Stand Up Race in the Netherlands- 11 city tour 220KM

Two days in this amazing 5 day- 220km race, everybody is sore and tired. But it's all worth it. Today was almost a repeat of yesterday. Byron Kurt (USA) took the lead form the start. Xavier from Spain, Eric from France and I followed at 2 minutes for hours until the 15 minute break in Hindeloopen. The landscapes are incredible. Yesterday we battled the wind the whole day for 7 hours. Today we paddled against the wind the first half and then we turned North and had the wind in the back all the way to the finish. Sorry I can not upload any pictures from the boat where we stay on during this race but the official website has plenty. http://www.supfryslan.nl/
All the racers sleep onboard an tradional dutch 'platbodem' ship. This makes a perfect place to talk story, have dinner and put all the boards.
So after 2 days my ranking is 4th about 10 min behind 3rd. Still a lot of hard work in the next 3 days and 140 KM.
De groeten from the Netherlands, Bart

Business as usual and SUP

The wind is back to full strength. In Kanaha, Hookipa and Spreck it was business as usual. Sail sizes 4.2 to 5.0. Everybody happy. Both remainders of the recent hurricanes turned out to be little 2 day squals.

I did a little downwinder today to get ready for the 11-city tour, a 220km race through the canals in the Netherlands. September 1-5. http://www.synso.nl/sup/?page=home. Annemarie Reichman organized this race ( see picture below). I will updating the blog every day during the race.

Below here is Maui Margie Warmuth, always good for a smile , a little help and support to anybody in Kanaha beach park. Thanks Margie

Starboard just came out with their latest models. The quad. 4 Fin boards, what I have seen so far they are pretty smooth. Even shorter turns, more surfstyle feel, and still great performance. I can't wait to try them myself and I will let you know as soon as I did.

Aloha from Maui.

Hurricane Felicia

The wind has been very, very good the last months. It was almost going to be to good because hurricane Felicia was coming. Luckily the Hurricane is downgraded to a tropical storm and maybe even a tropical depression which means the wind will be almost like any other day this month. A real hurricane hit on Maui is very unlikely. The records show no data of a hit the last 50 years, but only 15 years ago there was a hit on Kauai.

The image below is today's. You can see the amount of moisture which is going to hit us. But the tropical High to the North, remains strong so it will only be short disturbance before the trade will be blowing like they did all this month. Happy Sailing

PWA Canary Islands

While we have a breezy summer here on Maui with consistent winds and some summer south swell. The PWA tour was making a stop in Pozo, Canary Islands.

It has been a while but Hot Sails Maui has a team rider in pro-racing again. Diony Guadagnino competed in Wave and Slalom and made a success full comeback in pro windsurfing. Slalom 15th place, wave 17th place.

Philip Koster took the overall title in wave.

Take a look at his last explosive heat.

Saturday KANAHA KAI SALE

This saturday, the Kanaha Kai 4th of July SALE, from 9:00-6:00

Pass by for snacks and drinks 13:00-18:00

Aloha

The new boards are there!

The new Starboards came in yesterday and we have been busy unpacking, mounting straps and fins ever since. One of our youngest members Dax couldn't wait and rigged 1.2 .

New Kodes, still dry.



Next time more action with the new boards. The trades continue to blow. Sail sizes 4.8-5.3.

The last days we also had a new South swell.

I tried out the starboard 9'8" Stand up. Not knowing much about the board , I was pleasantly surprised. It turns on a silver plate and still paddles fast enough to catch any wave.
Aloha

New Sails & Boards in Kanaha Kai

All the new Hot Sails Maui came in and are ready to go on the water The latest Superfreaks, Fires, Smacks and DDs.
Friday we have all the new Starboards coming in. Kodes, Evos, Evil Twin, Futuras.

The last 3 weeks have been windy as usual in Maui. Most days 4.3-4.7 sails on the water combined with the swell we had this week it's Maui at it's summer best.
I have been out of windsurfing the last 2 weeks due to a little accident I had while doing a Willy Skipper in Sprecks. The foot is still a little sore. No windsurfing for me for another 2 weeks.
But I do have a little SUP down winder video this time, which I have been doing a lot recently. Getting ready for the upcoming races.

Here you can see why a down winder is so much fun. It's a good exercise on the water which involves a lot of technique, endurance and surfing.
So enjoy the video and see you on the water.
Aloha from Maui