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Back Lit - Kiting Mavz

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:03 pm
by Loscocco
Back Lit
from james donaldson
Jeff catchin' a few insiders at Mavericks on a stormy mid December afternoon. Not as big as his previous rides at Mavs in past years but a good little dust off the life vest session for him.

Cheers to Lagunitas Brewing Company
Send your big wave of 2012/2013 winter to Biggest Wave by Kite 2012/2013 on FB for a chance to win a thousand dollars. "If you caught it you got it"
Music Sunset by DJ T-Rock and Squashy Nice
Why Records
I shot this on my Sony with nice old Nikon 300mm and put the awesome ION Air Pro wifi on Jeff

https://vimeo.com/56919805[/video]

Re: Back Lit - Kiting Mavz

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 10:35 pm
by Bulldog
I do really want to kite Mavs and I am not being a hater at all, but...is the wave always such a huge mess on windy days? I was out that same day at a different spot on the coast, and the waves were just as big but much, much (much!) cleaner and the consequences of missing a turn much less gnarly.

Does it clean up better when there is more size, like on the days when the other good spots further south are closing out (25 ft. plus)?

Back Lit - Kiting Mavz

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 10:40 pm
by sc-surfer
Not to put to fine of a point on it, but was he actually 'surfing' mavs? Riding around in the lineup, sure. Hanging out in some gnar surf, sure. Stones the size of elephants, sure.
But... I can't really say I saw him ride a wave. He was down in the pit, off the shoulder, or in the trough. Gnarly enough for sure, but not really wave riding.
Not being a hater, just calling it as I see it from a surfers perspective.

Re: Back Lit - Kiting Mavz

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 8:16 am
by Aloha
I am in no place to critique someone from California's wave riding as my idea of an ideal day is chest high, crystal clear water and 80 degree weather

But basically what SC is asking is why exactly wasn't he on a gun and why exactly didn't he eject the kite once he caught the wave?

Kidding.. I think the risk of potential negative outcome factor was high enough already by the look of it. Big ups to Jeff for even being out there in the first place and great vid / production too Erin, all around awesome

Re: Back Lit - Kiting Mavz

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 9:07 am
by Sonny
There are some pictures of him riding much bigger waves than that at Mavericks couple of years ago. He used to surf there when he was sort of pro surfer so I think he is considered local by the surfers.

Re: Back Lit - Kiting Mavz

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 9:45 am
by yojimbo
The issue to me is how to capture what he is doing on video. Unless you have a massive telephoto lens on shore, you end up with a kite over the ocean, which is what we see here. It also looks like he has a gopro mounted on his wrist, to me a way more interesting shot, but still not great.

Unfortunately he doesn't have the video support he needs to capture what he is doing, so the video seems meh. Almost impossible to capture the reality of riding a big wave with a gopro, its just too close to the action-everything looks flat.

Back Lit - Kiting Mavz

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 10:19 am
by sc-surfer
Yojimbo,

True dat. Perspective is hard on waves that size. I'm not dissing his cajones. It's big out there. Would love to see some better video. Plenty of surf photogs out there with the correct equipment. Lets hope some better video is forthcoming.

Back Lit - Kiting Mavz

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 10:23 am
by sc-surfer
Aloha,

Na, small boards fine, and keep the kite. Just wanted to see him actually ride the face of the wave. watch the vid closely. Most of the time he's in the trough or on the shoulder. To call it surfing he needs to be on the face actually using wave energy to ride. Again, don't get me wrong, I'm not hatin' but just calling it like I see it.

Re: Back Lit - Kiting Mavz

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 11:22 am
by Aloha
I just don't think a small little kiteboard would be able to catch those waves - Except maybe with a drop very late in the wave phase, but then I'd be worried about the kite keeping up unless you're flying really really cooked

Re: Back Lit - Kiting Mavz

Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 1:18 pm
by OliverG
Aloha wrote: Big ups to Jeff for even being out there in the first place and great vid / production too Erin, all around awesome
'coco posted it, but the vid is from Jamy Donaldson who put out the Gust video not too long ago...