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| Hometown. | Pistol River, Oregon |
| Home spot. | Cape Sebastian, The Rogue Jetties, The Pistol River Mouth (on Kona winds) |
| Sponsors. | Goya, Big Winds, Chinook, DaKine, Hatteras Island Surf Shop, NoLimitz, NSI, Promotion |
| A few words about yourself. | Well I’ve been living and breathing windsurfing for over thirty years now, to the virtual exclusion of a more conventional life. No career, no house, no wife, no kids. I have been hanging with a dog now so that’s progress. But hey, I’ve been getting to sail around two hundred days a year. For more on that program, check out the report page of BoardheadInternational.com. |
| What makes your ride? | I love it that my gear is so much better than I am. That if I can think it and visualize it happening, the gear is going to take me there. And I prize the ease of rigging — not having any glitches to hang me up when it’s time to get out there. Having every detail so thoughtfully considered and buffed out means a lot and helps build the all important confidence out there. It’s huge actually. |
| How much do you love to windsurf? | I love windsurfing so much that I’m willing to risk my life doing it every chance I get. I love it so hard that I’ve pretty much been sleeping in a van for thirty years just to get to do it more. I love it so totally that I rethought my entire life to be next to one of my favorite places to do it. And it’s a love so deep that as cool as kiting is, I can’t imagine taking even a day away from my windsurfing to do it. |
| What is your most memorable session? | Well, my last one. But I try to remember them all and I’ve been keeping a “water log” of every sesh I’ve had since I started windsurfing. The journals also come in handy when I want to grind my buddies, go back for photo information, research a piece or mine statistics to construct feedback for my sponsors. |
| What inspires you? | If you’ll forgive what might seem a rather shameless plug — my Banzais have gone far to fuel my stoke the last couple years. I was a better sailor just taking one out of the bag. And now that I’ve had a chance to explore what they allow me to do, my stoke is even fatter. Yeah, how can we not be inspired to see the state of the windsurfing art blossom before our eyes. The new boards are just insane. I hang on every piece of video footage that comes along while marveling at the freedoms we have on the face of a wave. I love the things we can do off a lip and the absolutely insane attack that is becoming more and more possible for even we mere mortals. As for who inspires me, I have to think every single one of us brings something to this. So I thank you all. |
| Describe your gear and the conditions you use it in. | We get some crazy weather here on the south Oregon Coast and I want to be ready for anything. Right now, my quiver provides a functional wind range in knots of seven to around fifty. Not that I don’t go out in less sometimes, especially to work on freestyle. But it starts getting fun for me at around seven. And for that I’m on the 4.0 Banzai with my shortboard (a fairly conventional skateboard fitted with a mast foot). If there are waves, it doesn’t take that much more to be schloging into them with my 5.7 Banzai on the floaty board. I also have the 5.0 and 4.5 in Banzai for 85 liter weather and a fresh 3.5 G4 for the storm sailing. Yeah, and I have a 3.0 G4 on order for next time it really gets out of hand out here (and to boost my wind range back up to sixty knots or so). For more on that, check the report page on my site for an archive of sesh photos and observations. Most of that story is from the south coast since I moved here from Hatteras in ’07, but there’s some Gorge, California and central Oregon coast in there too. And if you find yourself out this way, please know that you are fully welcome to try anything in my kit, including a 5.0 Fringe and 5.3 G4 that are on hand for demo. |
| What does riding for Goya mean to you? | Respect and gratitude. All the way around. Respect for the dedication to design perfection, to the aesthetic, to the illustrious company we ride with. And for the pure stoke I see in the entire crew. The gratitude of course is for the gift of such insane performance and to be included in this most excellent project. Yeah. This is such a magical time to be alive. We get to windsurf, we’re shredding our ever-expanding performance envelopes like never before. The planet is becoming ever more interconnected. How can we compromise on the stuff that really matters? So I’m far beyond stoked to be riding what are in my as humble as possible opinion, the best sails out there. With much Aloha. |
Copyright © Forward Maui Inc. All rights reserved.
