As some of you may know we went to Maui last year, last day there we were lucky enough to see RN heading out for a quick spin, actually I think he was just too lazy to walk up the beach to his house.
Later in the day he was cruising around under a helicopter testing all of the 07 Naish speed stuff....the guy is a freak, but we love him.
I just posted this up on a Hot Sails Maui Forum and got flamed because 'he didnt do anything out of the ordinary, any sailor could have done that' Yeah, true, but it was RN! RN does not hang out in Adelaide.....!
That footage didnt do him justice, the guys on the hot sails forum were right! Anyone could have done that (get ready? for a chop hop????????.
However your right it is cool to sail with a legend like that no matter what he is doing and he does always make whatever he does look good (even a chop hops).
That footage didnt do him justice, the guys on the hot sails forum were right! Anyone could have done that. 'Get ready'? for a chop hop????????.
However your right it is cool to sail with a legend like that no matter what he is doing and he does always make whatever hes doing look good (even a chop hops).
quote:
Originally posted by Krusty
That footage didnt do him justice, the guys on the hot sails forum were right! Anyone could have done that. 'Get ready'? for a chop hop????????.
However your right it is cool to sail with a legend like that no matter what he is doing and he does always make whatever hes doing look good (even a chop hops).
quote:
Originally posted by divaldo
I just posted this up on a Hot Sails Maui Forum and got flamed because 'he didnt do anything out of the ordinary, any sailor could have done that' Yeah, true, but it was RN! RN does not hang out in Adelaide.....!
Hey Divaldo, I agree totally with you. Its cool to see a legend just blazing around.
First time I went to Maui back in late 80's he came out of Sugar Cove on a Mistral Equipe and looped the bloody thing right off the beach at Sprecks. freaked the whole beach out.
I know what you mean!!!!!!
seeing robby sail live makes you realise which league he is in.
it's a league far removed from anyone else.
There's Chop Hop's and there's Chop Hop's
Doing a chop hop on a full-on slalom Speed Machine with a Race sail, at 35knots plus, is something very few can do!!! People are obviously comparing themselves doing a chop hop at speed on wave gear, .......... even I can do that.......... But I can't do chop hop's at 35 knots on my speed geat over a 3 foot face over the back on the reef!!!!!
When I've been flat out on my wave gear, the fastest I've ever done is about 25 knots, and I can tell you the difference between sailing 25 knots and 35 knots in chop, is massive.
If people can get excited standing on the road with the Queen waving to them, we can get a little excited watching a real legend sailing 
Thanks for sharing divaldo 
And Hards, your selling yourself short, I'd bet my left dangler you could chop hop your speed gear, in fact what choice would you have at 30+ and one stood up in front of you 
ok one thing that i dont understand... why the hell would u keep your keys in your mouth!! some one like robby would have one of them cool harnesses with the key pocket surley!!
quote:
Originally posted by divaldo
I agree Chris, this also proves that he didnt breath for 4 minutes as well!
If I got that much hang time with a set of keys in my mouth the surgeon will be still trying to extract them from my oesophagus.
I've seen Naish sail...it's extraordinary, and as pointed out in the video, when he heads upwind he gets a crazy angle, that combined with his speed makes it look like he's sailing straight upwind.
quote:
Originally posted by divaldo
I just posted this up on a Hot Sails Maui Forum and got flamed because 'he didnt do anything out of the ordinary, any sailor could have done that' Yeah, true, but it was RN! RN does not hang out in Adelaide.....!
Glad you noticed, it freaked my out at the time!
quote:
Originally posted by puffin
I've seen Naish sail...it's extraordinary, and as pointed out in the video, when he heads upwind he gets a crazy angle, that combined with his speed makes it look like he's sailing straight upwind.quote:
Originally posted by divaldo
I just posted this up on a Hot Sails Maui Forum and got flamed because 'he didnt do anything out of the ordinary, any sailor could have done that' Yeah, true, but it was RN! RN does not hang out in Adelaide.....!
Was on the beach at Kanaha about 3 or 4 weeks after this video was made. Saw Robby on the beach for the first time ever - was stoked. Saw his video years ago which got me into the sport.
Was talking to my mate after seeing Robby jump on his slalom gear and head out at full speed. My mate said "#@$%" and looked around to see something above the horizon about 6m in the air floating downwind - a kiter? but where's his kite?
It was Robby tucked under his board - probably same one as in video - gliding down and just heading off still at about 35knots, casual as you please......a real legend......
This is how Robby rolls now, recent photo at Hookipa carpark!
www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=6035
I remember RN at the Rip Curl Wave Classic at Pt Danger,in Torquay in 1985. I remember him sailing out on a kind of a race/slalom board with his brother Randy Naish. He broke the side off the boom when he was way out, so he waterstarted on the other side of the boom and sailed all the way back in. At the time, I had been windsurfing for about 2 years, I could not believe he made it in so easy. He was like a god to me back then.
Not to get off the topic, but Bjorn D was also there that year. I was about 14 , and he was about 16. I remember talking to him at Pt Danger, as I had a trailer behind my pushy, so I could carry my stuff to the Pt, and he thought it was a pretty good idea. I tried to explain that I only rode about 1 km, but he thought I meant that I rode from Geelong to Torquay, which is about 25km.
Azz, that could well have been the slalom board with the blue flames - that was a ripper.
One great thing about Robby - when he knocked you out of a wave heat (like he did to me in the second round of the Sony at Long Reef in '84 or '85) you had a good excuse when you got back to your home beach. He was a bit late off the beach (he knew he was up against a turkey) so I actually lead him on points for a few seconds - until he hit the water and I got smashed and spent the rest of the heat trying to get going. At least when Robby was out, no one looked at you so you didn't get too embarrassed!
Bjorn D was just a little kid when he was 16, with lots of talent but no indication that he'd grow to be as big as he is. F2 allocated him as my training partner at the worlds in Lake Garda, but he was miles ahead in the racing despite being too small to use the real F2 raceboard (Mk2 Lightning). It's strange how people go on about him being a hulking humourless Terminator now, he was a happy go lucky kid then.
I still reckon Robby is the ultimate windsurfer, and possibly the ultimate sailor. He was more versatile than Bjorn, or two of his rivals (IMHO) as the world's greatest sailor overall (Ainslie and Schiedt). Only Elvstrom is his equal (or superior) in that respect.
The other thing about Robby was his professionalism. On a filthy freezing sleety day in Germany, he'd stand on the beach between wave heats, holding his rig up so everyone could always see the sponsor's logoes, and he always had time for we reptiles of the windsurfing press.
Randy was a real character - Greenleader also sailed against him that season. Every now and then you could see signs that he could also kick ass, but it would have been hard to be Robby's big brother (chronologically at least).
The slalom/race board Robby was on when I saw him back in 1985 was a big orange thing. A couple of the racers had them, they looked real factory/prototype kind of boards. Or that may have been in 1984. That was the first time the cambers also came out. I remember those guys with the new Gaastra camber-induced sails, they were really trick looking sails, with thier chrome mylar batten pockets.
We stayed at Sprecks beach estate in July this year, not only did we see Naish sailing out front, Josh Stone and Francisco Goya did a stint. The guy that impressed me most on the day was Stone, such an agressive sailor, he did a loop on every run out. What really cool is that he did forwards with huge air but landed planing and powered out at speed.
quote:
Originally posted by greenleader
"planing forwards"
the coolest move in the world.
