Speed Surf - 60 Days of Summer Day 51

Today it was all going to be about going as fast as possible in a somewhat straight line. It is amazing to look back at the old speed needles that people used to test the speed barrier with and I love these old pictures of the early pioneer Fred Haywood.

Fred Haywood in Weymouth, UK

It is amazing how gear and speeds have changed.

The Black Project Fins VMax Speed Challenge is run on the same course that Fred himself used to train. The course is not very flat nor very windy but the reef does provide some protection and the summer winds do provide enough puff for some respectable speeds. Check out the full results and report here. While I set a new 100m PB of 33.7 knots it was someway short of what I had expected which may be partly down to the fact that there was a decent swell which made the conditions rather tough and probably distracted me a little! At the end of the day I was far too tired to get my wave board out but I hear that there were some fun sized waves up the coast.

Tom on his 7.3m! Ever so slightly different to Fred's wing!

Me 6.0m... trying a new board, I am sure that I can go much faster!

It is rather shallow, so watch out for the coral heads.

KP enjoying the better than normal summer waves at Ho'okipa. Missed it, why do two things have to come along at once?

60 Days of Summer Update:

Sailing Record: 84% (42/50)
On Water Record: 88% (44/50)

More to follow…

Camp One, SPEED and Jumpfest Update - 60 Days of Summer Day 50

It looked as though it would be another day of rainy sailing and I didn’t even drive all the way to Ho’okipa because I could see that there was now wind at all. I had some board repairs to do in preparation for the speed event so that kept me distracted. As the day progressed the weather settled down and for a change of scene I decided to sail between Sprecks and Camp one. It is so great to just drive 1 minute then be at the beach. As expected the small wind swell combined with the local wind waves and 20 knots meant that there was great onshore bump, jump and slash. One thing I love about summer here is that there are so many hours in the day that you can sail, in the winter you really have to be on it between 12 and 3 to get the best of the wind but I didn’t hit the water till gone 4 today and had a great time playing in the waves with massive planes flying over. Having spent so many of my teenage years sailing Camp One I always love to get out there with a few waves, I was totally alone and it was great fun.

This shot was taken back in Spring 1996 at Camo One. We spent so much time there back then as did many others.

Tomorrow is all about SPEED but the not the type that Madam Hilton would be interested in! The F2 Missile is almost ready to go and received a little paint before it was dark, just needs some grip, straps and a fin now. Luckily a big box of Black Project fin samples arrived from China yesterday and I got my hands on some in the evening, pics will follow but they look fantastic. I was immediately really impressed with the CNC quality and finish and can’t wait to stick one in my board tomorrow.

For more info on The Black Project Maui Speed Challenge check out the Maui VMax Blog.


JUMPFEST UPDATE: with just 40 hours of voting left the positions currently stand;

Pro Men: Graham Ezzy 25%


Am Men: Tom and Morgan are tied on 25%


Girls: Tamara 35%


Funnies: Tom Hammerton 33%

Tamara's leading shot... rumor has it that she'll be competing in the speed event too...

Support your favourite shot/sailor by voting each day. You can check out the action and cast your votes at WindsurfingMag.com. Also remember that by adding your name to the comments puts your name into the hat to win a signed and mounted print from the contest.

60 Days of Summer Records:

Sailing record: 84% 41/49


On Water Record: 88% 43/49


More to follow…

The Black Project Maui Speed Challenge 2010

When: Saturday 28th August 2010
Where: Spreckelsville, Maui
Time:  11am – 3pm
Organiser: Tom Hammerton
Photohrapher: Jimmie Hepp

This weekend marks the return of the Maui VMax GPS Speed Series. Many of Hawaii’s fastest sailors are currently dusting off their speed boards and GT-31 data loggers in preparation for the first speed meeting of the year. The format is the same as in recent years with the fastest 100m runs counting towards the overall result. Last year’s Maui VMax series winner and overall fastest sailor with a speed of 38.3 knots Peter John has confirmed his attendance as has former world speed record holder Eric Beale who placed third in the series last year logging a best 100m run of 37.7 knots. The results will also count towards the HAM Speed Challenge which pits teams of sailors and kiters from The Gorge, New England & Hawaii against each other in search of the fastest 100m, nautical mile and Alpha 500 speeds.

Strap a GT-31 to your arm and see how fast you can go!

This is a FREE event if you own your own GT-31 or GT-11 data logger and for a small fee you can rent one for the day. There will be divisions for Men, Women, Wave & Under 18 so if doesn’t even matter if you don’t have speed or slalom gear you can come down and have some fun. I personally competed in my first speed event last year on my twin fin wave board and had such a great that it was the catalyst for my GPS and racing exploits this past year. The weather forecast is excellent with 20-30 knots of wind expected; this combined with a high tide should mean that the course (between Spreckelsville and Camp One) will be at its flattest and fastest during the middle of the day.

New for this year is the support of Black Project Fins, the newest fin company to come out of Hawaii who are currently putting their 2011 line of fins through a rigorous testing regime.

More to follow...

Sailing in the rain, New Prototype Fins & SPEEED - 60 Days of Summer Day 49

It is amazing that as soon as a few clouds come through and we get a few spots of rain the beach empties. Now it is true that when it rains the wind generally dies or at best is rather squally but often it gets super glassy too. Today was rather rainy, we even had rain at our house in Sprecks which is rare for summer. Driving up to Ho’okipa I could only see a solitary sailor out but with a few waves a Mama’s it looked like it could be a fun session. I was pleased to see an empty beach, a few waves and some wind and got on it as soon as I could totally undeterred by the rain. In fact I was revelling in the rain and actually enjoying the slightly unpleasant conditions, I as actually thinking of Wales and how I miss it and could see images of Horton in my head, the waves were about the same too!

Horton, South Wales, the place I used to call home... I kinda miss it some days (others less!

I had fun picking my spot and scored some decent ramps, not surprisingly that my board has more cracks but nothing too serious this time and to be honest with not many more sailing days left and the thought of new boards I don’t really care, it has served me fairly well although I think I cracked it the 2nd day I had it – sailing on a speed course! I had a really fun and productive session when many missed a day of action.


My main focus today was testing my new set of Black Project Twin Fins which I had collected only this morning from the Maui CNC factory. These ones have a more raked outline and a new foil with the wide point further back. Typical as I sailed out at full speed with virgin fins a massive turtle tried to commit suicide by fin but luckily I just managed swerve just in time. This was in fact the first real feel that I got of the new fins and they felt great. While not as fast upwind (as expected) they came alive on the small waves and I was super pleased with grip and slip on tap as required. As the day closed I heard a rumor that the Type 'R' and Type 'S' samples had arrived from China just in time for the speed weekend, I am looking forward to checking them out tomorrow.

The Black Project Speed Challenge Saturday 28th August 2010:

Confirmed entrants:

• Erik Beale (Ex-Word Record Holder)
• Peter John
• Dan Ellis (PWA Racer)
• Chris McNeil
• Tom Hammerton (HSM Sail Designer)
• Chris Freeman
• + more

Time to charge yoru GPS unit and sand those fins!

More details of the event will soon be available on the MauiVMax Blog

Sailing record: 83% 40/48

On Water Record: 88% 42/48

More to follow...

2012 Goya, Backies, Speed & More - 60 Days of Summer Days 47 & 48

By my own admission I have been taking it a little easy of late and I have been rather slack on my writing. I didn’t sail on day # 47. One reason for my lack of water activity on the north shore has been the state of my board quiver which has taken rather a beating. Thankfully after three days of sanding, filling, laminating, sanding, spraying, sanding, my wave board was ready to get back on the water and considering the amount of water that had come out I am confident that I will notice an improvement in performance! The added bonus of smashing up the Tabou was that I could fix the speed board at the same time and that is looking great. There is a speed event coming up this weekend so it will be ready for action, my personal aim is 37 knots but that will be difficult on the extremely bumpy course that we have here, the best guys are maxing out here at 40 knots but usually in the 39 area.

On Day # 47 (they are going so fast) the wind was good and with a few waves so I decided to make up some lost ground and got to Ho’okipa early for an all day stakeout. I have really been trying to improve my backloop statistics as I can crashing far too many landing and I had earmarked today; BACK, BACK, BACK and MORE BACK and when I first went out I found ramp after ramp and did just that. I tried a few ideas to improve my landings with mixed results but practice does make perfect so I need to keep at it. The second session was not as productive, the wind was a little more inconsistent and it was harder to find waves, I found myself rotating a lot but generally in the forward plane. A really fun day on the water. Almost forgot, had a good run this morning, I have been wanting to increase my distance and today I did with an 8km stretch, will look to do a 9 and a 10 later this week. Legs are now sore!

Back, back, back...

Both the Goya team and Ezzy crew were out in force testing sails today. Dave and Graham have been working with their Wave Panther III recently and I guess that a few more arrived on the boat today as they had other sailors testing out the new gear. Personally I like the look of Graham’s orange version but am not so keen on the green/blue colour scheme. Performance while they look great (as always). The Goya crew including Francisco were all sharing one all white 2012 FOUR BATTENED wave sail prototype which looked to have a very short mast and very high clew with the batten layout much like that of my HSM Bolts. So it looks like a totally different and more compact look than the 2011 Guru or Eclipse but I guess it is the earliest of days yet in the 2012 cycle.

JUMPFEST – the contest continues to get good press and voting continues. It looks like Graham is pulling away from the pack in the Pro Men while Morgan and Tom are battling it out in the Am Men. Nadia is fighting off stiff competition but it looks like she may take it. In the Funnies Bjorn has stormed into a substantial lead but I wonder if Tom will be able to catch him. Check out the action and cast your votes. Remember that you can vote once in every 24 hours and that by leaving your name in the comments section you stand the chance of winning a signed and mounted print of one of the shots of your choice.

CAST YOUR VOTES at WINDSURFINGMAG.com


On the Horizon:
Friday, Saturday & Sunda - SOUTH SWELL: looks like we are in for a treat so it'll be bags packed and off south for early sessions.

Saturday 28th – The Black Project Maui VMax Speed Challenge: do if you are in town dust off your speed board and GPS unit and let us see how fast you can go. There are divisions for Men, Women, Wave and Kids. There will be a number of GPS units available for loan so if you have never tried before then this could be the day. Confirmed entrants include Tom Hammerton and Dan Ellis fresh from his travels on the PWA tour.

Time to get back on the 6.0 GPS...

Sailing record: 83% (39/47)


On water record: 87% (41/47)


More to follow…