HO’OKIPA CHRONICLES: MAUI, HAWAII
HO’OKIPA CHRONICLES: MAUI, HAWAII
HO’OKIPA CHRONICLES: MAUI, HAWAII
John Carter travelled to Maui back in April 2024 and reflects on a selection of photos from a day when Ho’okipa was firing on all cylinders.
Words and Photos: John Carter
LOOKING BACK
Right through the 90’s until 2020, when COVID changed the world, I was lucky enough to spend plenty of time in Maui during photoshoot season in the spring. Every year, most of the brands would congregate in Hawaii, and Ho’okipa was often very crowded for all the wave shoots on the big days.
People would often refer to the whole scene as the Ho’okipa circus with helicopters and drones whirring above, four or five photographers in the water and an army of big lenses on the hill documenting the action. There were so many memorable moments back in those days and Ho’okipa really did feel like the epicentre of the windsurfing world.
Many sailors lost or gained their reputations as they carved their signature turns on the canvas at Ho’okipa. During the shoots it was often about going big to score the shots to stand out from the crowd, so it truly was as Hawaiian’s used to say, ‘Go big or go home!’.
After the pandemic, several brands put the brakes on the expensive photoshoots in Maui and looked to adapt with the times and head elsewhere.
Having spent up to a month in Hawaii during April for over twenty years, all of a sudden those trips to Maui were pretty much erased from my calendar. I was lucky enough to spend a week out there to go and shoot the Aloha Classic last year, but that was self-funded, while it was also my first visit to Hawaii in four years.
Local brands like Goya and Naish, of course continue to shoot in Maui, but it seems like the days of the Ho’okipa circus are well and truly over – or for the time being at least.
GREEN LIGHT
Come January 2024, I was lucky enough to be invited to a Duotone wave shoot, which was scheduled to be held in Hawaii during spring time, which was my first job like this for almost five years! It was very exciting to be heading out to the windsurfing Mecca – even though I imagined it wouldn’t be the same level of intensity as the glory days. Of course, if it was firing, I was pretty sure it would still be busy, but at least not with the likes of NeilPryde, Goya, Starboard, JP and Naish etc all shooting on the same day.
Believe me, tempers used to fray as the shoots all battled for their slice of the pie. You had to roll the dice with a lot of decisions when the competition was fierce. One brand might score an epic helicopter session for an hour and a half at Lanes, while during the next session, the dreaded clouds or a squall of rain could roll in and ruin the plan. I had so many magic moments during those times, hanging out of helicopters (and almost crashing one too), as well as water sessions and shooting from the rocks.
BACK ON THE ROCK
So fast forward to the 18th April 2024 and after twenty hours of flying, and waiting around in San Francisco, I finally touched down in Maui at 8pm, ready for an intense period of photo shooting. Obviously before leaving I had to meticulously pack all of my equipment, choose which lenses and cameras to bring, as well as a new Liquid Eye water housing and a small drone for some aerial action. On the physical side, I tried to go running every day for a few months prior to the trip in an attempt to maintain some level of fitness for the shoot. Swimming at Ho’okipa is certainly not for the feint hearted and I’ll be the first to admit, I am no spring chicken anymore, and I wasn’t 100% sure if I was ready for two hours of ducking and diving through mast high waves.
TOUCHDOWN
After picking up my luggage, finding my rental car, and making a quick stop for some essential provisions, ahem beer, in Paia, I made it to my accommodation by about 10pm, tired, but glad to be able to settle in before the shoot. It was a surreal feeling to be back in Maui after such a long break doing a big shoot here, and in some ways I was a slightly concerned whether I would have the energy to go straight into gruelling 10-12 hours days.
A photo shoot sounds fun of paper, and it is, but once the shooting itself is done, there is a mountain of work to get through after a solid day of action. Batteries need charging, cards need downloading, cameras need cleaning and photos don’t edit or catalogue themselves! Oh yes, and you need to eat and shower as well. Thankfully Marco Lang, who was head of organisation, had indicated that we would just be shooting products the following day, but the forecast for Ho’okipa after that looked decent for the weekend, while Monday looked epic.
HO’OKIPA
At Ho’okipa the following morning, the waves were small, but all the talk was that a solid swell was inbound and due to peak after the weekend, while the word was that the Goya crew were also planning to shoot on the same days as Duotone. Everyone’s schedule in Maui seems to revolve around the next swell and there was a buzz going around that this was lining up to be the last decent forecast of the season, as the spring time swells start to fade as we edge towards summer, which is predominantly flat.
Our team for the Duotone shoot consisted of three-time wave world champion, Victor Fernandez, Arthur Arutkin, Tobias Bjørnaa, Marco Lang and Lisa Wermister, while myself, and the very talented and motivated Jakob Skøtt, would be in charge of capturing the photos and video. Marco was adamant that we would be at Ho’okipa as early as possible on Monday morning, rigged and ready for the moment the wind kicked in for a full day of action. Yes, you can have a plan, but with windsurfing, you just never know what curveballs the weather is going to throw at you. Not to mention the fact that Ho’okipa is also one of the busiest surfing waves on Maui, and there would be no doubt that every surfer in town would be trying to score this late season swell.
FRUSTRATION
After a couple of days of small waves to warm up, all the stars were aligned for Monday to be THE day! There is a rule at Ho’okipa that if there are more than ten surfers out on the water, then no windsurfers are allowed to sail until that number drops to nine or less surfers. This is strictly policed by the lifeguards, who will shout out on a megaphone to deter any unruly sailors from entering the water before they are officially allowed. The trade winds naturally start to kick in by about 11am, which usually helps with the gradual transition from surfing to sailing, but occasionally if the wind is offshore, or if it is a solid long period swell, then the surfers can tend to linger right through the afternoon.
Normally the surfers are not a major problem, but as normal we were rigged and raring to go by 10am, but there were still ten surfers in the water with more paddling out. The Goya and Quatro crew were also getting everything prepared, so it looked like we were going to get a taster of the old photoshoot days, but still with a relatively mellow vibe.
The Goya team was huge with the likes of Francisco Goya, Marcilio Browne, Keith Teboul, Kai Lenny, Adam Lewis, Casey Hauser, Sarah Hauser, Levi Siver, Jason Polakow, Andy Chambers, Boujmaa Guilloul, plus a few wingers to boot all chomping at the bit to hit the water. Even with just our two crews, there were at least twenty sailors on standby waiting for the surfers to clear the water. As the clock slowly ticked past midday, more surfers kept paddling out, it almost looked as though we could be doomed for the whole day.
The waves looked perfect at logo to mast high, with a few bigger sets mixed in to keep things interesting, and it was already fifteen to twenty knots on the water. At this point, the Goya crew had had enough of waiting, and all of a sudden there was a flurry of action as they sent a few of their guys down to Lanes to get the ball rolling. It felt like bad etiquette to copy them by sending all the Duotone guys into the mix, which would have just ruined each others shots as well, so we decided to try and patiently wait for Ho’okipa to clear.
By 1pm, Kai Lenny, who was as equally frustrated was done with waiting and headed out and started to try and sail the end section of Ho’okipa – mostly downwind of the surfers. However, one bold lifeguard was straight on his megaphone calling Kai to either go to Lanes or come in. Just the fact that Kai was on his windsurfing gear, gently hinting for the surfers to make way, seemed enough to persuade two or three surfers to come in and all of a sudden we had the green light for windsurfing. Literally fifteen minutes later there were thirty wave sailors ripping it up at Ho’okipa. And yes, it was carnage for the first hour at least.
DILEMMAS
As a photographer, you are always faced with the dilemma of how and where to shoot in any given situation. At Ho’okipa, there are a few angles from the land, while there is also the option of going in the water. The land is the safe bet, as armed with a 500 or 600mm telephoto lens, you can pretty much guarantee that you can capture most of the action, while in the water it is risky, but the few shots you do manage to score can be the killer ones.
My normal policy is to shoot the first hour or so from the land and then try and quickly switch over to water to catch a bit of both. I also like to just check the conditions for half an hour or so, just to see where the main action is taking place and also how often the big sets are rolling through. But in all honestly, whenever I am on the land, I am usually thinking that I should be in the water chasing that epic shot, unless it is massive of course – then the safety of the land is more than welcome. I think they call that FOMO! During a shoot, however, the smart move is to play it safe and score everything you can first and then go for the gold later on.
BAPTISM OF FIRE
After the surfers had finally cleared out, the likes of Kai Lenny, Levi Siver, Jason Polakow and most of the Goya crew were dominating the break. Victor and Arthur were also in the mix too, but the sheer volume of riders on the water meant that most of the sets were taken, and quite often there was more than one rider on the wave anyway. Forty minutes or so passed and I barely felt like I hadn’t scored any decent shots… it was so busy that there was always a rider in the foreground or a bunch of sails in the background. The action certainly wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t resulting in the photos we needed.
Kai Lenny went for an insane one-handed goiter on his first mast high test wave, which was ridiculous. Levi Siver was throwing tweaked aerials for fun and Brawzinho was delivering huge carves and effortless aerials as if he was just toying with the wave. I spotted Paul Karaolides from Fish Bowl Diaries and ace videographer, Jace Panebianco, who were both swimming in the perfect spot on several occasions, but they were also getting worked by the big cleanup sets on a fairly regular basis. Something was just telling me that one way or another I had to get in that bloody water. Like I said, I am not as young, or fit as I used to be, but this was my chance to find out if I was still up to the task of swimming in mast high waves. My decision was made and I scarpered to my car to go and get changed.
WATER SESSION
On the guard rail next to me was none other than Robby Naish, who was also rigging, while moaning under bated breath about just how busy it was due to those pesky shoots, which were making Ho’okipa abnormally crowded.
Down by the water I made my final camera checks before walking around the resident sea lion that was basking in the sun in front of the launching area. Now it was time to face the wrath of Ho’okipa. Swimming at mast high Ho’okipa is not a problem in itself – especially if you are reasonably fit – but when you throw taking photos into the equation while right in the midst of the action, diving under churning whitewater and dodging flying windsurfers, it becomes and whole different ball game.
The shorebreak where the sailors launch is rocky and can be head high. Then once you have swum out to where the infamous Ho’okipa rocks protrude, you hit the rip, which will hopefully sweep you out into the channel where you can then swim back up towards the action. I made it through the shorebreak unscathed, but by the time I was level with the rocks, the current was already dragging me across all the gnarly boulders, just in sync with a massive set to hit me in the form of a huge wall of whitewater. I was helplessly getting washed along in the rip, while precariously dicing with the boulders. I was a mere moment away from becoming the first photographer, that I know of at least, to get swept on to the rocks. Believe me that was not an accolade I wanted to become known for as I would never live it down. Luckily for me, the rip swept me right out into the channel… phew. After ten minutes of intense paddling, I was up with Paul and Jason, right in the thick of the action. I should have monitored my heart rate for the next hour or so as I am sure it was through the roof.
INTENSE
The next hour went by in a blur. Being out in the water at Ho’okipa is so intense. It is kind of like being in the front row at a big concert. You get to witness the fear in the sailor’s eyes when they are about to hit a big lip, or hear them whooping and hollering when a rider nails a big move and you feel the rush of adrenaline and experience the intensity of what it is actually like to be in the thick of that action. By this time there were probably forty riders out at Ho’okipa with up to twenty involved in photoshoots. During the first five minutes, I felt like I was in the right place as Kai Lenny was approaching my position in the water, it even felt like he might land an aerial right on top of me. I had to make a split second decision, dive out of the way or hold my ground and hope to avoid impact at the last second. I chose the latter! Kai launched off a juicy section and was up in the air with the board tweaked and looking me straight in the eye. I could feel the shutter of my Canon R5 clicking away as I hung on for as long as I could risk it for in position before diving as deep as possible to clear the landing area. Phew… I survived that one!
Next up Victor and Arthur were both on consecutive sets, so I was hoping to grab a shot of Victor, dive and come up in time to be ready for Arthur to execute his move. Not only are you concentrating on the riders in front of you, but at the same time, you also have to be wary of other riders snaking the waves or guys jumping behind you on the way out. I just managed to nail a shot of Victor rotating through an awesome taka when I heard Paul scream: “JC, watch out!”. Looking above me, I spotted Robby Naish up in the air mid pushloop about to pretty much land on my head. He hadn’t seen me and I hadn’t seen him. I just tried to curl into a ball and make myself as small as possible as there was no time to dive… Naish came crashing down about three feet to the side of me and calmly proclaimed: “Oh, hi JC he smiled, busy out here isn’t it!”. Jesus, my heart rate was now off the Richter scale. The hour or so I was in the water was so intense, I was purely in the moment, just trying to focus on nailing the shots, while staying alive and of course, having a good time.
After that session in the front row at Ho’okipa, I was buzzing. Being in the water like that and surviving a session in big waves was just what I needed to prove to myself that I’m not too old to still be able to do all the fun stuff.
THE LATE SESSION
Back on the beach, we were all given an hour to grab some food before the evening session. Naturally, I opted for a poke bowl from the Kauai Mart, which is my favourite lunch while in Maui. Our team all met up on the guard rail to discuss the plan for the rest of the day. When you know that this is probably the best forecast of the trip, then you have to go hard and hope the riders can deliver two solid sessions out on the water. After surviving my water experience I was now ready for a solid session shooting from the rocks and the hill overlooking the main break.
So for the final few hours of the day, as the sun slowly dipped behind the West Maui Mountains, there was another intense late session to shoot with beautiful light and clean waves all afternoon. All the riders were shredding by this time and the crowd had thinned out. Spending a full day in Maui when its firing, really makes you appreciate just how lucky most of these riders are to live in Hawaii. Barely a cloud in the sky, epic waves, majestic mountains and warm trades winds, there really is not much to complain about – aside from the crowds.
With the Duotone crew all on fire during the final session, I was pretty happy that we had scored plenty of decent shots when the last sailor finally came in off the water. However, the day wasn’t over yet. The sun was still poking through the mountains from time to time, so we then moved onto a quick lifestyle shoot to ooze every ounce of opportunity out of the day. With those shots done and dusted there was still time for the obligatory banter at the guard rail while the team derigged. Epic days at Ho’okipa, always come with plenty of stories and moments and everyone has a tale to tell about their big moves, close shaves and gnarly wipe outs.
THE APRÉS SESSION
After leaving Ho’okipa myself and Jakob made a quick pit stop at the Kauai Mart to grab some food and replenish our beer supply for our rental apartment. I must say the carrot cake from the Kauai Mart is also next level, so a couple of chunks of that also were thrown in for good measure. Back at the apartment we unloaded the car and dumped all the equipment on the floor. Now this is where the fun begins… not! Batteries have to go on charge, cards from the day need to be downloaded, water housing rinsed down, wipe the salt off the cameras and of course crack open an icy cold to ease the burden. With just a break for a quick shower, I normally work at the computer editing until I start falling asleep! But all in all, this had been a decent day and hopefully with an epic Ho’okipa session under our belts the pressure would be off for the time being. But then at 11pm, just as I am dozing off, I heard my phone ping with a message from Marco: “Plan for tomorrow… looks windy for jumping… meet at Baby Beach at 10am for at least two sessions, on land and water.”. Oh well, here we go again…
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