Windsurfing Magazine

chrisk97
2010-08-23 09:39:52 | 2810 views | 12 Comments

The recent strong winds and explosive jumping at Ho’okipa got Jimmie Hepp and myself thinking. He’s taken tons of great jumping shots of the North Shore crew recently and we decided to spice things up a bit. So as a bit of fun and in the true spirit of The 60 Days of Summer Project we spread the word and the first annual Jimmie’s Summer Jumpfest Photo Competition was born. With the emphasis on FUN the format had to be super simple.

THE RULES & FORMAT:

1) For three afternoons Jimmie shot from his spot on the Ho’okipa rocks watching out for the most interesting, innovative and radical action.

2) The best shots would be posted here on WindurfingMag.com so that readers (you) could vote for your favorite shots (see below).

3) The winning pictures will be the ones with the most reader votes and the riders will receive a special prize and a mounted print of their image.

4) IMPORTANT: This photo competition was/is all about having FUN at a time when not much is normally happening at Ho’okipa.

Brief Account of the Three Days of Action:

All sailors were welcome and we had everything from full time PWA pros to weekend warriors out doing their thing and enjoying the conditions. With the votes coming from a wide audience it is likely that the winner in each section may not be the biggest or most radical jump; it could be the worst crash or most stunning picture, sailors were told to get creative (and some did!) so please reward them for it when making your picks.

Wednesday Day # 1: Are your cursed the minute you try to organise something? Well that’s how it felt when we arrived at the beach on day #1 of the Jumpfest with the wind somewhat dubious and rain on the horizon. Despite the conditions it was great to Skyler already out there catching some waves and managing to find enough wind to get some jumps. It wasn’t long before others turned up. All were eager to get out there motivated by Jimmie to make the most of it and have some fun. While many stayed at home or took advantage of the south swell those who did venture out all had fun and got a few shots in the bag.

Skyler was super motivated and had some great shots in the bank after the first day

Thursday Day # 2: The day that we had been waiting for arrived but the small waves and gusty wind was not quite what many had envisaged. The sun was shinning Jimmie was keen to get shooting, plenty of sailors were at the ready to impress. It actually turned out to be a rather testing session with the shifty and gusty wind making it difficult for riders to hit the ramps on cue. It was great to see so many people out all trying to get a decent shot and for a while it was a complete zoo. Jake Miller and Skyler Haywood were both charging in the Pro Men section both hitting ramp after ramp and scoring sick air but on looking Graham Ezzy was unfazed as he launched into a no landed backloop and landed it clean. It will be interesting to see how the readers rate these images. The girls were pushing hard too with Tamara Bockius and Shawna both making some moves in an attempt to catch the recently returned Nadia Pfister who has been impressing with her big and clean forwards. At the end of Day #2 there were some 1600+ shots waiting to be edited and it was clear that picking out the best ones to include in the vote would be a tough and long job.

Laurent Guillemin helped to raise the bar on the second day of competition and scored some sweet air and in the process became one to watch when the voting opens.

Friday Day # 3: With a number of sailors sitting out today after breaking their equipment and others licking their wounds the field had thinned but that only made it easier for those out there to find some room and bust some air. The waves had dropped but the wind was stronger and more consistant so there was plenty of opportunity to add to your stash of shots from the previous days. I thought that it was all over when it rained hard but before long the sun and wind were back. The usual suspects were charging again but all Skyler could do was sit and watch as his sister tried out his board. When he finally did manage to trick her into giving it back he immediately started to impress once more. It was good to see the Pritchard brothers both out during the day who always got big. Graham again was trying to get the perfect shot with his no handed backloops and Nico busted big perfect back loops time and time again, he lands so clean! Nadia had to sit out today due to a water logged board and looked on as Shawna and crew continued to rack up shots. Jimmie finally called it a day with another 1300 or so images to check out. I can’t wait to see which shots are picked by Jimmie in each of the sections and it is going to be interesting and fun to see which shots readers like the most.

Graham was working the camera hard on day 3 in search of the perfect shot.

What Happens NEXT?

Jimmie spent many hours picking his favourite shots in each category which are included in the galleries below. Your job is to watch the slideshows and vote for your favourite shot in each section. Once you have voted you will be able to see the current standings. You are permitted to vote once every 24hours, so support your favourite sailors’ shots by coming back each day to cast your opinion, of course you can change your mind if you so wish!

Once you have voted leave your name in the comments section and say which shot you would like to win as a mounted print. Once all the voting is finished one lucky reader will be picked at random and will receive a fantastic large mounted print of their chosen image, we will try to get it signed by the sailor for you too.

Due to a slight technical hitch the 4 votes have been split into different posts, please follow the links to vote for your favourite pictures.

Check out the pictures and get VOTING.

PRO Men

Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.

Amateur Men

Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.

CLICK HERE TO CAST YOUR VOTE>>

Girls

Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.

CLICK HERE TO CAST YOUR VOTE>>

The FUNNIES…

Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.

CLICK HERE TO CAST YOUR VOTE>>

In CONTEXT:
From its initial conception Jimmie’s Jumpfest was all about having some fun and I think that I can speak for all those who took part and say that it helped to motivate and challenge people in a fun and friendly atmosphere. Normally I would be cursing at the number of people on the water but it was great to have so many people out on the water all trying to push their own limits. I think, and the feedback I have had confirms to me that this should become a regular summer event perhaps called SUMMERFEST and I can envisage a 5 day long festival of windsurfing that gets any many of Maui’s northshore windsurfers together having fun and reaching for new hights. The core of this whole experience was FUN and that MUST not be forgotten! Watch this space.

ON THE HORIZON: Kai Lenny has been reminding those on Facebook this week that the waves are coming by posting some sick shots of him in action in massive surf, respect where respect is due! Not long now and the first swells will be hitting Maui’s northshore.

Kai at Jaws last winter; he may be a featherweight sailor but he charges like a beast. I wonder what he’ll bring to the table this year? Picture (C) Jimmy Hepp 2009.

I also hear that there are plans for a Ho’okipa EpicSessions.tv JUMP OFF for October 2010 so check out their website which has all the video and results from the previous versions and watch this space for full coverage.

All Photos (C) Jimmy Hepp 2010. Please contact him if you would like to purchase any of the images from the event or would like for him to cover your event.

Aloha and thanks.

Chris Freeman rides for Hot Sails Maui and Black Project Fins.