HO'OKIPA CHRONICLES

John Carter travelled to Maui back in April and looks back on the most spectacular selection of photos from a shoot when Ho'okipa was firing on all cylinders.

- John Carter

LOOKING BACK

Right through the 90's until 2020, when COVID changed the world, I was lucky enough to spend plenty of time in Maui during photoshoot season in the spring. Every year, most of the brands would congregate in Hawaii, and Ho'okipa was often very crowded for all the wave shoots on the big days. People would often refer to the whole scene as the Ho'okipa circus with helicopters and drones whirring above, four or five photographers in the water and an army of big lenses on the hill documenting the action. There were so many memorable moments back in those days and Ho'okipa really did feel like the epicentre of the windsurfing world. Many sailors lost or gained their reputations as they carved their signature turns on the canvas at Ho'okipa. During the shoots it was often about going big to score the shots to stand out from the crowd, so it truly was as Hawaiian's used to say, 'Go big or go home!'.

After the pandemic, several brands put the brakes on the expensive photoshoots in Maui and looked to adapt with the times and head elsewhere. Having spent up to a month in Hawaii during April for over twenty years, all of a sudden those trips to Maui were pretty much erased from my calendar. I was lucky enough to spend a week out there to go and shoot the Aloha Classic last year, but that was self-funded, while it was also my first visit to Hawaii in four years. Local brands like Goya and Naish, of course continue to shoot in Maui, but it seems like the days of the Ho'okipa circus are well and truly over- or for the time being at least.

GREEN LIGHT