ROBBY SWIFT
The days and nights before a Jaws session what are you doing?
RS – I get very excited and make sure all my boards, sails, mast feet are in great condition. I make sure fins are tight, foot strap screws are tight. Then it is usually a mad dash calling photographers and boat drivers to try to line up safety and images, there is nothing worse than being unprepared for a day like that. On the second day, when I surfed, I didn’t organise anyone to shoot, just assumed that there would be pics and as it turns out, everyone I knew was shooting the right while the waves I caught were all going left, so I haven’t even been able to find a decent shot of me surfing yet!! Of course with windsurfing there are a lot less people out so you have more chance of getting good shots, but it’s such a special occurrence that you really don’t want to miss a thing! Then, once everything is prepared, the waiting starts and that’s almost the worst part. I prepared all my food and drinks to take up there and had a nice dinner with my wife Heidy, mum and dad. They are of course a bit scared about it, probably more than me as there isn’t really any excitement for them, just bad possibilities! Sleeping was difficult, especially as I had it in my mind that I wanted to paddle if the wind was light. Sailing is fine, I have done it dozens of times but I had never caught a wave paddling in and I wasn’t sure if I would even be able to do it. I just kept drifting off thinking about massive waves and then waking up suddenly, all sweaty!
You and Jason have done more than a few missions together – what’s it like being around Jason in a big swell?
RS – Jason is great. He get’s everything ready even more thoroughly than me, at least as far as photographers/videographers is concerned!! The jet ski is normally set up semi-perfectly and we have so much fun together that just seeing each other in the morning starts the nervous butterfly, needing a poo feelings. We were like little kids getting the stuff on the ski down at the boat ramp and he is as excited as me driving up there, even after over 20 years of doing it, so it’s a really great experience to go up there with him. Unfortunately, he always seems to try to find some way of trying to scare you when you get there or are on the way there. This day was no exception. We arrived with everything perfectly tied onto the ski still and he just drove straight into the middle of the lineup to see how close he could get to the breaking wave without actually going over the falls. Keep in mind that it was about 15-20 foot Hawaiian out there (40 foot plus faces) and we had all the gear strapped onto the sled so we weren’t very manoeuvrable. We narrowly escaped getting sucked over the falls on the jet ski and, surprise surprise, his mast fell out of the equipment pack on the sled, never to be seen again! Luckily for him, I had packed a spare of everything on Keith Baxter’s boat so we were still able to sail. I did mention to him that his little extra adventure was a bit unnecessary.
You have some special Jaws guns – can you talk us through how they differ to your normal boards and how you setup your equipment for bigger waves?
RS – My Jaws board is just a stretched out version of the 87 Radical Quad that will be available next year. I only use production boards now at Ho’okipa and on the PWA. The boards are really great and all we did for the Jaws version was stretch it 4 inches longer and 1 inch narrower. The rocker is the same, the tail looks quite a lot narrower due to the stretched out outline but it is very much the same board. It works amazingly. I had tried it once at Ho’okipa and I knew I loved it. Lucky as my first wave was the gnarliest, steepest, heaviest drop I have ever taken and one of the best rushes I have ever experienced on a windsurfer! If I wasn’t comfortable on my gear, I would never have gone for that drop! I use the same fins as usual, I put the mast foot about 1cm further forward than normal and I put my front footstraps one hole further forward too. That’s it, everything else stays the same!
You and Jason engage serious rail at Jaws – what are your technique tips for bigger waves?
RS – You just have to believe in your gear, it’s actually easier than on smaller waves in my opinion as you have more wall to work with. You have to go late as the power of the wave sucks all the chop out of the trough. If you go early, you get the chop from the channel and it is way scarier, way more likely to make you bounce out. If you wait till it’s steep and critical, then you know the flats of the wave will be glassy so you can really push on your rail. It’s an amazing feeling to just push so hard with all that speed, and it makes you feel way comfier to go for it than to just lean the sail over gently. If you engage properly, everything feels locked in and solid.