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HAYATA ISHII: CHASING GIANTS

For six weeks, Japanese windsurfer Hayata Ishii set up camp Portugal, home to the most formidable big wave on the planet….Nazaré. Drawn by the challenge and mystique of this legendary big-wave arena, Ishii arrived with one clear goal: to windsurf one of the most respected and intimidating breaks in the world.

Photographer Mathieu Pelikan of Siam Images was there to witness it all and help Hayata achieve his dream. Together, Pelikan and Ishii recount the journey…from the idea of sailing Nazaré to the moment that ambition finally became reality.

Photos: Mathieu Pelikan / Siam Images

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Mathieu Pelikan “Back in November 2024, I’m driving back from Nazaré after a long day shooting in the water. Heavy rain, wipers at the highest speed are not efficient. I still have some visions from the day. Suddenly the phone rings, with a prefix +81, never seen that one before! A timid voice on the other side starts, “Hi my name is Hayata, I’ve seen videos of Thomas Traversa sailing at Nazaré and I’d like to do the same”. I first thought that it was one more guy willing to ride Nazaré but it would remain a project”. The conversation was quick, the aim was big.

Hayata Ishii. Japanese windsurfer, born in 2006, 65 kilos, humble on land, a shredder on the water had a clear vision, nothing else could change his state of mind, soon he will be riding Nazaré.

A year goes by and Hayata calls me back, “Mat, I’m ready, I’m coming in January, let’s make it happen”. Our conversation would not last longer than 1 or 2 min and he would always answer by “yes” or “ok”, no grey zone, no questions, Hayata is determined. I was really impressed, how is this guy not wandering, not asking more. Everything is very calm.

By the end of February, Hayata had witnessed six heavy Portuguese storms, the ones that destroyed many areas and let a lot of people without houses, surf got to be prohibited for a few weeks in Nazare. But Mother Nature brought us a forecast of the 28th of February, north wind 22 knots, 3.4m 335 degrees north swell and a tide pushing down towards the afternoon. “Mat, let’s go, I want you to water shoot, what else?”, a safety Jet ski, a spotter and here we are, Nazaré, Saturday 28th of Feb, sunny, wind blowing full north, no one out but one Japanese is about to rig.

After grabbing a local soup, a sandes de ovo (sandwich with eggs), making a safety plan, we are ready to go out. We will have Lourenço doing the safety, João driving me and the spotter, all eyes on Hayata. In this scenario, the aim is simple, coming back safely to the marina, having fun will be a bonus. Inflatable vests are on, VHF on the same Frequency, fuel tanks are full.

One man here is calmer than us, he hardly talks, he is focused. We put the skis in the water, we load the sled with the windsurf gear and here we are, heading to the lighthouse, the heart of Nazaré. Here you feel the elements, the sound of the wave on the cliff, the wind blowing through the rocks, the heavy foam, the fisherman nets, tourists on the lighthouse and the wind propellers going full blast. Here you could go back to the marina and just pretend that you went and check but… Here there is no but…Hayata is rigging 4.2, he looks at us and a few seconds later stands up on his Quatro board, shaped by Keith especially for Nazaré.

He had this planned, what could possibly go wrong. Hayata made the plan in his head a year ago, now the fun was just about to begin. We bring him up to the peak as the wind is as shy has him. Nazaré has many peaks, waves break left and right.

Surfing is already hard, now imagine windsurfing it… there are so many parameters to understand and sailing starboard tack towards a lighthouse on top of a massive cliff full of sharp rocks is not really common. But Hayata goes out, tacks, enters the line up, he feels the spot, does not go full kamikaze mode on the first wave. We made a deal to go crescendo, that’s what he does. Tension goes up as for 15 minutes he does not do much, I even thought that it was maybe a mistake to have prepared this set up but by the moment I start questioning myself I hear a “yahooo” from Lourenço and I see Hayata going on a bomb, a good bottom turn, a top turn a bit overpowered and he tacks next to us, smiling, calm, happy.

He came for that, the game was on. After the first wave, Hayata kept gaining confidence and scored a one-hour session. A few crashes made us thought that it was maybe the end of the session, but he always made it through, avoiding some big mamas, kicking out at the right moment.

Hayata was in his element, you could see he was having fun riding double mast waves in Nazare on his own. Times goes by and sun started going down, we had Hayata “complete” and no broken gear, we gave him an extra 5 minutes as we had to be at the marina by 17.45. He would have stayed longer, he would have hit some lips that’s for sure, but this time he played it wisely making some heavy bottom turns and classic cutbacks on some (not all) choppy waves. The reflections of the sunset on the lighthouse makes this moment really special, Hayata de-rigs, happy. He made it, as simple as his thought was in 2024.

Someday, your vision becomes reality!”

Well done mate…Arigato,

Mathieu

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HAYATA: “I first I went to Nazare because Thomas Traversa inspired me a lot and I was convinced that I could sail it after looking at maps, all the windy apps and bunch of videos.

I was there in Portugal almost a month and half. I sailed Nazare starboard tack and port tack both quite consistently. I’m not remembering how many exactly but over 15 sessions, with most of them are overhead high and side off.

I also sailed Supertubos which is the best barrel wave and the spot is incredible quality for windsurfing!

Nazare is very tough for windsurfing. Water is always moving so fast and that made me struggle on the inside with all strong currents. When you catch waves there’s big possibilities to caught by wave behind which can be like like mountains! Every session was full of adrenaline!

I saw a big clean barrel wave at Supertubos with side off conditions on my last day, but I forgot my mast base so I couldn’t go out.

I would love to charge there again whenever it happens! I would love to get it XXL and side to side off would be amazing!”