Peto - Thanks for asking
Alot of my footage ended up on Boardseeker's Windsurfing annual 2008 West Australia section - not quite sure how it got on there ... as i never cleared it for someone else's commercial DVD release - so that has kind of knocked me back for unseen Aussie footage .
The good news is you can get an oz hit if you check that new dvd out.
I'll be up north filming for a good stretch come sept - oct - as well as a lot of west oz stuff this summer- so that should have my footage replenished a little more.
i'll also be shooting a few good days in west oz this winter. Probably down the big G. Had some gold outer cables footage on a big day but my helmet camera decided to have a major meltdown..
Plus my new Vid camera makes it hard for me to look at stuff from my older gear now - so i guess i'm a little more fussy on color, DOF and resolution now..
- i have been shooting in Hawaii - got some real nice footage from there - including some nice helicopter, water housing and helmet cam stuff from Hookipa - but thats more international kind of stuff.
A quick Hawaii summary -Robby Naish was gettin busy and rippin hard for a 46 year old dude.
Polakow was still a Standout - but many crew are running the same moves. So he is getting harder to spot.
- Goya is back on the programme and outripping most. Loves his wave threeos. Gets em nearly every time.
Jaeger is goin nuts - definitely a contender if there is lots of port tack wave sailing on tour this year - his starboard tack is coming on strong.
Boujmaa was the standout in the best sessions i saw at hookipa. Going higher and harder than anyone i saw. Lots of crash and burn - but amazing fearlessness. He is probably the coolest cat on tour and well liked by all - top bloke.
Single fins were ruling the break - on the extreme end - the twinnies werent laying down the big punts that the singles seemed capable of - but lots of crew sailing well on twins. bAsed on what i have witnessed- I'm Still not convinced they are the future. In fact so many crew are riding twins that the level of wave slaying at the big H- to my eyes - seems to have gone backwards from a few years ago.
The freestyle level is amazing but 99.9% of those guys just cant wave ride properly - no style, no timing , no power - which i dont get because its way easier to time a lip than pull the new school freestyle moves. Its very cool and yet very dorky. Even some of the big wave names have a pretty weak riding act -you'd be surprised! - usually compensated for with an insanely good jumping act!
You'll be able to see some of that action when Starboard release their web movies on their site mid August - definitely some sweet action in there.
about those big names with a weak riding act, Ill never know how katchadorian got on the windsurfing movie?
Huh? I reckon he is pretty damn good for somebody who is just a normal bloke / sailor on Maui
Agree with the comments about freestyle, I made similar comments a couple of years ago about how we are close to having a world champ who can't gybe and I was shot down in flames.
who can't gybe? i'm pretty sure if you can freestyle you can gybe,
just not wave ride. but that's probably cause they spend all there time just sliding and spining and wot not on flat water
The current level of Freestyle is amazing - no argument.
full respect to crew that are doing it- i do love to watch it. I had the pleasure of watching Marcilio Browne in action at sprecks - just amazing!! The backwinded leveraged moves are definitely taking windsurfing somewhere new!
Had a go of a dedicated freestyle set up with stubby fin - guess what - they dont carve gybe - at all! the boards just slide and go sideways when you try and bury the rail - as there is no fin to drive off
thats how specialised a dedicated freestyle set up is.
Got damn close to a grubby on my first go though - so they do make the spins and slides pretty easy.
It sounds like you are venting a little Matt? I can understand that though, me and my mates get a little frustrated too when you wanna watch a proper wave vid and they chuck in all the tricky flicky stuff. As incredabley talented that stuff is, it does not beat watching polakow, goya, siver or kauli (and the rest in that league) gouging the face of a wave...we still think the older guys and a few of the younger ones are by far the most stylish. Most times just watching linking truns and speed on a wave is way more satisfying then watching a freestyler chucking a flaka on a wave...it would be good to see some current footage of Goya. That bloke was wipping out doubles and blowing waves apart in comps years before doubles were the norm, freaky style.
Peto,
whats with the pic on your id?
Nah i'm not venting - i reckon freestyle is very stylish - and damn hard to do.
i just cant figure out why crew skillful enough to do that cant ride properly - probably because they learn to sail in flat water locations - not everyone can be as spoiled us west ozzies.
Just thought it was a funny pic so i put it there.
I dont hate freestyle i just like watching wavesailing more. its great our sport can have so many disciplines. Pure waveriding excites me more then tricky orientated wavesailing. Although I wish i could do at least one of those new school tricks. I reckon freestyle windsurfing is on par with skating for technical aspect, but is the standout when it comes to the visual aspect. Freestyle windsurfing is probably the most dynamic sport in the world.
So...everyone has a fetish, thats just mine. I won't mention what yours is qwerts...all i can say is you walk funny after you've indulged in it.
The WA section they put together on the boardseeker annual DVD was pretty entertaining - (so job done i guess) even if every second shot in WA was actually hawaii!
