Killer Kanaha with Outrigger and a 30m kite - 12/07/03

The famous friday night phone call came and it was our buddy Don Montague. Don said we are going to Jacques in Paia to have some drinks and also talk about Saturday's kite canoe mission. We all met at the sushi bar at Jacques and the conversation lasted about two seconds due to the distraction of Jacques' supermodel waitresses and other ladies frolicking about under the full moon of Paia. Fun was had by all.

The next morning, w e all met at Kanaha Beach .
I had a stinging hang over. It was a perfect day for riding waves . I stumbled my way to the beach to go outrigger kiting with Don, Pete Siracusa, K laus Simmer, Yann Lauener, Mark Jackson. I looked out to the ocean to see 15 knots of w ind and 4 to 6 foot surf at Kanaha. Remember 4 to 6 foot Hawaiian surf is 8 to 12 foot faces. Just a couple of feet under mast high on a windsurfer.

Don had brought down with him a quiver of Naish kites, which he selected for the mission. The quiver consisted of a 16 m Boxer, 20 m V4 and a 30 V4 m.

We started with a Boxer 16. It was to small for the weather conditions. I wasn't giving us enough power to surf (in?) the waves. So we went in and rigged the 20m. The 20m gave us enough power to increase hull speed on the waves. We kited to the surf line to get an idea of the size fo the waves breaking. We were looking at very good sized surf . This day for me was the biggest and most consistant surf I have ever been in with the kite canoe. The kite canoe is such a new ocean experience in my life that when I am in the canoe my emotions are in high gear. Any change of ocean or wind conditions in the kite canoe is a totally new feeling. Your unsure, scared and curious. The curious part makes you want to push the limits.

With Pete steering and Don flying the kite out through the waves, that left K laus and myself to run ballast and bailing for the canoe. Team work has to be a priority at all times due to the unpredictable nature of kiting in waves. The margin of error in kite canoeing has a price to pay. You and your crew better have their act together to get back in the safe zone. We surfed some really fun waves on the inside to get our timing down. Then we decided to make a move for the outside. Don flying the 20m Naish V4 r kite was able to achieve good hull speed through the surf. Well, as things go in life. If there are small waves on the inside, what's on the outside? You got it. Big waves. So what do you get when you are going up a 12 foot face of a wave, flying a 20 meter kite in a 26 foot canoe and four guys holding on for dear life. At this point your guess is a good as mine.

What happened next was a mile stone in kite canoeing. As we came up the face of the wave, the kite filled and launched us out the back. When we were being launched out the back the kite lifted the canoe to the Heavens above. The bow was pointing at high noon and the stern at six o'clock . Then the slow motion zero gravity effect came into play. The canoe probably had a 5 foot seperation from the stern to the water. The jump was so perfect that we pogo sticked the stern and brought the canoe to a graceful landing. The vertical canoe arial has been born.

We looked at each other and couldn't believe what had just happened. We went outside the surf line, did a Don power jibe and surfed a wave in. On the wave we were attempting a off the lip and flipped the canoe. This is when team work and safety come together. Pete and K laus gathered the paddles and stayed away from the kite lines and canoe. Don had the kite flying at high noon. The problem was that he was not on the wave side of the flipped canoe, so he couldn't see any waves coming that could have smashed his face against the hull. To make things more clear, Don is on the outside of the hull holding the kite bar, so his head is right up against the hull. We had to react quickly and get the canoe upright. So we flipped the canoe over which made the kite drop into the surf. We were able to relaunch the kite and sail the canoe which was filled with water and get out of the danger and regroup on the inside to get the canoe dry.

Launch Two

This time Don rigged the 30m kite. So I watched the launch and away they went. They were surfing having a great time when all of a sudden the canoe huli (to flip) . Don Pete and Mark got the canoe back up but the surf was to big to go and pick up Yann, they kept circling waiting for a break in the waves to pick Yann up, the waves kept building and on the way out they had to jibe on the face of a wave because the wave was going to break, the white water caught mark and ripped him off the canoe, then It was just Don and Pete they were heading out side when a huge set came in. There were going up a 20 foot face and didn't have enough speed, when they were half way up it started to curl and break and they were forced to jump . Next thing I saw was the kite relaunch itself and I thought, good, they are going to sail into the inside. I was watching the kite and all of a sudden the kite is not connected to the canoe. I guessed the kite broke off the bridle. The next thing I saw was this guy body dragging with the kite. NO, he wasn't body dragging. He was bare foot water skiing. Don was being body dragged by the 30 m kite. He was now passing the kiteboarders on his way into Kite Beach . He got dragged for 1/2 mile full speed. I jumped in my car and drove on mile down the road to pick up Don. I get to Don and he is ok. Oh yea. Don didn't have a harness on. Meanwhile the canoe crew was out in the waves and paddling back in. I drove back with Don to meet the rest of the crew.

Thank God everybody was safe. Later on that evening at Camp Siracusa having a glass of red wine I find out it was Yann's first time out in the waves. Yann said he was very enlightened about the session. He said said he felt safe because Don was in the boat. I started to chuckle and tell him he should spend the winter on Maui and test pilot for him. He looked at me kind of confused. Yann went to explain that he felt relaxed when the waves were pushing him under water. He too told me he was out there swimming for a good 1/2 hour. I gave Yann high marks for keeping his cool in a dangerous situation. This is a team sport and we need team players with cool heads.

As we learn more about the wonderful sport of kiting in a outrigger canoe I realize that this sport has many more thrilling adventures in store for us.

Aloha,

Loch Eggers