Tommy takes us on a whistle stop tour of Maui, with some unbelievable images, but first lets find out a little more about the man behind the camera:

When my new wife and long-suffering windsurfing widow, Jo, left me in charge of organising our honeymoon destination there was only one place on my mind: Maui. We’ve been lucky enough to have several trips to Maui before, chasing perfect wind and waves. Here’s a few photos that we’ve taken on our trips….

Thanks to www.K4fins.com for the fins and www.Bluesmiths.com who make The Kula Hoodie, the ultimate beach hoodie for the great British Summer!

Check out some more of Tommy shots at www.flickr.com/tommyperkins

Surazo Windsurf Cup Event 1: Matanzas

The first event in a 3-event race to decide on the Chilean entries into the PWA event to be held in Matanzas in November 2013 was completed in spectacular fashion over the weekend.

The conditions made for a fantastic first event and the level of the local sailors was extremely high, with everybody in hot pursuit those all-important PWA National Association wildcards.

The event was presented by the Hotel Surazo www.surazo.cl in collaboration with: Windsurfing Chile, Nautisport, Windsurf.cl, Windsurfer.cl, Corona, Flor de Caña Rum, Undurraga, Red Bull, Outdoors Magazine and Stoked.

Competitors:

Jose Manuel Perez

Nicolas Ramirez

Patrick Russeau

Photographers:

Juan Luis Deheckeren

Video

Alfredo Escobar

The event was run with the PWA elimination format and PWA judging criteria. The three local judges had been briefed by Robby Swift and two of them will be local judges for the main PWA event.

Judge Nicolas Ramirez:

Today was a great day for the Surazo Windsurf Cup, the first event of the Chilean National Windsurf series, an unprecedented day in which all the best Chilean wave sailors went man on man to fight for the right to compete for Chile in the PWA Matanzas World Cup in November 2013. They had the chance to sail against each other in fantastic conditions in what turned out to be a fantastic day for Chilean windsurfing.

We were able to finish the first round of competition with the following results:

1^st. Felipe Wedeles

2^nd Andres Tobar

3^rd Nico Recordon

4^th Diego Fabres.

The conditions were some of the best we have ever seen for a windsurfing contest in Matanzas. There were big sets with a 13 second period. The wind was strong and consistent. The locals from Hotel Surazo showed off their skill and consistency sailing in their back yard and advanced to the finals with huge aerials and perfect cutbacks. Nico Recordon (Nautisport, Naish, Tabou) proved to be the surprise of the day, advancing all the way to the semi final with his aggressive and fluid style.

Other than the final, the best heat of the day was the quarter-final battle between the Fabres brothers, Benjamin and Diego.  Neither of them wanted to miss out on their spot in the next round and they went blow for blow throwing everything on the line to see who would advance to the semi-final. In the end the judges were extremely hard pressed to tell the difference but had to award the win to Diego by 0.5 of a point.

The low points of the day were, on one hand the bad luck that young hopeful Alex Vargas suffered at having one of his waves “dropped in on” by another competitor, a wave that could have let him advance against Eduardo Hernan (Windsurfing Chile). On the other hand the Sciaraffia brothers (Windsurfing Chile) and Mikael Buhuon Shcultz (Nautisport) were unlucky not to pass the first round.

Tomorrow there will be conditions to complete the double elimination where everybody will get the chance to do battle again and finally re-challenge the winner of the first day.

With Matanzas local Felipe Wedeles (Hotel Surazo, Goya Windsurfing, Hawaii 69) having dominated the single elimination with his style and fluidity, there were many fired up riders eager to get revenge in the double elimination. The double elimination allows everybody a second chance at competing against each other in order to advance up to meet the 4 semi-finalists of the day before at which point this new winner will have to beat position 4, then 3 then 2 and then finally beat the winner of day 1 twice if he is to take the final event victory.

The half a point that broke Benjamin Fabre’s run yesterday was clearly on his mind as he devastated the competition on his way back up through the double elimination in order to not only get revenge on his brother Diego, but also win his way all the way up to sail against Felipe Wedeles in the final and destroy him in the first super-final heat too.

Finally though, Wedeles’s experience paid off as the final heat was run at around 8pm in the fading light which is always Felipe’s favourite time of day to sail and he was able to defend his title from the first day and leave Benjamin in a very well deserved second place.

PRO

1. FELIPE WEDELES (Goya Windsurfing/Hotel Surazo/Hawaii 69)
2. BENJAMIN FABRES (Nautisport/Naish)
3. ANDRES TOBAR (Hotel Surazo/Windsurfing Chile)
4. NICO RECORDON – (Nautisport/Naish/Tabou)

AMATEUR

1. VINCENTE GONZALES
2. BJOERTE PUERSCHEL

These results will be added to the 2^nd event planned for September this year and the 3^rd event planned for October to decide who will be able to take part in the main PWA event and who will need to qualify through the PWA trials. The top 2 sailors will be guaranteed a place in the main PWA event and the next 3 will be guaranteed a place in the PWA Trials.

Sunday, since first light, we could see that the waves were bigger and better than Saturday. The sets were perfectly lined up and the waves were around 6-8 feet. It was clear that today we were going to be even luckier than the day before with the waves and the wind was slowly building. We set a start time of 3pm to allow the wind to fill in completely and prepared ourselves for a long and very exciting afternoon.

The format of today’s competition allows the losers from day 1 to come back to have a chance to fight against the 4 finalists from the first day and finally get the chance to try to knock Felipe off his throne.

Competition stared at 3:30 on the dot and the competitors, wind and the waves combined to give the spectators a great show from the terrace of the Hotel Surazo.

The sailors were impatient to get on the water in the fantastic waves and today, the winners had to go straight out into their next heat, with very little time between heats and it turned out to be a long but very successful day for Benjamin Fabres. He was on fire, inspired by his tight loss to his brother the day before and sailing with great style while picking off the best waves in his heats, using his skill and determination to leave everybody else in his wake. Knockecd out are Martin Rojas, Alex Vargas, Arnaud Frennet, Marcel Jansen and Toto… But advancing in style is Benjamin Fabres.

Yesterday’s brother on brother heat of Diego against Benjamin is repeated today and once again, neither brother wants to let the other advance but Benjamin is just too strong today, boosting huge aerials and radical turns to firmly stamp down his authority on his older brother. There is nothing Diego can do against an inspired Benjamin and after just a 5 minute break, he takes to the water again against Nico Recordon. Benjamin starts the heat with a huge aerial but Nico responds by picking off a huge wave and riding it all the way through to the end section where he pulls off a risky aerial but lands on the white water and breaks his mast foot, leaving Benjamin to enjoy the rest of the heat alone in the fantastic waves.

Next up, Benjamin has to face Andres Tobar who has all the pressure of being a Matanzas local and seems nervous at the threat of the man who has been on fire all day. The wind is dropping and the current has become stronger but the sailors are still able to ride 2 waves each in the 14 minutes allowed and both riders pick off big waves and ride them with style all the way through to the end section. It is hard to pick a winner as both riders scored big aerials and stylish cutbacks but to Benjamin’s delight the judges decide in his favour and he is through to face Felipe Wedeles in the super final.

It’s around 6:40pm and Benjamin is once again only allowed 5 minutes to rest in between heats. The riders are given 10 minutes to sail out to their heat, enough time to pass the waves and the current in the light evening winds, and start the heat in a good position. There is no longer any margin for error since the wind is so light now that any mistake could be the end of the heat for either sailor. They both realize this and take their time waiting for the best set wave. Benjamin picks off the first wave and connects a couple of solid turns with an excellent aerial. Felipe goes next and matches Benjamin’s wave turn for turn but with no aerial. Benjamin picks off the next wave and pulls of a stunning goiter, leaping ahead of Felipe on the score sheets. Felipe manages to pick off two more excellent waves but nothing that can match Benjamin’s goiter so the judges award the first super final to Benjamin, leaving a nail biting final heat with everything on the line.

By now the sun is setting and the wind has almost faded completely. The waves are still pumping but slightly less consistent. Benjamin falls to the pressure and picks off a small wave to begin the heat, pulling off several cutbacks but not scoring highly and ending up all the way at the end of the beach. He has to leave the water and run back up the sand while Felipe has patiently waited for a bigger set and rips the wave to pieces, leaving Benjamin Fabres with a mountain to climb, having to get back out through the current and then pick off another set wave. While he is sailing back out, Felipe picks off another set wave and pulls off several cutbacks and a couple of aerials. He is not going to let the young contender get away with a final scalp. His experience is proving to be too much. Felipe sails this spot into the sunset every good day of the year, and he is proving unstoppable in this final heat.

Benja makes it back out and picks off a decent set wave but although he rides it well, there is nothing he can do against the two high scoring waves of Felipe Wedeles. In the dying seconds of the heat, Felipe picks off one last wave and destroys it from start to finish. He smashes the first section, airs over the second section and then pulls a super stylish cutback and follows with one final smack , riding the white water all the way into the beach, his back yard, to the cheers of the other competitors and the spectators and volunteers.

AMATEUR

1. VINCENTE GONZALES
2. BJOERTE PUERSCHEL

PRO

1. FELIPE WEDELES
2. BENJAMIN FABRES
3. ANDRES TOBAR
4. NICOLAS RECORDON

We would like to thank all the people who helped make this first event possible. Everyone who helped out on the beach, the competitors, the companies who supported the event unconditionally.

Hotel Surazo

WindsurfingChile

Nautisport

Windsurf.cl

Windsurfer.cl

Cerveza Corona

Ron Flor de Caña

Undurraga

Redbull

Revista Outdoors

Stoked

Robby Swift joins Boardseeker to talk you through some of the most radical moves in windsurfing today,  first up we take a look at the push loop forward…

This is my favorite move in the world. I love doing push loop forwards. It’s not every day that you can do them. You need good sized waves and lots of wind. I have done one on a 4.7 but really overpowered, I have seen Philip Koster do them on 5.0 but also over powered. My favorite size sails to do them on are 4.5 and below. Best is 3.6 overpowered.
Pushloop forward Pushloop forward pushloop forward push loop forward push loop forward push loop forward push loop forward push loop forward push loop forward push loop forward push loop forward push loop forward push loop forward push loop forward push loop forward

Check out this video from the recent Red Bull Storm Chase, of Robby performing one of the best pushloop forwards you have ever seen – at 30 secs.

This technique was previously part of the ‘Radical Action’ series, after our switch over to the new website Boardseeker is now re-editing and posting updated versions of your favourite techniques….what moves would you like to see next? Would you like to go back to basics with moves such as 360′s, vulcans, forwards and simple blasting technique? Or do you want to learn more about how the pros pull of the hardest moves? Let us know in the comments below!

Photo by JC

Their tag line ‘Right Stuff for Radical Action’ certainly applies here, just check out the height, the power and the huge wipe-outs that these guys go through in order to get the perfect shot! Also take a look at the screen grab from the video below…

This surprise addition to the PWA tour will join that of PWA South Africa which is planned to take place in December. With the PWA tour appearing to grow again, as well as other professional windsurfing tours, are we seeing the beginning of the much deserved re-emergence of our sport. Discuss below…

What to expect?

Well the following video is certainly not out of the equation although perhaps the photo gallery below is more realistic.

Third in the series is British based Si Crowther www.simoncrowther.com

All images credit Si Crowther.

Boards 1st cover.

First ever Boards cover

Date: Feb 2006

Rider: Simon Hurrey

Location: Kraal Bay, South Africa

There is something very special about your first cover shot and this one is etched into my mind for many reasons. For starters, I shouldn’t have been there; I’d missed my flight home already and had to extend my trip by four days at a great cost. This was then shot on the day I was due to leave for the second time, I very nearly missed that flight too!! (I will never learn).

In terms of action, this had it all: mid spock, one handed, full eye contact and then that very special touch.. Si pointed right down the lens, the point of his finger right down the centre of his nose, they say it’s all about timing, right? This made the shot so captivating and powerful. Neither of us knew just what we had captured at the time, which made it all the sweeter when we saw it in full glory on the laptop later.

To top this one off, when the mag hit the shelves in June 2006 (July issue.. never understood that one?) I was heading out to Fuerte to shoot with Jamie Hancock and in Gatwick’s departure lounge, in WHSmiths, the manager had used 15 copies and arranged them into a full pyramid display at the shop front entrance! I was pretty stoked! Worth mentioning that I grabbed another cover on that Fuerte shoot too! A cracking tweaked pushy from Jamie, again, full eye contact.. I was on a roll.

Brawzinho water shot

Brawzinho water shot

Date: April 2010

Rider: Marcilio ‘Brawzinho’ Brown

Location: Ho’okipa Beach Park, Maui

So many elements came together on this shot to make it one of my favorite ever water shots.

The unusual angle is the first thing that struck me.

The rainbow is pretty hard to ignore. You can see the concentration in Brawzinho’s face. The foreground wave on the left, with the semi-submerged lens port. I love the stunning Ho’okipa background, with a sweet finishing touch on the right, the lifeguard tower. All these elements mean there’s a lot going on, thankfully they all balance to make a sweet composition. I simply love this angle at Ho’okipa and always look for this type of shot as a wave and action passes by.. Sometimes, that doesn’t work out so well.. I’ve been pitched over the falls quite a few times while gunning for shots like this. A price worth paying though, don’t ya think?

Ben Ainslie

Ben Ainslie sailing the ‘Moth’

Date: July 2009

Rider: Ben Ainslie

Location: Pro Vela, Mar Menor, Spain

Dan Macaulay is a legend, fact. Dan’s company Brandwave Marketing landed a location shoot for Henri Lloyd’s 2010 catalogue, and Dan booked yours truly for the shoot!! Hat’s off to Dan, this was a serious commercial shoot with one of the sailing worlds all-time greats, and Dan had seem something in my work and knew it was worth it to take a bit of a risk using me. I was flattered to be honest. There are many, many very capable sailing photographers out there, but Dan was looking for something a little different.. This shot is my favourite from the whole shoot. (we won’t mention the welly shot)  I was hanging off the side of a rib, traveling at around 30 knots. Dan was hanging onto my life jacket, so I could get as far outboard as possible. I was loaded with the Canon 5d, fisheye lens, wrapped in an Aquatech housing and Ben was on a fly-by on a hydrofoil Moth. What’s amazing is, this was Ben’s first ever run sailing a Moth, they are notoriously difficult to sail..  but not for Ben, second nature to him.

Kauli Seadi

Kauli Seadi mast mount

Date: April 2010

Rider: Kauli Seadi

Location: Ho’okipa Beach Park, Maui

In some ways, the mast mount shot is the easiest of all the windsurf shots to take. Once all the prep is done, you just stand back and pull a radio trigger whilst the rider does all the work..

But, the secret is in the preparation, setting and composing the frame whilst attaching the camera and mount, taking care not to over tighten the clamps, but tight enough not to slip. Testing everything before the camera leaves the shore, batteries, lens port, seals, radio trigger operation, CFcard, exposure, shutter speed, it’s a big list; miss something and you trash the whole session.

I was a relative unknown at the time and Kauli was 3x world wave champ; I was super stoked when he agreed to let me cut holes in his brand new sail and mount a 2.5kg swing weight to his mast. What happened next left me bricking it and had a crowd of onlookers roaring in anticipation.

Kauli left the beach, on his first run, caught a gust on the inside and was fully planing out, meanwhile a bomb set was approaching, this is what got the crowd going, we could all see what was about to happen.. Proffitt said “say good bye to your mast mount” as Kauli sky rocketed a huge backloop, straight off the beach and landed with dry hair;

I was convinced the mount wouldn’t hold on landing.. The jump was HUGE!!

Everyone around me was laughing and cheering.. To my relief the mount held, but the forces were so great on landing, the lens detached from the camera inside the housing.. but not before I had bagged this nugget of gold. Phew.

Chamonix

Chamonix Snowboarder

Date: Jan 2012

Rider: Andy Lagan

Location: Flegere, Chamonix Mont Blanc

This is my favourite snowboard pic so far, I’ve not shot snowboarding much or for very long, so still learning a lot here, I’m also afraid of heights, so any mountain photography is a real challenge.. Weirdly, I get a buzz out of scaring myself shitless, so kinda enjoy pushing my own limits. Just getting setup for this shot was really challenging. In snowboard photography, everything takes much longer to get to location and set up, you are dealing with camera batteries that drain fast in the cold air and the lenses fog real quick and never want to demist, your fingers stop working and you often only get one take at the shot too. Hand signals with the rider are a must..

With this one I wanted to show the ruggedness of the Chamonix resort with the action & this spot showed the whole valley and town in the background. The light was really muted, which really brought out all the texture of the snow, rocks and clouds when I boosted the mid-range contrast in Photoshop. Andy did well finding a gap between the trees to nail the grab, without that, this wouldn’t have been a shot worth talking about.

Robby Swift

Robby Swift water shot

Date: April 2010

Rider: Robby Swift

Location: Ho’okipa Beach Park, Maui

In Maui, it’s easy to get sucked into what’s known as Maui syndrome. Where, for a rider, that means not going out for a sail unless it’s really good. The same can be said for photography at Ho’okipa. The images are so iconic. If the light is not right you may as well pack the camera gear up and not bother. On this day, I nearly made that decision. The clouds were in and shooting conditions were less than perfect and light was fading. Many of the other photographers had packed up. Every now and then, a break in the clouds would flash a bust of sunlight. I decided to chance going for a swim. Many of the shots were overcast, dark and lacked vibrance, but one or two shots were lit by these bursts of light. I remember I was swimming in when Robby lined up for this one, the clouds opened and lit the wave, as the rain still fell. A rainbow descended right next to Robby’s top turn, set against a dark moody backdrop. A few small tweaks in photoshop for contrast and saturation really set this one off.

Levi Siver

Levi Siver water shot

Date: April 2012

Rider: Levi Siver

Location: : Ho’okipa Beach Park, Maui

As I looked at the back of the camera through the housing, after firing off a burst of shots, my jaw dropped when I saw what popped up on the tiny screen. As Levi lined up for this one, I got good vibes, sometimes you can feel a good shot coming and I definitely had that for this one. Everything seemed to be lining up. I had to kick hard to stay with the passing wave. I just knew I was about to get something good & wanted to stay in the zone as long as I could. Even still, nothing prepared me for what I saw on that screen as the camera rendered the shots..

It all happened so fast as I shot it, but as the sequence played through I saw this insane tweaked-out air unfold, in stuttering slow-motion, over this perfectly formed wave face. Amazing moment! I was so distracted, I forgot where I was. Right in the impact zone for the next set!

I remember getting drilled and deciding to swim straight in. As soon as I was out of the water, the back of the housing was off & I was checking through the sequence again.. Yes! It’s sharp too! I showed a few people on the beach, probably cos I couldn’t still quite believe it. Pretty soon people were talking about it. No better feeling! That shot right there is why I love doing what I do. Hoping for many more moments like that one!

Although you are going to require a certain level of French to understand this, it’s not essential as the pictures also tell the story.

You can order here – DLG Movie

You can also check out our Behind the Scenes feature HERE.

Lots to get through, so enjoy what’s to come. Firstly, Al Bentley reports from the NZ Freestyle Nationals where he managed to secure the title. A full report from the successful event can be viewed here.

On UK shores the SWA have released a video from their latest event – Liverpool Northern Monkeys.

Here’s a very festive one for you, turns out Santa has been scoring some back loops since his busy night.

Last but by no means least Dany Bruch has been in touch with this round up of 2012 and wishes everyone a great 2013.

That’s it for this year, see you in couple days when we have that much anticipated website development.

Thanks for tuning in all and please spread the word about the all new boardseeker.com.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Good morning all and a we wish you a Happy New Year from all the team at Boardseeker. Obviously like most we will be taking the day off tomorrow but do not fear as we will be back with a fresh new approach in 2013. Individual news posts will fill up our home page, which will give you more to choose from and quicker access to it. For today we will sign out with our last lengthy post with plenty of video action.

It appears our call for videos last week created a spur of interest as we received a handful of clips. Opening up is probably the first of many that will come out of Jericoacoara this year, featuring Norwegian rising star Oda Johanne, certainly one to watch out for as she continues on her training mission around the world.

Now the AWT – American Windsurfing Tour is growing from strength to strength and their 2013 calendar is already set, what’s more they are currently offering a huge saving if you pay up in advance for your AWT Pass to enter all the events next year. Find out more by clicking on the image below.

Our next video shows us some more freestyle action, this time from Jacob Lindqvist. Spotted on the shores of Club Vass this summer, we can no doubt expect to see him again in the future. The dates for the 2013 PWA tour are not yet released but we are sure we will see Jacob either there or on the EFPT.

Chile appears to be going off lately, top names heading there like no tomorrow. The latest clip to drop includes Ricardo Campello and Robby Swift tearing up the waves down there.

We wrap up the morning with this quality one from Brazil. Not massively windsurfing heavy but it fills you with complete stoke about windsurfing whether you are just getting in to the sport or a full time pro. In addition to that, the whole thing is shot on the GoPro Hero 3, pretty impressive!

For fans of watersports then this video will quench your thirst, it includes some nice action from Kai Lenny as well as the XXL surfing awards and mark our words, there is some serious eating it in there!

Lastly, this cool one with a nice sound from the wakeboarding scene.

Good news, we are all still here. Even better news, Boardseeker brings you a healthy update this morning. Check out the action that went on around the world in the last few days before the apparent end of days.

Jason Polakow and Robby Swift report in with this edit from their recent trip to Chile. Outstanding action.

Up next is one for spanish listeners or just fans of top level windsurfing. Having featured in our afternoon news section yesterday, Gollito now stars in another movie which shows off the champions that have come out of Venezula.

Something esle of high quality is this sweet looking website from the Austrian slalom sailor Marco Lang, keep up to speed with the Marco as he progresses on the 2013 PWA tour – www.marco-lang.com.

More from the five times World Freestyle Champion, Gollito Estredo. Team QSW recently hooked up with Nik Baker to interview the freestyle champion himself, if you’ve ever wanted to find out what goes on inside the head of Gollito then this is one of the best chances.

Finally for those interested in the European Freestyle Pro Tour, it looks like the calendar for next year is beginning to appear on their website. So far just a couple of events but rumour has it that there is quite the potential for 2013. Check it all out here – www.efpt.net. Whilst you are there be sure to take a look at the nominees for the European Freestyle Pro Tour Rider of the Year and get your votes in. For the UK we have Adam Sims and Andy ‘Bubble’ Chamber nominated, a fair chance for a Brit to hit some pretty decent headlines. Obviously there are also a few others in contention…

Until this afternoon.

This year has been filled with many incredible windsurfing movies; Rewarded by Andre Paskowski is without a doubt one of the stand out freestyle movies, but now Flo Jung, a team of editors and riders have released a stand out wavesailing movie too. After two years of hard work Boardseeker catches up with the riders of Don’t Let Go to find out more about the making of the movie. 

Robby Swift in Chile. Image credit Pablo Berrios.

Robby Swift – The Injury Curse

Instead of “Don’t Let Go”, the name of the movie would rather be: “Should have let go!” The crew of the film has been plagued with injuries trying to go big to go for the movie, right from the start when Flo had the idea to make this project, he injured his ankle in Cabo Verde. Then Flo got better and Boujma almost killed himself trying a triple forward in Maui.

In the summer we had a good run in the Canaries injury free on the PWA. I then went to Chile and broke my foot really badly and had to have an operation. I was able to go to Klitmoller to commentate on the event, even though I was on crutches still and there, Flo broke his knee doing a massive back loop.

We split up after Sylt; I went back to Maui to do my rehab, Flo did his in Germany. Finally in April we were all sailing together again and had a few good days of filming when Boujmaa broke his foot, the same injury as mine. Finally everyone was back on track and we managed to finish our last part in Peru all together.

My favourite locations were Maui and Chile. We had a sick swell in Chile this year at Punta De Lobos which was amazing and Maui had one of the windiest winters for a very long time, so we got in a LOT of sailing.

It’s very different from any other windsurfing movie I have seen so far. It is more emotional and more personal than any other video I have seen so I really like that about it.

My wife Heidy was one of the main filmers, Manuel Grafenauer was the main editor and Leon Jamaer also helped edit the final parts. Flo was the driving force behind the movie. He has been working really hard, over the past 6 months especially!

Boujmaa Guilloul. Image credit John Carter.

Boujmaa Guilloul - Gold Sessions

It is the first windsurfing movie I’ve been seriously involved in, we all dream about the perfect one, the one that will mark the history of windsurfing, action, lifestyle, editing, music and emotions, elements that make difference between all. Once you get the perfect set up, then you can make un unforgettable DVD, that you  will watch over and over again.

It has been really hard for us, to find funds and to realise our visions on film. We are working with a tight budget to get around and film together.

We had the idea of it back at Cape Verde contest in November, where Flo started filming, then we saw each other in Maui again, talking more seriously about it, and there it went; we filmed a couple sets and we continued trough the PWA tour.

I think we captured already some “gold sessions” and I am especially looking forward to see the Morocco part finalised.

You can expect different styles of windsurfers with very different motivations and backgrounds.

I loved pretty much everywhere we filmed, all the spots were good fun windsurfing, all different, but I always love my place, which is my personal favourite spot.

Camille Juban in Maui. Image credit Jimmie Hepp.

Camille Juban – A True Documentation

It began when Flo told me about the idea of making a film expressing the message to others to follow their dreams and “don’t let go”.

We don’t want to show another windsurf movie just with good action and  perfect conditions, it’s more about a true documentation of windsurfers and their life as a pro, travelling around the world to follow their dreams with all ups and downs; I hope you enjoy it.

Flo Jung pulling a goiter. Image credit Jimmie Hepp.

Check out the Facebook page for the latest updates: www.facebook.com/DLGWindsurf or visit the Don’t Let Go website for more and to purchase www.dontletgo-movie.com.

Manu at work. Image credit Maxime Houyvet.

Image credits Thorsten Indra and Axel Reese.

This is a fairly complicated combination jump move, that not many people can land nicely. It also involves landing with the sail clew first which is hard. It is a nice trick though and you get a nice moment of weightless flight in the middle of it.

Pic 1. Kauli is jumping off a good sized ramp, much like a ramp he would choose for a push loop or a back loop.

Pic 2. You can see his legs are tucked up and his arms are bent. He is close to the sail and keeping the power in the sail to gain as much height as possible.

Pic 3. Here he is still gaining height, he has started rotating slightly but he does not really throw the sail until the next picture. He is looking slightly over his front shoulder.

Pic 4. Now Kauli is throwing his sail around the rotation, looking down towards the water over his front shoulder. He does not take the board with him through the rotation, but leaves his legs behind much like a push loop table top.

Pic 5. Here he has thrown the sail round and let go of his back hand. He is looking at the water where he wants to land.

Pic 6. Now he is flying weightlessly and trying to get his hands as quickly as possible to the other side of the sail.

Pic 7. Now his front hand is in the right place on the other side of the sail and he is reaching down the boom with his back hand.

Pic 8. This is where the move becomes tricky, you need to pull with your back hand a little bit to get some power in the sail to soften the landing, but not too much or it will put too much weight on the nose of your board and you won’t land properly.

Pic 9. Here you see Kauli falling with power in his sail. He needs to get his weight from one side of the board to the other. Right now he would fall in the water between the board and the sail, so he needs to pull the board under him so that he lands on the board properly, while controlling the power in the sail.

Pic 10. Now he has the board almost under him and is getting back to the normal sailing position on the way in but with his feet switch stance.

Pic 11. Now he is pretty much in the normal sailing position on the way in, just with his feet switched around.

Pic 12. Just like the air chacho, now he has to do a clew first water start on the way out.

Pic 13. Getting ready to flip the sail round to the right direction.