Jake Proof

The new mast mount is "Jake Proof". Its also "Dave proof", but trust me, my stress testing isn't half the G loading of Jake's. ;-)

Baja bound

EpicSessions.tv is excited to announce that we'll be livecasting the 2011 Lord Of The Wind Showdown Kitesurfing/Windsurfing event January 12-16. Held in beautiful Los Barriles, Mexico, this dual sport event has over $19,000 in cash and prizes.

Ready to go!

Check out our exclusive interview with Mark Angulo as he sits down with EpicSessions.tv and discusses his recent clew first 360, the history behind the move, and a little insight into what's next.

First Epic Winter Maui Swell

EpicSessions.tv captures the first massive swell of the 2010/2011 winter season on Maui. Also - we'll be posting an exclusive sit down with Mark Angulo soon, so stay tuned!

Gorge Jump Off Results and video!

Alright, here's the video and results from the Gorge Jump Off. Thanks to all the competitors for their awesome job, especially Nick Allen who is sidelined with his ankle. Thanks to Casey and the crew from Shadowbox, Bill and the crew from Dakine, Waucoma Club and our very own video guru, Jake Miller who slaved for countless hours putting all the awesome video together.

Men
Biggest Backloop- Bryan Metcalf-Perez 32.7ft
Biggest Forward- Whit Poor 16.4ft
Biggest Shove It- Bryan Metcalf Perez 19.6ft
Hardest Impact- Nick Allen 18.8 G's
Biggest Stock Air- Whit Poor 29.9ft
Biggest Shaka- Bryan Metcalf-Perez 10.4ft
Biggest Pushloop- Whit Poor 23.6ft
Biggest Double Forward- Nathan Mershon 16.6ft
Fastest Spin Rate- Whit Poor 587 deg/s

Women
Biggest Invert- Temira Wagonfeld 16.6ft
Biggest Stock Air- Ingrid Larouche 14.2
I'd write more but we're all headed to the Hatch to sail. ;-)

Jump Off Viewers Choice Winners!

First we'd like to thank everyone for voting in the Viewers Choice awards. When the voting closed, we clicked on the "random winner" button, and the online winner of the GoPro HD Wide camera is Sierra from Maui! Congratulations Sierra!



Congrats to the Poor brothers for their sweep of the EpicSessions.tv Viewers Choice Awards from the 2010 Gorge Team Jump Off! Whit Poor claimed the prize for the viewers choice Best Crash award with his massive air which he rode all the way down to destruction at the Wall. Best tweaked air goes to Tyson Poor with his super stylish push loop.

For your viewing pleasure, here are their jumps in full HD.

Tyson



Whit

Jump Off Viewers Choice Awards!

With all the amazing action from the Jump Off contest, we thought we'd take a little departure from the cold hard measurements of the Shadowboxes and get the viewing audience involved with a viewer choice award for the best crash and the most tweaked jump.

We combed through all the video and selected four videos for each category and want you to vote for the best in each. We'll award the winners at the Jump Off awards party Saturday night at the Waucoma Club and you too can win! With voting, you'll be entered to win a GoPro HD Wide camera from EpicSessions.tv!

So, go clicky clicky and vote right now! Voting closes at 7pm PST Saturday July 10.

Gorge Jump Off video update

We've had killer conditions for the Gorge Jump Off the past 10 days including an amazing 3.3 day at The Wall. Mother Nature gave all she had and took a rest on the final day with light easterlies and blazing temps.

The EpicSessions.tv and Shadowbox crew are busy cranking through the hours and hours of video and Shadowbox ride data, so the break in the wind comes at a great time for us! The awards party is this Saturday night at the new Waucoma Club (formerly River City) starting at 8:30pm. If you can't make it, we'll be posting the entire video online after the party, but until then, here's the last video update to keep you occupied until we release the results.

Be sure to check back here tomorrow (Friday) as we're going to give everyone online the chance to vote for the best crash and most tweaked move. You're votes count as we'll be awarding prizes based on your votes and also, everyone who votes online is automatically entered in our drawing to win a GoPro HD Wide camera!

Jump Off Video Update

We had almost 400 people at Arlington watching the Jump Off competitors tear it up in their evening session yesterday! Actually there were only a handful of people actually there watching, the other 346 were tuning in to the livecast on EpicSessions.tv from around the globe.

After a bit of waiting, a few false starts and a fickle wind, our Jump Off competitors were able to get a decent session yesterday evening. Special thanks to our livecast viewers for their patience as we all waited for the wind to cooperate. (especially the folks from Europe!)



There are seven days left for our competitors to rack up more jumps before they turn in all they're backpacks. Then we'll all hook up at the awards party on July 10 at the Waucoma Club.

ALERT! EpicSessions.tv Gorge Webcast

UPDATE - Webcast from Arlington today at 3pm PST. Click here to tune in!


Conditions are setting up for a big day tomorrow (Tuesday) in the Gorge and the EpicSessions.tv crew will be headed east from Hood River to chase down the wind and webcast some of the insane action for ya! Tune in to EpicSessions.tv on Tuesday - we'll be announcing the location and time for the webcast here, on our Facebook page and also on EpicSessions.tv.

We're just kicking off the Team Edition of the EpicSessions/Shadowbox Jump Off series today and the Gorge will be delivering awesome conditions today in the corridor (Swell/Hatch) for the teams. Check out Temira's forecasts to get the daily Gorge forecast low-down!

What is the Team Edition Jump Off you ask? Take our same simple formula of highest jumps, but throw in TEN metrics instead of two and pair 12 awesome sailors into six teams of two. We give them each a backpack full of all the gear needed to record their sessions and give them 10 days to go and rack up the biggest and baddest jumps, crashes and antics. Then we'll all meet on the evening of July 10 at the Waukoma Club (the old River City) and party like rockstars as we award the teams based on the ten metrics, and also team combined awards. We'll also be webcasting the party and having some viewer choice awards so you can participate with the crowd at the party in voting for the sickest moves!

Still not sure? Just watch Casey and Jake explain it all.

Pistol River Jump Off Results and Video!

Wow, what a place! Amazing conditions, beautiful scenery and friendly people. What more could you ask for in a remote windsurfing destination? Pistol River, located just south of Gold Beach, Oregon is a truly awesome location for the die hard wavesailor who doesn't mind going down the line on a 3.2. Yes, it really cranks in Pistol. ;-)

We held the Pistol River Jump Off in conjunction with the Pistol River Wave Bash from June 17-20, and once the final between Kevin and Francisco was over, we released the first heat of Jump Off riders after quickly putting Shadowboxes and GoPro's on Keith and Francisco's gear. (someone likened us to a NASCAR pit crew with the equipment swaps between riders)


We did two 20 minute heats of 7 riders per heat and took the highest stock and inverted air jumps from those heats to determine the winner after confirming that the rider sailed away from the jump(s) in order for those jumps to count.

Its interesting to note that in the Hookipa event, the stock airs were higher than the backloops, but in this event, the inverts were higher than the stock airs. Take note competitors of future jump offs - good strategy will be needed to hit the highest airs!

Special thanks to Richard Hallman for his awesome photography, and the Oregon Surf Shop for the Jet Ski and driver for Richard.

Tyson Poor takes the top Jump Off spot with his 30.8 foot backloop. UK sailing sensation Timo Mullen was sticking everything he tossed and jumped into second place and beat out the amazing style of Francisco Goya by only 5 inches!




2010 EpicSessions.tv/Shadowbox Pistol River Jump Off Official Results

INVERT JUMPS

1) Tyson Poor- 30.8ft

2) Timo Mullen- 28.5ft

3) Francisco Goya- 28 ft

4) Nathan Mershon- 27.8ft

5) Kevin Pritchard- 27.5 ft

6) Whit Poor- 27.3ft

7) Jesse Brown- 24.8 ft (Pushloop)

8) Kevin McGillivray- 21.7ft (Pushloop)

9) Russ Faurot- 21.1ft

10) Zane Schweitzer- 20.3 ft (Pushloop)

11) Skyler- 19.9 (Cheese Roll)

12) Sven Esslinger- 19.4 ft

13) Diego- 11.8ft (Forward)

STRAIGHT AIR JUMPS (Stock Air)

1) Tyson- 26.3

2) Timo- 25

3) Kevin Pritchard- 24.3

4) Kev Mc- 20.9

5) Jesse Brown- 19.6

6) Nathan- 17.8

6) Russ- 17.8

8) Whit- 17.6

9) Sven- 17.4

10) Skyler- 17.1

11) Cisco- 15.2

The Jump Off contests are a collaboration between EpicSessions.tv and Shadowbox. On the EpicSessions.tv team you've got myself and Jake Miller. On the Shadowbox side there's Casey Hauser. We're in the Gorge this summer and getting ready to launch the Jump Off Team Edition which will run from June 28-July 7. After the event, we'll be throwing a do-not-miss awards party on the evening of July 10. There will also be more individual Jump Off events this summer, so stay tuned here, on our Facebook Page (search for EpicSessions) or on EpicSessions.tv. Want to see how high YOU can go? Visit Shadowbox and order your own Shadowbox today!

The Pistol River EpicSessions/Shadowbox Jump Off

Date : June 18-20 in conjunction with the Pistol River Wave Bash

Registration : Online registration is closed, on-site registration will be daily at the EpicSessions.tv vehicle (its got logos on it so you won't miss it) in the Pistol River parking lot. Entrance fees are $25 per rider, payable in cash only. (same for the bribes)

Classes : Men, Women. (Minimum 3 riders to create a class.)

Schedule : Elimination heats will run with 5 riders, with the rider with the highest jumping metrics moving on to the next round. First heats will be on Friday, weather permitting.

Metrics - (1) Highest back loop (landed), (2) highest forward loop (landed) and highest stock air (landed). Determination of landing for jump qualification will be done by the Shadowbox/EpicSessions.tv on site staff. (so keep your bribes handy!) Women's class will consist of highest stock air only.

When in the gorge...

...you need to check out Temira's forecasts. She's got a sixth sense when it comes to wind, and when there's no wind, she's got 20+ other things you can do while your windsurfing gear dries out on a windless day.

If you happen across Temira while out sailing, she's easy to spot with her custom painted helmet, super stoked smile and her Hot sails are usually in some sort of contorted attitude of re-entry.

Her website, TheGorgeIsMyGym is a great guide for all things to do, see, stay and eat while you're in the Gorge. We'll be working with Temira on integrating her forecasts into the EpicSessions/Shadowbox Gorge Jump Off website so you'll know where to go and also we'll be keeping track of the teams daily as to where they're sailing. (unless they hit some super secret spot, then we'll put them into stealth mode).

Thanks to Temira, you have no more excuses to be well rested.

2010 Jump Off Series announcement

Hey folks, we're pleased to announce the 2010 EpicSessions.tv/Shadowbox Jump Off Series!

The format is simple, the action is insane and the parties are epic. (what more do you need?)


The first mainland event will be held in conjunction with the Pistol River Wave Bash June 17-20 at Gold Beach. Competitors will compete in elimination heats for three measured metrics, 1) highest stock air, 2) highest forward loop and 3) highest backloop. Jumps must be landed to count.


The second event will be held in the Gorge between June 28 to July 7. This is a Team Edition event with six teams of two riders getting the biggest and sickest air based on 10 metrics over the ten day even with the awards party on July 10th. Each team will have a backpack with Shadowbox units, GoPro cameras, HD video cameras and all the supporting gear needed to record their epic sessions over the ten days.

Award Metrics

1.	Highest Jump (vertical)	$100
2.	Longest Jump (horizontal)	$100
3.	Highest Forward	$100
4.	Highest Backloop	$100
5.	Highest push loop	$100
6.	Highest shoveit	$100
7.	Fastest rotation - push or forward	$100
8.	Fastest double loop	$100
9.	Highest Shaka	$100
10.	Highest G loading impact	$100

Best of all, you'll be able to follow the teams on the EpicSessions.tv website with daily updates, sms alerts and live video from the action as it happens on select (ie., totally sick) days. The event party on July 10th is the party of the summer with sick video, tunes and entertainment.

The third Jump Off is for August in the SF Bay Area, followed by Sylt in September and then our second Maui Jump Off event in October. So stay tuned!

You can register for the events on the EpicSessions.tv website in the short term until the new website is ready. We're all stoked to see everyone at Pistol in two weeks!!

Jump-Off extended video and upcoming announcement!

Here's the extended Jump Off video. Lots of killer new GoPro video in there that really lets you get an on-board feel for the heights the guys were getting.



Everyone loves our new contest format, and we're excited to announce the 2010 contest schedule later this week, so stay tuned!

How high can you go?

It was a simple idea - how high can you go? Ok, that was too easy, so it turned into "How high can you go and land a backloop?" With all of the riders equipped with cameras from us at EpicSessions.tv and Shadowboxes, and cameras on the beach, we'd record the contest like no other in windsurfing history and award the winners based on REAL height data from the Shadowboxes.

Mother nature was pleased with the concept as she delivered some of the most insane winds and waves to combine into an epic jumping ground for the event.

Levi went 52.7 feet with the winning backloop and Boujmaa boosted to 62.3 feet for the highest overall jump. SWEEET!

Expect to see more events like this soon from the best windsurfing spots in the world!



Special thanks to Casey and Jake for pulling this off while I was stuck in Wisconsin. You guys rock!

Spring cleaning sale!

Hey folks, wanna score some great gear cheap? I'm cleaning out the garage and I've got some great gear for sale. I'll list out the gear here, and photos (click for hi-res) are below.

2009 Goya Wave3D quiver 4.7, 5.0, 5.3, 5.7, 6.2, 6.8 - All the same color (pictured here)
$200 each, or $1000 for the entire quiver. All in excellent condition! (4.7, 5.3, and 6.8 are SOLD)

KA Kult Sails Quiver - 4.7, 5.3, 5.8, 6.4, 7.0 - all orange. $150 each or $650 for the whole quiver! All in excellent condition! (ALL SOLD!)

RRD TwinTip 110 Freestyle board - fin, straps $500 (excellent condition)

RRD Freestyle Wave 86 - fin, straps $500 (used, but great condition)

RRD WaveTwin 99 - fins, straps $750 (excellent condition) SOLD!

RRD X-Fire 98 Slalom board - Fin, straps $750 (new condition)

RRD X-Fire 75 Speed trials board - Fin, straps - $800 (new condition)

Email me if you are interested. dtroup at epicsessions dot tv



From left to right - WaveTwin99, TwinTip110 and FSW 86
Ka Kult's

RRD speed trials boards. 75 on the left, 98 on the right. 45.84mph on one of them. Which one?
Wave3D on the TwinTip 110
Wave3D and TwinTip 110
WaveTwin 99
Shaka! LOL

Webcast archives

If you missed the webcasts from Jaws and Hookipa last week, we're putting up the archive videos for you to view. So, kick back, get some popcorn and enjoy the action!

Note - these files are LONG and unedited. You're looking at the EXACT frame rate and resolution that we broadcasted in. We'll get to editing the hours and hours of raw high res video down to a highlight reel, but until then, enjoy the archives!

CLICK HERE FOR THE ARCHIVES! Check back often as we're in the middle of uploading them - and we've got 6+ hours of archives being uploaded.

Ride Like The Wind

Some video from Hookipa, boom mounted GoPro video on Jake, Whit and myself plus some Kuau action from Russ.

Monochromatic fun

I know neon is all the rage, but I gotta say, this monochromatic setup I rode my first day was a sweet setup for light winds and a growing swell.

First, the rig. Since its introduction, I've been a fan of the Goya Eclipse. Levi's signature sail offers amazing low end power, fingertip handling yet you can tune it down in when the wind fills in. Lots of sails claim low end power with high end handling, but the Eclipse delivers. Compared to my Goya Wave3D's, the Eclipse has the power and handling of the W3D's, but with the added softness of the Guru's. Jason has created one of the best sails I've ever ridden, hands down. (gee, ya think I'm impressed?) Rumor is that the 2011 version will be lighter and more responsive.

I picked the 92 liter Quatro Wave for its float, but also its longer rail line for the larger swell that was inbound. You'd be hard pressed to find a better big wave, light air board out there. This board drives the line with power and control, but you don't get this performance without a compromise somewhere. And that somewhere is speed. Its like driving a truck in 4W low. Its powers up, and then stops accelerating. This board ins't made for jumping and planing upwind, its made for pure down the line wave performance. Period. Typical of Keith's boards, its very well balanced to give the rider amazing turns on the lip with the power to get in and out of deep wave sections with confidence. It doesn't quite have the snappiness of pocket power of the quad, but it offers big wave turns that quads have difficulties with. Interesting to note, that with its slow board speed, it loads the rig up with the unused power. This has an interesting side effect in that you can run with a smaller sail than you'd think giving you better handling on the wave with the smaller sail. A sweet design outcome indeed!

One wave : Kuau

Sometimes, all you need is one wave. Sometimes, all you get is one wave.

And then you have to take what you get. (including the swim into the cove)

Jaws Webcast success!

I'd like to thank everyone for not only tuning in to the 4 hour webcast today, but also for your patience as we dealt messed with settings, etc. in order to make the webcast viewing as smooth and high resolution as possible. From what we can tell, this was the first ever webcast from Jaws, and its not gonna be the last!

We had viewers from around the globe from the UK, France, mainland US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. All tallied - we had visitors from 51 countries for the webcast! (I think I saw that Alex had the stream on the projector in his Astronomy class of 300 students. Thanks Alex!)

Special thanks to the data center guys (Mark and Mike) for keeping everything running.

And super special thanks to our EpicSessions camera operator (pictured here), and professional sailor Jake Miller. Not only does he look good on camera, he is amazing behind the eyepiece as well.

We're working on the next webcast which looks like Thursday as the trades return to the north shore and the swell will still be pumping.

Mahalo!

Jaws Webcast - ITS A GO!

Hey folks - the NWS is forecasting that..."Surf along north facing shores will rise to 20 to 28 feet tonight and Tuesday."... and we're all loaded up and ready to hit the bluff early tomorrow morning. After a late night Walmart run for some last minute odds and ends, we're all loaded up and ready to go. Some of the locals have been checking in with us, and we should have a good crew for tomorrow's webcast. Not quite true epic Jaws conditions by their standards, but I'm sure we'll get some killer rides for our worldwide viewing audience.

We'll be doing some video testing in the early morning (HST time) and we'd like some feedback on the quality of the webcast that you're seeing not only for our tweaking on the VERY remote bluff at Peahi, but also for our intrepid data center operations team who will be minding the video clusters back on the mainland.

If you are on the island, we'd love to have you stop by and say hi to the crew tomorrow.

And we'd like to give a special shout out to Troy and Cindy at Spreckshouse for our awesome accommodations while we're on the north shore. You can save 10% off of your Maui bookings just by telling Cindy you found Spreckshouse on EpicSessions!

We'll see you'all on the webcast chat tomorrow!

Jaws webcast update

The EpicSessions.tv crew will be on the bluff at Peahi early on Tuesday morning. The swell should be fading throughout the day with the best sets before noon HST. We should begin broadcasting around 8am HST, though you should check back often in case we start early with good lighting and surf conditions.

There is another swell event for later in the week, peaking on Friday that has the potential to be larger than Tuesday's event. Stay tuned as the forecast firms up later in the week for this one.

On Thursday, we'll be webcasting live from Hookipa and Lanes for some epic windsurfing action and possibly from kite beach earlier in the day. Let us know in the comments box below and be sure to join our page on Facebook!

Alert Status!!

Theres a massive swell inbound for the Hawaiian Islands for early next week, and if the forecast holds, Jaws could fire on Tuesday. If that happens, we'll be livecasting from the bluff at Peahi in the first ever live webcast of a major swell event at Jaws.

The webcast will be at EpicSessions.tv, and more information will be posted here and there as we get closer to the event.

UPDATE! There's a second, bigger wave event now on the forecast for later next week! And the trades will be back as well so there's some AMAZING potential for truly epic conditions. STAY TUNED!

Some of the cameras and gear needed for the webcast....

Destination known

Four letters...

Mahi burgers.

Awesome surf.

Unlimited options.

Incredible adventure.

What more can you ask for?

Destination unknown

I was very surprised this morning to discover that the opening spread for the high wind board tests in the newly redesigned Windsurfing Magazine is a shot of me!

Funny thing - since the day that shot was take in October, I've only sailed once. How pathetic. I should be stoked about the shot, and I am, but the harsh reminder of my lack of TOW (time on water) is kinda depressing.

Time to start searching for tickets - destination? Perhaps something a little more off the beaten path is in order. Hmmmmm....

Any suggestions?

ps - you can get a free trial issue of Windsurfing Magazine here.

pps - just found out my wife knew about this for weeks. Damn you Josh! LOL

No posts

We're iced in here. Looking to escape to Maui in a few weeks.

Need. To. Sail.

Need. To. Surf.