Elise Garrigue skydiving in France

Elise Garrigue skydiving in France.

Ian Walsh Red Bull Commercial 2009

This is Ian Walsh on his legendary Teahupoo wave. Video of this wave is running on the new Red Bull commercial. Ian is one of the elite big wave surfers in the world, impressive for a Maui boy.

Gadiel Hottenstein the Tavaura boatman from Maui

This is Gadiel Hottenstein, the awesome Tavarua boat driver from Maui. Gadiel is a local boy who grew up on Maui and lives much of the year on Tavarua. Gadiel is riding a 6'3" x 18.5" x 2.5" rp Step up model. They say it has been small like this for a while now, looks pretty big to me. I am already planning my Tavarua trip for next season.

Matt

SUP downwinder with the girls

What a nice day today. We had a blast this morning surfing Noriegas, and we took the afternoon to cruise with some friends.
We took the SUP out from Kuau, at Noriegas, with Sarah on the wide 9.6 classic, Bene on the narrower 9.6, Gurvan on his tiny 9.0 and me on my 9.3.
It was a really good test for the girls to go out today, the water was choppy, barely no wind, and a nice little swell, making the balance difficult.
I have to say I was impressed by the girls, first time out for 1 1/2 hour downwinder.

Sarah loved the 9.6, very stable, she barely fell, and had a lot of fun, right away.
Bene is more advanced than Sarah and had no difficulty on the narrower 9.6 she was using.

Gurvan always takes his 9.0, no matter what, and was still keeping up with us on bigger boards.

Check at the end of the movie, I caught a few waves at Baby beach, the view from the camera in front is pretty cool I think.
Francky

school surfing championships today at hookipa

Really small surf today, and really low tide.... Should be better during the day !


No waves ? No worries, there is good food.

Maui Interscholastic Championships is on at Hookipa

It's Saturday morning and the waves dropped from yesterday. It is 1 to 3 foot face but looks fun, not much wind.

The Interscholastic Surfing Championships is on at Pavils so Hookipa will be crowded today. Good luck to all the Kazuma kids competing today.

Looks like the perfect day to go stand up.

Franck 9'3" Classic board specs

Here is the computer file for the 9'3" on the video below, this board is "magic". I needed a very specialized board for the wave in front of my house in Kuau. I told Matt that I needed a board that would be ultra responsive but still carry me through the flat spots of the wave in from of my house, not easy for a small board like the 9'3". I also needed a board that was easy to carry. ( It is a 300 meter walk to the ocean) Working one on one with Matt is incredible and the results are amazing. I have a board that is stable like a bigger board but turns like a shorter board. I can stay out for hours even though my back is messed up and have a board that lets me perform like I dream.

The rocker is 5.5" nose/ 3.75" tail. the outline is 21.5" nose/ 17.5" tail. I think the secret is in the Triple Barrel concaves that Matt is known for.

Francky

Nice little SUP ride tonight at Kuau Pipe

I was using the 9.3 classic. My back is feeling a bit better, i can have fun a little ! I still move like a tree (!), but i can take waves, so i'm happy.
The 9.3 is really easy in most conditions. I weigh 76 kilos. The board is 9.3 x 27.5 x 3.75
It carves really good, it's really smooth and you really have the feeling of riding a small board. I start to move the paddle in both sides, it's a really nice feeling and it's efficient.

Francky

Melanie Bartels on the cover of Curl magazine issue #20

Kazuma Team rider Melanie Bartels gets the cover of the Australia surfing magazine Curl. This board is a 5'11" x 18" x 2.125" squash tail EPS/pu parabolic Milkman.

Mike Crowe with his new Shibi

Mike Crowe was the first professional surfer to come out of the island of Maui. Mike and I have been surfing partners since 1979 and he has always been the best surfer in the lineup. Times have changed but mike is still one of the best surfers Maui has ever produced.

This is Mikes new 6'0" x 21" x 2.625" Shibi. The shape is identical to this older one just made in EPS foam and epoxy resin. We made this one stringerless to add a bit of flex to the board. We also used the FCS FUSION fin boxes for added strength.

Tahiti, day 2

Well, it's time to go to Teahupoo.

We arrived by jet ski of course, 5 minutes from the house. Baptiste took is 6.6 and 6.2 milkman. I felt more comfortable watching the first day there than droping a 4 feet drop at Teahupoo...

I tried to swim and take photos, but with no fins, it's just impossible to do anything. the current is too strong and you have to watch out for sets, specially the west ball, coming from nowhere !

It was such a nice morning.

My Tahiti Vacations

Hi guys,

Francky here. I just come back from 3 weeks in Tahiti. This is the first post of my vacations. Enjoy.

DAY 1
Take off, Maui, Oahu, Papeete.

It’s good for me to speak french again, a lot of Tahitian are in the plane, coming back from oahu. I can feel the peaceful atmosphere already, relax people, laughing all the time, so much fun to be around.

I’m going to Tahiti for 3 weeks, a week in Teahupoo, then 2 weeks in a remote island, in Huahine with my girlfriend.

We arrived in Papeete around 11pm, the temperature is really warm, about 10 degrees Celsius more than Maui... And no wind at all.

My friend Baptiste Gossein was here to pick me up, and we drove about an hour to reach the presqu’ile, where he leaves, at Teahupoo.
I came with a lot of boards, and of course the custom were asking me questions, and i failed on one:
Are you boards new ?.
Yes
Follow me please!

That was it, i had to declare everything, but get lucky enough to say $170 per board (!), i will have to pay 52% tax on that, if i don’t come back with the boards !
Anyway, it’s part of the game, and they try to protect the local economy and local shapers, which is good, in a country where the economy suffers from the tourism, really bad since the US people are not coming any more to tahiti much.
So if you go there, wax your boards and say they are used, it will easier for you to put a low value for each board, in case they check you !

We arrived at Baptiste and opened the bags with the new Shibi models, It was like Xmas day.



I had a good sleep in my bungalow next to the water, in front of Teahupoo, i cannot complain.




Sunday morning we go straight with the jet ski to a spot i don’t remember the name, for a SUP session.








Nobody in the water, strong current and perfect 3 feet waves, paradise. The reef is here and you need to be aware of it, but it makes the view beautiful when riding the waves.
The pretty strong current makes me a little scared, but after a little while, i felt confident and went for it...



2 hours perfect, little nap and we went back on the water, same place, and one more time, alone with Baptiste. We took only one SUP and were sharing it, while one of us was staying on the jet ski.




My back was really bad, i didn’t know yet but after a MRI at the Papeete Hospital, i have a bad disc hernia, and may need surgery. Still paradise, but the timing is wrong.

For the shooting, we were using the Go pro camera, and the 9.3 x 27.5 x 3.75 SUP Kazuma board, round nose. The board was really easy to use in this conditions, easy take off, fast and stable.

1st place Hana Surf Games, congrats Imai Devault

Kazuma super grom, Imai Kalani Devault showing his winning style in the 2009 Hana Surfing Games. Held in 2 to 3 foot Koki beachbreak, Imai pulled off some insane combinations to win 1st place. Imai is riding a 5'0 1/2" x 16.45" x 1.85" Milkman