October 22nd - 28th
Sunday 22nd October. Nevin Sayre was here for breakfast and talked at length about his kid camps and how he got them started. He noticed that his own daughter seemed most enthusiastic about learning windsurfing when she helped teach her own friend. He then found that he was teaching more and more of her friends, so he just decided to get all the friends together and teach them at once. At his clinics he makes sure that each kid gets to sail and tack before they leave. To ensure their attention remains focused they take lots of breaks to play games and have cookies, all adding to the fun experience.
Musician Thomas Dolby, who arrived yesterday from San Francisco, joined in the discussion. He has recently gotten his five-year-old son into windsurfing—his son is apparently very keen. Dolby, who comes from England, told us that just about every small lake and pond in England has someone windsurfing on it. They may be just pottering around in light winds, but they are windsurfing. The athletic and radical aspect of windsurfing is not the big deal in the UK that it is in the US. There people windsurf for the simple joy of what the sport offers, not just for the dreams that might come.
The second helicopter shoot took place today. I had a slight disagreement with the reef yesterday and am sitting this session out. From the beach I took photos of the helicopter hovering just above the windsurfers. From the look of the radical moves the pros are throwing in the waves I think more people will have close contact with the reef today.
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 Monday 23rd October: Senator John Kerry left today. He visited us for a weekend’s respite during the hectic Presidential race currently in progress. He had three days on the water and proved that where there’s a wave there’s a will. He attacked the big surf we’ve had and came through each time determined and smiling (mostly). He clearly wasn’t going to allow himself to be beaten by mere water, no matter what its shape and size.
Accompanying the Senator was friend and fellow windsurfer Chris Larsen, CEO of the online loan service E-Loan. He was ripping up the Maui waters alongside John Kerry and getting into the equipment test with enthusiasm.
Tuesday 24th October: We were greeted by rains and clouds this morning, and while the wind was blowing it was blustery and light. By 1pm it steadied out to the 6.0 and 6.5 range for the guys and 5.0 and 5.5 for the women testers. This gave us a great opportunity to test some of the larger gear, which hasn’t seen much exposure over the last two weeks of high winds.
The designer of Pro-Tech boards, John Parton, contacted us recently because he hadn’t heard how his boards were performing in the test. Apparently companies are used to being updated mid-test and given the option to withdraw their products if they dislike the results. This came as a surprise to us, but he assured us that this was common practice with the other US magazine’s test. We politely explained that each board and sail was being tested in the same manner and that no manufacturer was being given any early indication of the results. John accepted our explanation that this test was truly independent, even from the influence of the designers who have submitted equipment, and to his credit his boards remain in the test..
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Wednesday 25th October: One of the big companies, Neil Pryde, whose products are not included in our test 2000+1, has been indicating to us recently that they want in on the test. It’s a hard situation. We do want all companies to be included, but latecomers can take deserved attention away from those manufacturers who came in on time. Making it doubly hard is the fact that this company’s US representatives, Adventure Sports, had specifically written that they did not want to participate. They only appear to be interested now as the importance of this year’s professional test and the impact that the website will have is being revealed. Also, we understand that their superiors in the international organization are displeased and consider their no-show decision to be a mistake. We did decide to allow them to participate and gave them a second deadline, if they wanted in they had to get their stuff here by today. They missed this date too and will not be included in this year’s test.
With only one and a half weeks left of this year’s five-week test we are in good shape. Most of the equipment from big to small has been tested and is undergoing multiple additional evaluations by pro and guest testers alike. The results should be available very soon!
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Thursday 26th October: I checked out the telephone directory. I just wanted to look up Windsurfing in the Maui phone book to see what’s there. Actually it was the Maui, Molokai and Lanai Yellow Pages for Hawaiian Tel. (the phone company) and it didn’t disappoint. Although covering just two pages the listing for windsurfing had over forty line entries and numerous picture ads. This wasn’t much of a surprise. We all know that Maui is a legendary windsurfing location, but it felt reassuring to have it confirmed in such a pedestrian manner.
I couldn’t resist looking, but Robby Naish’s telephone number isn’t listed anywhere, not even in the white pages. I know he lives in Oahu, but I was hoping nevertheless. I did find five entries for Joshua Stone—could it be…? The Hawaiian Tel. Phone book may not be high-brow literature, in fact it isn’t even literature, but for me it says it all about this windsurfing island.
Friday 27th October: I checked with Josh Stone to see if the phone numbers I saw listed yesterday under Joshua Stone were all his. Before he could respond his brother Jason chimed in, "Yeah, ther’re all his…for all the houses he owns." They both laughed so I’m still no closer to finding out for sure. Maybe I’ll just call one of the numbers and see who answers.
Guest Tester Bernard Chao left today after two weeks of both high wind small board testing and big board evaluation. All guest tester contributions are important to the overall outcome of the event, but occasionally a single individual can take on more than his fair share. Bernard, who lives in the Bay area, certainly exceeded our expectations of any tester and we thank him for his dedication to the task (I think he had lot of fun too!).
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Francisco Goya has been sailing with us for the last few days. His double loop photo spread in AWs issue 7/3-4 was a tremendous hit and he’s been signing autographed copies of the magazine. He is by far the fastest person on the water when it comes to attacking the waves. He explained the double loop in simple terms: "go fast, complete the first loop on the way up and the second on the way down, land it and don’t get hurt." I’m strapping on my booties now and ready to give it a try—let’s hope I don’t forget the last piece of advice.
Saturday 28th October: I sat down to breakfast with Bill Hansen of Windwing sails today and learned a lot about this man of science. He was working at the University of California, putting his physics degree to use, when he began windsurfing in San Francisco. He had a yachting background and when he bought his first windsurfing gear he didn’t like the sails available, so he made his own. In twenty years he has never sailed any sails other than those he makes himself. His first sails were so revolutionary that they sped up his learning curve dramatically and won him the attention of fellow sailors. Within three months he sold his first quiver to someone from Maui and had orders to make sails for more people. In the blink of an eye Bill Hansen went from the science lab to sail maker, a blink that’s lasted now for two decades.
Michael Lam of Lam Sails also dropped in at our test center for a three day visit. The oldest sail maker in China, Michael Lam is the man behind the many brands that grace the industry. Lam has a reputation for the quality of his workmanship and has tremendous passion for the sport.
The Pro Test Team has reconvened for one last week of intense equipment evaluation. Pascal Bronniman arrived back from Oahu today and the testing began immediately.
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