Plantation island Fiji

it says they have 'windsurfing' on Plantation but the gear could be anything

looks like May is typically great warm weather, bit light on the wind.

weatherspark.com/m/144944/5/Average-Weather-in-May-in-Nadi-Fiji

I've stayed on the Coral Coast 100 years ago (ok, 20) & surfed a bit, nothing special, I'd definitely
take a surfboard as surely there would be speedboat to access reef breaks.

I was googling Namotu which has plenty of famous surf breaks closeby & there is apparently some
kite-ing but I don't know the proper season or the chances of getting wind/waves >15K suitable for
wavesailing. I believe Scott O'Connor (80's wavesailor with Mark Paul) owns/runs the Island. What
a life!!

DISCIPLINES: Wave
STATUS: Worldcup
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Event Summary:
On May 9th, 1997, 60 of the world's top wave sailors arrived on the island of Nadi, Fiji. It took a convoy of trucks and buses to carry the sailors and their equipment from the airport to the port. At the port the sailors and crew were met by a 110ft cabin cruiser which transported them to the event site, NAMOTU.
Namotu, which translates as 'magic island', is surrounded by a flat coral reef which contains some of the most spectacular sealife to be found anywhere in the world. The island is tiny, barely the size of a soccer pitch, with accommodation for only 10 people. The sailors were forced to live on the nearby Plantation Island, and used the cruiser to ferry them to and from the event site daily.

The waves on Namotu originate from extremely low pressure systems which run across the Antarctic from between Australia and New Zealand. These waves travel thousands of miles un-obstructed before hitting the circular reef surrounding Namotu. When the waves break on this reef, perfect sailing conditions are created with the waves wrapping all the way around the island. This break gives the best conditions for windsurfing anywhere in the world.

A tropical cyclone swept across Fiji and directly over Namotu shortly before the event, temporarily knocking out the swell. The winds remained light initially and the sailors filled their time surfing and fishing, but the swell gradually built again every day, and by the 12th and 13th the waves were between logo and mast high. Expectations were high...

Friday 16th May, the forecasted 15-25 knot trade winds arrived, allowing the first half of a wave performance elimination to be completed in logo to mast high waves. Saturday saw a return of the South westerly trade winds and a building swell with waves approaching mast and a half in height for the final heats. The conditions for the contest can only be described as epic.

Eight sailors progressed to two 4 man semi finals. The first semi consisted of S 10 Anders Bringdal, KA 1111 Jason Polakow, KZ 1 Scott Fenton and US 12 Scott Carvill. Carvill entered the O'Neill Fiji Wave Classic as a wild card and blitzed his way past names like Robby Seeger and Kevin Pritchard on the way to his place in the semi's. The standard of sailing throughout the entire contest was so high that sailors were forced to push themselves to the limit to be in contention. Anders Bringdal pushed his equipment a little hard, wrecking two rigs in his semi-final, a mistake which ended his progress. KZ 1 Scott Fenton, who had some of the longest rides in the entire competition, lost his rig in the same semi-final and went over the falls after a mistimed aerial. He spent most of the heat swimming.

The second semi final was equally strong, consisting of US 6 Josh Stone, K 77 Ant Baker, US 1111 Robby Naish and E 11 Bjorn Dunkerbeck. Ant Baker was having a fantastic contest, drawn in the same heats and sailing an identical board as his mentor and team-mate Robby Naish. However, Baker was kept out of the final by Josh Stone who was having the competition of his life in the huge waves and perfect cross-offshore port tack conditions.

Stone finally achieved his aim of defeating Dunkerbeck in his semi-final with arguably the most stunning display of wave sailing ever seen in a PWA competition. Naish also progressed to the final to meet up with Stone, Carvill and Polakow for the ultimate showdown.

Head Wave Judge, Klaus Michel, increased the heat duration to 30 minutes for the final, with the best three wave rides counting. This format allowed sailors to really push the limits of their sailing and equipment in the knowledge that they could easily have replacement equipment rushed out to them if necessary.

With the swell continuing to build and waves now approaching twice mast height, two different styles of wave riding prevailed in the final; the consistent and solid waveriding style of Naish and Polakow, and the almost unbelievable aerials performed by Carvill and Stone. After a riveting 30 minute heat sailed in the ultimate conditions, the five judges awarded 1st place to the master himself, Robby Naish, ahead of Scott Carvill, Jason Polakow and Josh Stone.

In the women's contest, KZ 15 Barbara Kendall returned to PWA competition and snatched a victory from US 6 Kelly Moore and KA 191 Jane Seman with G 680 Jutta Mueller 4th.

All the sailors were stoked with the contest; from those who were eliminated in the first round right through to those who made the final. The shared opinion was that the PWA O'Neill Fiji Wave Classic had brought the highest standard wave fleet together for the highest calibre wave contest ever held in the most incredible conditions ever seen.

Comments:

US 93 Matt Pritchard - Plantation Island:
"It was unbelievable. I've never seen a wave, sailed a wave, or witnessed a competition that was more unbelievable. So I think the sailors, the PWA and O'Neill scored big!"

USA 6 Josh Stone - Namotu:
"The best contest in the history of windsurfing."

O'Neill Joost Bellaart - Behind his desk, Holland:
"The Fiji Wave Classic is a great opportunity for O'Neill to stay in the water with the PWA and where windsurfing finds it's roots, this is a fantastic result for all of us."





Overall Results MEN


POS.

NAME

SAIL NO.

1 Robby Naish US1111
2 Scott Carvill US 12
3 Jason Polakow KA 1111
4 Josh Stone USA 6
5 Anders Bringdal S 10
6 Scott Fenton KZ 1
7 Anthony Baker K 77
8 Bjorn Dunkerbeck E 11
9 Kevin Pritchard US 933
10 Micah Buzianis US 34
11 Blair Simpson KA 19
12 Ashley Nicol KA 17
13 Francisco Goya A 211
14 Nik Baker K 66
15 Ralf Bachschuster G 55
16 Scotty McKercher KA 181
17 Robby Seeger G 307
18 Stuart Masters KA 29
19 Matt Pritchard US 93
20 Brian Talma KBA 8
21 Rohan Cudmore K 88
22 Vidar Jensen N 44
23 Mark Pedersen KA 6
24 Peter Volwater H 24
25 Robert Teriitehau F 35
26 Michael Viscovitch D 154
27 Lars Petersen D 99
28 Steve Allen KA 0
29 Frithjof Opsal N 4
30 Eric Groenewoud H 8
31 Chris Calthrop K 48
32 Jeroen Westrate AA 0
33 Mikko Merve L 1
34 Rick Markham US 91
35 Wilhelm Schurmann BRA 999
36 Shayne Bright KZ 42
37 Tristan Boxford K 35
38 Ashley Terrell KA 171

You can get a boat out to Namotu from Plantation to either surf or maybe windsurf from. I believe it's about $50FJD to get taken out there in the morning and again in the afternoon. The boat sits out there and waits for you, so you get in any trouble and they are there to come get you, pretty good deal.

Jump on and like the Namotu page on Facebook, they give regular updates of what is happening over there by way of surf and sometimes wind.

I took the family there June last year for a week. Plantation resort has 3 floaty learning boards with 3m sails, in poor condition. They also have a 12foot catamaran also in poor condition. When you are bored out of your brain, they are great to take out. Whilst I was there, several kiters would go out by boat to a sand reef not quite 1/2 way to Namotu. At low tide there is just enough sand to rig up. Sailing is waist deep in super flat water. Wave sailing at Namotu is epic but you must pay full respect to the islands guests especially its owners, who may or may not like you touching their shores. You may find yourself rigging on the boat and throwing off from there. Surfing is different. Heaps of boats go out twice a day full of people from different resorts keen to surf Namotu and surrounding reefs. They don't need to go ashore. GM1

Unfortunately in the week I was there we had 3 days maxing out at 20kts, no more, maybe a little less, the other 4 days light and variable. Great weather for a family holiday, great for the surfers but disappointing for those who took wind wanker gear over. There are two types of boats, the officially sanctioned (set times and prices) and the unofficial (negotiate prices and destinations) We used both at different times. You can find the unofficial by asking your room cleaner. Its often their husbands from back at shell village. We paid around $100 one day to take us around to various islands and snorkle spots, visited the local school and a brief stop at Namotu. Our guys name was "sugy" or similar, massively tall fijian, fists like coconuts, head like a bull shark and a real nice guy. I think the kiters used someone like our guy because their boat seemed to wait at the sand bar whilst they sailed. On one afternoon I saw a kiter sail back from the sand bar so it is possible but serious, the sun had set and he was way out. There is a snorkle boat that takes swimmers out to sand bar at low tide most days for just $15 each. Worth looking into. Security tend to discourage the unoffical boats from coming ashore, we had to waid out to waist deep to get to ours. The boats taking the surfers out stick with them. Namotu is a seriously expensive place with around 20 or so guests max so whilst you can ride the reef breaks around the island, they don't encourage people to come ashore. Easy to understand. At plantation, try the restuarant towards the back of the resort, al la carte, better food than the beachfront. Gary

how was it...

Yep I score big time. Got to sail with Scotty Mckercher, Philip Koster and Jp in some big waves.
I Was way out of my depth but I had to go out and sail with my heros. Once in a life time experience.

Will post up a report soon about my trip and some pics and a small vid soon.

way to go. I was a little suspicious of your avatar photo but no doubt now!

I'm still trying to get in the Manly Daily for wavesailing - maybe one day...