And the winner of the 2010 highest back loop is...

Levi Siver with an amazing back loop of 52 feet and 7 inches! This was a contest put on at Hookipa, sponsered by ShadowBox, Windsport Magazine and EpicSessions.TV back on March 31 - the day that was too windy to sail (for some of us). But not too windy to back loop, at least at Hookipa!

Equally amazing was the highest "straight" jump, by Boujmaa Guilloul at 62 ft! OK, that's bigger then most houses (the height restriction for houses in Hood River is 36 ft). That is really, really huge! I'm not sure kiters can beat that (and land in the same area code), but if so doesn't really matter cause those guys are essentially hanging from a parachute, while windsurfers are free falling with their gear, and in this case the landing was clean. (I'm amazed gear and bodies can survive that).

[ Update ] - Jake has put the whole video up on youtube.

Also check out Jeff Bennett's blog where has has both photos and a video from this event.

Windsport also has a recap of the event - (and they used one of my pictures, I almost feel like a real blogger now!)

Now for the tech details...

ShadowBox is an amazing little device that you can attach to your board while sailing. It has a built in accelerometer and GPS (similar to an iPhone) that can accurately measure the movement, speed and direction of your board in 3D space (as in the space we live in, not Space 1999). After a session you can download the data into your PC (or Mac) and then get all the relevant facts about your session. Such as, what was your highest jump, how many jumps did you try, how many jibes, how many did you blow (as if), how many forwards. And so on.

Casey Hauser showed me a demo of this and it's really cool stuff. You can check out your wave sailing technique because it picks up the pitch, yaw, and roll of your board as well as the up/down motion. The potential is pretty unlimited, as a teaching / training tool, as well as for competitions like this jump contest. Plus it's fun! And I should mention that the applications are not limited to windsurfing. You can take this skiing, biking, etc. As the software gets updated I'm sure more analysis / fun stuff will be added.

Ok, so Casey and and Jake Miller (SnakeBite Films) put this whole contest together, and the award ceremony was at Charley's. Dudes, thanks for putting on such a fun show!

I took a few shots inside Charley's, which didn't come out great (I had my small camera), but hopefully
better then nothing...

While waiting for the main event...

we watched the Windsurfing Movie (again).  Actually the movie never gets old for me, though I am looking forward to the sequel which I hear really raises the bar (not an easy task).  Below you see the lovely and talented Ingrid Larouche and Rick Whidden (from Maui Sails) hanging out, discussing the latest in windsurfing techniques, such as what beer to get next.

And now the show starts

Jake Miller put this video together.  Did I mention that Jake throws the best port forwards and push loops at the Hatch.  And he rarely sails there anymore.  Maybe this summer... ?

I already mentioned that Boujmaa threw the highest straight jump (62 ft)!
Kauli Seadi got the 3rd highest back loop.
Camille Juban scored the 2nd highest back loop.

And the winner, as we all know, Levi Siver.  On Goya sails and Quattro boards. Way to go!

So imagine the image below on your PC, only much much clearer (this is a picture from my little camera, balanced on a beer, aiming at the TV which was over the bar 15 ft away in bad light).  Anyway, you can make out the board and sail and this shows the trajectory and height of the jump, via ShadowBox. Pretty cool.

Kauli getting the 3rd prize (a handshake I think).

And Levi getting the #1 prize, which is his own personal ShadowBox. Cool! Sorry for not getting a better picture, but the crowd was surging forward, and I barely got this shot off before being trampled by paparazzi and young teenage girls (I wish).

So that's it, hope you enjoyed!

Wait, one last thing...

Time for a Maui / Paia moment.  So when we parked in the Charley's lot, there was this car next to us, and I swear it had a chia roof.  Check it out ... maybe this could be your next rental car!