I finally met up with Tahitian surfer Teiva Joyeux. Teiva is well known on Maui as an excellent windsurfer and professional surfer. Teiva has been back at Teahupoo for a few years now and was really excited with his new Shibi.
Teiva Joyeux: - Francky, this board is just perfect for Teahupoo. You need to catch the wave fast here, the board is just perfect for that, I really have more time to take off on it, making the drop easier. The tail is just beyond my expectations, it's so fast and responsive... Free Hinano dude !
Glad to hear... At the end of the day, most of his friends ordered some Shibi...
It was time for me to go to the harbor and ship my Stand up paddle boards to a small island, Huahine. I will be there for the next 2 weeks with my girlfriend, 2 SUP, and a fishing pole... What else do you need ?.
Maui boy Kai Barger won the 2009 Oakley Pro Jr at Trestles, California. Kai destroyed the competition scoring a 8.83 and 9.77 in the finals. Kai's signature backhand attack completely overpowered Davey Cathels 2nd, Dillon Perillo 3rd and Kiron Jabor 4th and for his victory, Kai took home $2500.00 and 1500 tour points. Kai was able to enjoy his victory with the Maui entourage of Matt Meola, Billy Kemper, Monyca Byrn-Wicky, Hank Gaskell and Ola Eleogram.
This prestigious victory confirms to the world that Kai is the true Jr world champion. Going into this event there was a lot of pressure on Kai to produce results, this victory has proven to the world that he is the real deal. Kai was a long time student of Matt's professional coaching program.
Tony Fish of Spot X Sport www.spot.com.tw is the Kazuma Dealer from Taiwan. Tony is on Maui working with me on our surfboard shapes specific to the Taiwan waves. Taiwan has waves similar to Maui in the summer and there is a large population of hard core surfers that are dedicated to the sport of surfing. Tony has a surf club and we are here working on our international online coaching and training program.
Our Internet training program allows me to coach, critique and train Tony's riders right along side the Maui, Oahu, Japan, USA and European Kazuma riders via the Internet. Each area we work with benefits from the other and brings up their surfing level at a much faster pace. Our network of worldwide Internet students is strong and growing. Our international customers also get the benefit of me being able to watch them surf and designing a board that is totally custom for them.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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 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.
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 !
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 Celsiusmore 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.
For over 20 years, Kazuma Surfboards has been manufacturing custom surfboards for the best surfers in the world. Our 10 expert craftsmen have over 125 years of combined board building experience and are the best in the business. In the last 20 years we have manufactured over 27,000 surfboards so we know how to do things right.
What would you do with a Magic board?
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