AWT Maui Makani Classic day 2

by Russ Farot / American Windsurfing Tour on 28 Oct 2012 Day two of the AWT Maui Makani Classic as presented by Neilpryde offered up some building swells with very light winds and the call was made to release the sailors for the day. This turned out to be a wise move as the swell grew considerably throughout the day with some massive sets rolling in by the end of the day.

Spectators were treated to a show of epic surfing and SUP from the competitors and other North shore surfers. The wind never filled in and the day ended with another stunning sunset over Ho'okipa beach park.

Rider Q&A: Miho Tanaka and Robby Swift

1. Name, age, category, nationality, years windsurfing
Miho Tanaka, 33, Women and Open divisions, Japan, 18years

2. Expectation- what you hope to get out of the event.
My expectation is to do as good as I can. I want to win but I know it is a big challenge and I also want to have a lot of fun!

3. Windsurfing hero at Hookipa
Keith Teboul!!!!

4. How many times have you ended up on the rocks? (Rock Star status)?
5 times.

5. Favorite no-wind activity on Maui?
Hang out at the beach in bikini.

6. Best airline to get your gear to Maui?
Not much choice, they all suck.

7. What’s your Halloween costume for the contest?
Purple bikini!

8. What are your dream Hookipa conditions?
I like it uncrowded, medium size waves, on my 3,6.

9. Who are your favorite friends to go sailing with?
My coach Fabrice Beaux and with the other AWT girls.

10. Favorite song to get you pumped before your heat?
Titaniun, David Guetta Feat. Sia Titanium??

1. Name, age, category, nationality, years windsurfing
Robby Swift, 28, British, 25 years windsurfing

2. Expectation- what do you hope to get out of the event?
I hope to pass as many heats as possible. I would like to win!! It will be hard but if I sail well, I think I have a chance.

3. Who is your Windsurfing hero at Hookipa?
Jason/Levi and more recently Brawzinho has become pretty amazing! (Please add Francisco Goya to the idols, I forgot him)

4. How many times have you ended up on the rocks?
About 5000. The rocks used to be my second home when I went to the Maui Ocean Academy

5. What’s your favorite no-wind activity on Maui?
Surfing!!!

6. What’s the best airline to get your gear to Maui?
None of them, they all suck. I hate travelling with gear.

7. What’s your Halloween costume for the contest?
I don’t have one. I don’t take part in pagan celebrations… hahaha. Only joking. But seriously, I don’t have one

8. What are your dream Hookipa conditions?
Hopefully what we will get tomorrow. Nice wind for 5.1/4.8 and mast high, perhaps a little more with a very northerly swell direction. Fingers crossed!

9. Who are your favorite friends to go sailing with?
Jason, Levi, Brawzinho, Ricardo, Kauli, Kai Lenny, KP, there are more, I am doing this really fast in between editing!!!

10. What’s your favorite song to get you pumped before your heat?
Um, I don’t know about songs. I just listen to Pandora. Turning into the car park at Ho’okipa gets me pumped if there are waves, every song gets me motivated when I see a good set.

Here are the opening round matchups:

Pro

Heat 1: Camille Juban, Josh Stone, Federico Infantino
Heat 2: Morgan Noireaux, Pascal Hardy, Andrea Franchini
Heat 3: Bernd Roediger, Nico Cailly, Francisco Prado, Boujmaa Guilloul
Heat 4: Fabrice Beaux, Andres Martinez, Laurent Guillemin, Nick Warmuth
Heat 5: Marcilio Browne, Diego Femenias, Jazz Glickenhaus, Samuel Perez
Heat 6: Francisco Goya, Kai Lenny, Takafumi Noguchi, Antoine Martin
Heat 7: Levi Siver, Leo Ray, Martin Esposito
Heat 8: Kevin Pritchard, Nick Dudet, Dean Christener, Jason Polakow
Heat 9: Nathan Mershon, Bryan Metcalf-Perez, Jehyug Jay Lee, Brian Talma
Heat 10: Russell Faurot, Zane Schweitzer, Robby Swift, Rudy Castorina
Heat 11: Kai Katchadourian, Levi Lenz, Aurelien Nicoul, Ferdinando Loffreda
Heat 12: Casey Hauser, Nat Gill, Griffin Freysinger, Francisco Porcella

Women

Heat 1: Fiona Wylde, Tiffany Ward, Kelly Moore-Coullahan
Heat 2: Ingrid Larouche, Andrea Gillum, Sarah Delaunay
Heat 3: Katie McAnena, Anne-Marie Reichman, Adele Frola, Caroline Hamel
Heat 4: Sam Bittner, Junko Nagoshi, Tamara Bockius
Heat 5: Miho Tanaka, Shawna Cropas, Olivia Piana
Heat 6: Tatiana Howard, Angela Cochran, Alizee Roy-Bergeron, Maria Andres

Amateur

Heat 1: Chris Freeman, Lele Allemand, Angela Cochran, Mads Ring
Heat 2: Jeff Albright, Ridge Lenny, Alec Stewart, Colin Baker
Heat 3: MacRae Wylde, Jamie Brown, Giovanni Jubert, Martin Bergeron
Heat 4: Fiona Wylde, Kieran Devanney, Alex Vargas, David Boulanger, Morgan Henderson
Heat 5: Darryl Barber, Miho Tanaka, Mike Greere, Giampaolo Cammarota, Dave Troup
Heat 6: Liam Grist, Jeff Henderson, Ko Kaneda, Maxi Decastro, Andrea Della Rosa
Heat 7: Casey Rehrer, Paul Karaolides, Dani Marti, Tom Garcia
Heat 8: Norm Roediger, Luis Martinez, Kimo Brown, Leopoldo Schneidewind
Heat 9: Tem Gronquist, Michele Salvatore, Caroline Hamel, Lenny Moody, Franklin Mieses
Heat 10: Katie McAnena, Arnout Ter Schure, Niels Van Wessem, Jim Knoch, Guido Hagamann
Heat 11: Harley Stone, Filip Krystl, Emilio Galindo Barquin, Osamu Kubota, Lirah Machlev
Heat 12: Tom Juban, Glenn Haslbeck, Neil Turpin, Rob Funk, Sven Zedlick

Masters/Grand Masters

Heat 1: MacRae Wylde, Jeff Henderson, Rob Funk
Heat 2: Brian Caserio, Colin Baker, Tom Garcia,
Heat 3: Brian Talma, David Boulanger, Sven Zedlick, Angela Cochran
Heat 4: Jeff Albright, Giampaolo Cammarota, Roberto Festa
Heat 5: Mike Colee, Martin Bergeron, Patrick Cunningham, Dan Mershon
Heat 6: Yoshiharu Hasumi, Jamie Brown, Joe Ray, Yasuhito Ogasawara

Youth

Heat 1: Fiona Wylde, Ridge Lenny, Alex Vargas
Heat 2: Harley Stone, Tom Juban, Kimo Brown
Heat 3: Casey Rehrer, Colter Carson, Alizee American Windsurfing Tour website