Victor Fernandez, Klaas Voget. Adam Lewis and Allesio Stillrich are all going off for the camera with Fernandez leading the charge with some huge aerials over frothing avalanches of white water. When I change memory card I have to grip like a vice in fear of dropping a full one in the water below! Now that would be painful. Lots of decisions have to be made when you are flying around, like which rider to choose when the best sets roll in and guiding the pilot to line up for the perfect shot.
2.30pm: With business taken care off, the likes of Keith Taboul, Robby Naish and Francisco Goya all roll up for the afternoon session. Naish trundles into the car park in his ridiculous Ford F650 which easily takes up a couple of regular cars parking spots. Luckily the thing is jacked up so high Robby Is able to park over the top of some boulders on the slope where no other car is able to manoeuvre. At 51 Robby is still ripping just as hard as ever and only a fool would even consider dropping in on the King, so he still gets his fair share of waves! Taboul and Goya are both hard core sailors who still have to work nine ‘til five but on the special days there is always a space blanked out in the diary for them to score a few hours on the water.
2.45pm: Midway through the heli’ shoot and the sets are pumping in and the wind is solid although it is kind of choppy and not that perfect glassy Ho’okipa. As well as the North and Fanatic guys on the water, the likes of Philip Koester, Keith Taboul, Ben Proffitt and Boujmaa Guilloul are all ripping. It is one of those days where there are cameras clicking from every possible angle, land, helicopter, water and even Ricardo’s drone!
3.15pm: Down below I clock Boujmaa fly into a huge stalled forward loop, and even from the air, which tends to make jumps look lower, he seemed to go up and up like a bird. The guys from xsensr actually had a sensor on his board at the time and the height above sea level was clocked at 43 feet! That’s not bad but a few years ago Levi nailed a 52 feet back loop at the shadow box jump off while Boujmaa stuck an enormous sixty two feet straight air.
“ Ho’okipa may be overcrowded and a tough break to conquer but nobody will ever argue that it does not deliver the goods ”