im curious to know how everyone feels on the subject of jaws.i used to be amazed when i saw footage of guys towing 75ft waves and taking some of the brutalist wipeouts ever.now that game is dead and its all about paddling.i think its only a matter of time before maui becomes the new north shore.theres been a lot of people surfing jaws for decades,but now you only hear about a small group of chargers.to me i think its like a fairy tale.i can only compare paddling jaws to doing bmx jumps into foam pits.first of,jaws breaks on the reef.there are no clean up sets,no rouges catching the jetskis and boats in the channels.guys like shane and ian walsh used to paddle in from the rocks.now u see folks jumping out of boats,paddling for 2 minutes and there in the lineup.i call that cheating.2nd,inflatable wetsuits.u take a fall,pull a cord and u gently float to the top.i have so much respect for guys like shane dorian,ian walsh,kai barger,dege o connel,albee and matt,and the 100 other guys.out of most recent stuff iv seen,i got the most respect for kai barger for paddling out without floatation.that tells me kid got heart.now i didnt really care much on the issue until i read a surfline interview with paige alms.first of all,i never heard of her,dont care about her but what really bit my nerves is how she comes out of nowhere,and starts talking smack about spots like waimia bay and the outer reefs,and then got the nerve to say she wants to surf mavericks.if i was a local there,i wouldnt let that girl in the water because im not going to be the one to pull her lifeless body out the sea.guys like ken bradshaw,mark foo surf massive 30-40ft waimai monsters without vests,balloons,skis,whatever.mark foo died.another sion milosky,supposedly paddled into the biggest wave ever at phantoms,60ft paddled,died at mavericks.if you think your too good to surf some outer reefs,to actually size u up a bit,then put your life on the line because u have some balloon wetsuits,your going to kill yourself!now girls like anastasia,kealla,maya g,they surfed big waves around the world.if u only surf 1 big wave,that has a clear channel,no risks involved other than getting caught inside,and think your going to survive other real spots that actually kill.il have respect for paige when i see her paddle out without a vest or ski to 20ft escondidio and get barreled with greg long,and not get rescued,id say she earned her way.but sorry 1 wave isnt going to make your career.its like me getting a 3ft barrel at ibsp,nj then all of a sudden go to tahiti on a code red swell and try to tow.your just going to kill yerself. so tell me how u feel about jaws.was it cooler in the 90s,or is paddling the new way
I don't understand why your *****ing about people not wanting to die and surf big waves at the same time. I'm pretty sure when people go surfing, they want to come back alive. The guys who use those inflatable wetsuits have said that it has saved their lives. Are they not cool because they paddle out with that?
I understand the argument that you liked Jaws better being towed. That's exactly what Laird says. It takes more balls and determination to paddle, but you can ride a smaller board and crack the lip when towing. Laird thinks it's lame to padddle in a a 12' board, go straight and hope to make it... Both sides have their points. As far as comparing Jaws to a foam pit. I dont think that is a good comparrison. I've never taken a 50 footer on the head, but I've taken a 15 footer and it sucked. You're not gonna drown in a foam pit. Those dudes wear floataion to stay alive. I think that's the most important thing to them when in surf that big...Floatation does take a lot of the danger out of it, but I'm sure they are not worried about not seeming "core" On the issue of Paige Alms. That chick actually rips. She surfs real good in small waves too. Maya G. takes a lot of sh*t for only being able to surf big waves, but that's not the case with Paige. She's competed with all the top girls and did well.
it does take cojones mas grande to paddle in. [video=youtube;Gx7uSCXXac8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx7uSCXXac8[/video]
are you sure that's not Jersey? looks like a 23 footer to me. paddling in is 1000 times more difficult than getting towed in, but that said, tow-ins aren't an easy feat. Conditions have to be near perfect there to paddle in, so it doesn't happen all the time, probably close to how often we get 23 footers,brahhh. I have mucho respect for all of them, and the tow-in guys...Where's the beef? Thanks, Chiccarrone, saw the footage back a couple months ago, but never saw this one.
Yeah, I have no issues with towing at Jaws etc... I think most big waves are better surfed with the boards and equipment related to towing. I disagree with tow ats and all that crap guys are doing on 10 foot days... While the guys from Ocean City during Sandy made a nice video, front page of the newpaper etc... That was cool, but usually I would say that situations like that are unnecessary. But with the heavy winds etc... That was okay... As far as North Maui becoming the new north shore, I don't know about that. Maui has always been there. Peahi has always been there. That is really it for huge waves over there... There are tons of good waves along the north shore of Maui, but not like Oahu. Its just not the same setup... Trickier swell angles are required and the winds are also not favorable... Maui is the most wind riddled of the islands, and north maui suffers from sever sideshore/crosswinds, While Hana is always blown out and west maui stays cleaner but also has tricky swell windows... I just think maui will always be maui... a more laid back, fickle spot... I do love it there though... Those are just my thoughts, although I am obviously not the "voice of maui" or anything like that.
yea i think some of u guys missed the point i was trying to say.like i said,i have huge respect for the guys who paddle.what im saying is someone who only surfs 1wave and tries to make it at other lethal spots.like greg long said,i dont go out there into big waves thinking i might die.if your going out there thinking hey i want to come back alive,u shouldnt be out there.a lot of people hate on laird but i think hes one of the greatest big wave surfers that ever lived.maui is a great place with lots of talent and lots of good waves.it seems some of u think im hating on maui.i still think clay marzo is one of the best surfers in the world,maybe that makes me a kook,so what who cares.people think oh towing is easy.yes easy until u take a 70fter on the head and get pushed in the rocks.iv seen bigger waves paddled at waimai than jaws,and nobody wears lifevests or balloons there.maybe because if u get caught in the shorebreak,your a buoy getting pitched and thrown over and recycled all over again. breathe holding techniques,dye packs,inflatable wetsuits.yes some think its good,but some of the best have been killed by their leashes getting tangled on the reef.some of u should watch some old youtube videos of mark foo.by far one of the greats of his time,at pipe,sunset,his carves are rediculous!!he surfed much bigger waves than the ones he died on.theres even a video with mike parsons talking about how he felt brock little(another legend if u kooks dont know) under the wave with him but he never made it up.that wasnt brock,it was mark. everybody has their own ways or whatever,some like to surf small mushy waves and do airs,others like perfect 8ft tubes,some like towing,others like paddling.regardless its all surfing,and its all cool with me.i can drop 30 names right now that absolutly ripped for the past 20years and some of u would think,oh that guys a kook.just because some of us dont have 600$cameras or editing software doesnt make us a kook.i been surfing for over 15yrs and dont have 10 pictures of myself.i surfed with the best of them in my own state.next time u go to bh to take pics of sam hammer,clay and everyone else,ask about cepriano and watch me take a wave in and then tell me how big of a kook i am.thank you very much
And some don't have a space bar either. Man, your posts are hard to read. I was going to comment on the lack of paragraphs too but I see you broke this post down into two blankets of text. I don't want to discourage any improvements you're working on.
Jaws is a much gnarlier wave than Waimea in every sense. The latest paddle in footage from Jaws with Ian Walsh and Dorian can't be compared to much of anything ever done at Waimea paddling. It's puts towing to shame as well just about anywhere except those giant Mavericks tow sessions they did in the 90s and maybe the Outer Log Cabins tow-ins. The Ghost Trees tow in stuff is insane too. Foam pit??? wha....
I write for a living, although it doesn't necessarily show here. A good rule of thumb is a paragraph every 5 or so sentences. Helps the reader a lot.
Tow in and paddle are both awesome. I agree with one of the posts above in that often tow in isn't necessary and when it isn't, it's kind of lame. I mean, if you can paddle a regular everyday surfboard, not a 12 foot gun in to the surf, there's no need to tow in. I watch both tow in and paddle in at the big spots (jaw, chopes, ours, shipsterns etc.) in total awe.
Personally I wouldn't question anybody with the balls to ride a wave of that size regardless of equipment or method, because I know that'll never be me, so more power to them either way. I doubt there's anybody on this forum, the O.P. included that will ever paddle in OR tow-in at Jaws so I don't think it really matters what any of us think.
