have a proper speed course here, we just have the inside of the Camp One reef and you sometimes get a flattish section between the waves so getting fast times is really hard (and scary!). There are some MauiVMAX days in the pipeline for August so that should help. I will be spending a lot more time in the waves too and I cannot wait to get back into my normal habitat.

66 litres of pure speed! I think that the smaller size will really help me becuase with my lack of weight I find it hard to keep the board on the water when it gets super over powered.

Sailing record (for now) 100% (23/23 days)


More to follow…

60 Days of Summer - Time to pack

This time next week we will be somewhere between Bahrain and London on route to LA then OGG. In many ways the time seems to have gone so slowly and yet it only feels like yesterday we were packing to leave Maui.

Southside Maui Beach - looking forwward to some southside surf and SUP action.

BAHRAIN: I was really pleased to get a good string of days on the water but this last week has only really be windy between 11am and 2pm so I haven't be able to get out. Instead it has been back to the gym and pool. There is a possibility of wind today but then the models show nothing for the rest of the week.

FLAKA - some progress has been made, I was feeling good about things then saw some great videos of Air Flakas which raised the bar somewhat. At the moment I guess I am just not giving it enough, I must commit to the move more, with plenty of wind around the corner I am pleased that I have at least made a start, hopefully within a couple of weeks I will be able to report on rather more success.

Air Flaka by the master!

KIT? Seems like Maui has been super windy this year so far, which makes me wonder if I need a 4.1m HSM Bolt too? Taking my 73 Tabou but would love to get a 79 and a 100 freestyler.

SLALOM UPDATE: Fimgers crossed Andy (who starts to persuit of UK slalom glory this weekend) will be meeting me at Heathrow with a slalom board and sails packed and then I will be almost ready for the Maui Race Series, my first event is likely to be in 2 weeks time.

TRANSPORT: Busy searching for new Maui wheels... needs to be able to get around the island while being weighted down with tons of gear and still be able to find room for a trip to Costco. Lets hope the summer 2010 version is better than some of the wrecks I have driven in the past!

I had better start packing.

More to follow...

New Bolts, HSM FB Comp and Old Gear

I am eagerly awaiting my new HSM Bolts now, just waiting to pick them up. Finally ordered my first carbon boom yesterday too, was hard to part with the cash (although when I convert into Bahraini Dinars it seems cheap!), but based on the conclusions from my earlier post I am sure that I will be pleased with the result.

The Bolts will be very differnent from what I used too, I have been using the HSM Fire since their introdcution in 2008 and before that I used the SO (which was a similar set up) for 3 years. I am looking forward to the lightness which I think will be great for wave riding and aerials, I think that it will be like a shot in the arm for my sailing (and I have needed it recently!)

I am really trying to work out a board quiver at the moment, finding it hard because the conditions in Bahrain and Maui are so differnet and I want to get out of my comfort zone to push my sailing forward. I really want a decent freestyle board, a couple of slalom boards and a couple of waveboards but with no current board deal that is rather expensive. I have loved my Tabou DaCurve and would love to stay with them but I am kinda limited to used gear at the moment and I can't find any. That takes me to Starboard, they have a great range so maybe that is the way forward. I have had great fun looking at old gear on ebay.co.uk which seems to dig up the best of the early 80's and 90's gear, really takes me back, I wish that I had the space to collect some of it and I would love to see how the old boards feel in comparison.

What an 80's classic!

I was pleased to read the HSM Facebook page this morning and see that my slogan had made it into the shortlist for the winners of their comp. I liked my "HSM: Hardcore Sailing Machines" but I think that some of the other slogan were great too, guess could be good as you could change for HotSurfMaui to "Harcore Surfing Machines" and have some brand symmetry.

BTW: Still no wind here!

More to follow...