For every great gybe, jump or reach comes the inevitable crash, splash and fail. At Pe’ahi / Jaws in Maui the stakes are high and navigating the thin line between the ride or wipeout of your life is a mix of adrenaline, fear and extreme skill. Antoine Martin and Marcilio “Brawzinho” Browne tell how they manage the challenge as they recount a session from the beginning of the 2016/17 winter in Maui.
BACKGROUND The winter of 2015/16 in Hawaii was hailed as one of the best ever seasons for waves as a ‘super El Nino’ event took hold of the Pacific ocean producing back to back xxl swells. The winter of 2016/17 so far in Hawaii has been characterized by ‘La Nina’, which frequently but not always, occurs after an El Nino event. The two events represent opposite oceanic patterns: El Nino by a warming sea surface temperature and La Nina by a cooling one. The strongest El Nino event in the past two decades occurred last winter and contributed to the busiest Central Pacific hurricane season on record and huge swells, as well as an abnormally dry winter in Hawaii. The 2016/17 ‘La Nina’ event has seen less frequent big swells in Maui for their winter so far, but at the start of November Antoine Martin and Marcilio Browne were two of a group of sailors who lucked into an early start to the big wave Maui sailing season at Pe’ahi / Jaws and here tell their tales of risk and reward, pleasure and pain! ANTOINE MARTIN This wipeout was very different to the last big one I had at Jaws. I went up to Pe’ahi super confident this day. This is not my first time up there so I was not scared. So far I have not made any aerials so this time my plan was to try to hit the lip! After my first two waves I was getting frustrated. The aerial was all that was on my mind. That was my goal! My third wave was one of the biggest of the session. As I wanted to do an aerial I went deep to be sure I was in the right position to hit the west bowl.
I wanted the aerial to be a real one at Jaws, not just a jump at the end of the wave, but I was too late and had no choice but to go straight and do the same as the last wipe out I had there. Once I let go of the equipment the wave took me straight to the bottom! I hit the reef, was dragged and then got stuck in a cave inside the reef for about a second. I had to push and swim my way out because my legs were stuck in the cave. I was worried that by the time I hit the surface another set would already be right on me. I decided to swim for the surface rather than stay down to miss the next set on the head. When I hit the surface I just had enough time to take one breath and took the next wave on the head. I was rolled around again but I made it up to the surface and the jet-ski was there to grab me. My gear was destroyed and I went back to the channel to join all the other guys on the skis. I felt weird because I could not hear anything. I think from top to the bottom it is fifteen to twenty feet of water. I did not have time to equalize during the wipe-out so I think my ears just blew! I could not hear anything for at least ten minutes. My head was painful, so I just stayed on the ski and watched the guys sailing. I stayed for about twenty minutes and then went back on the ski to Maliko Gulch where we launch. I was surprised to get so pounded on such a relatively ‘small’ day. The locals told me when it is ‘small’ the bowl is still very heavy and it can actually push you further down. I still want to go back there and try again to hit an aerial! I really want to do this! I am trying to learn from my mistakes and learn from my two previous experiences!
MARCILIO “BRAWZINHO” BROWNE Even when they call it a ‘small’ day at Jaws, that place is never to be underestimated. Pe’ahi also has a different power and speed if you compare it to a place like Ho’okipa and if you get it wrong there even on a smaller day it will pound you for sure. Jaws is never easy to score! Whenever there is a chance of sailing there I always like to give it a try as you just never know what might pop up, even if a forecast is not that promising. If you are persistent enough and stay there for a while you might surprise yourself with the outcome, even on the ‘bad days’.
When we arrived it was really choppy and almost reminded me of the North Sea! My first wave was way better than expected so it caught me a bit off guard. I was on a 4.7, just about planing outside but once I dropped in I was definitely overpowered on the wave. I mistimed my hit slightly and went a bit too early but it was barrelling and perfect! After that I caught nothing else until my final wipe out!
Towards the end of my session I had been sailing for many hours but not really scoring anything decent at all. Most of the rides were just a bottom turn and then no more wall afterwards. I thought to myself that I would commit to hitting the lip no matter what on my next wave! That was a big mistake! I think I was just impatient and frustrated but just went up and hit a lip that was already breaking down on top of me. I wanted to air the section but the chop slowed me down and I arrived way too late. I was immediately back-winded and luckily made it out of the straps just in time. I landed pretty hard on my back and ended up with whiplash and twisted my neck as a consequence! My gear survived as I was lucky with a big offshore gust which threw my kit up to the sky and it ended up in the channel. So in the same day I had two waves, both at extreme ends of the scale, one with a beautiful clean wall and a big air drop and the other choppy and ugly with a real painful wipe out. In the end the effort was worth it!
