THE GUNSAILS TEAM AT FIJI SURF PRO

Fiji is legendary for its big waves, and Cloudbreak is one of the most famous breaks around. Located off the coast of Tavarua and not far from Namotu, where the first PWA Fiji Wave Classic took place in 1997, this epic reef break offers great surfing conditions, but with the risk of destruction if you do it wrong!

In the meanwhile the GUNSAILS team is back home and we wanted to know how was their impression about the event and this beautiful island.

LEON JAMAER

I arrived at the Fiji Pro Worldcup with huge anticipation and great expectations. The more legendary footage of the 1997 Namotu Classic is firmly planted in my mind: remote islands and indigenous tribes, costly tradewinds and big powerful reef waves. While O'Neil as title sponsor made the unique experience possible in the last millennium, in 2023 it is to a large extent the riders themselves who finance the elaborate event with an entry fee of 1200 USD. The effort for a windsurfing competition in Cloudbreak, one of the best waves in the world, is huge. Instead of staying on a paradisiacal island, you stay on the mainland and take one of the local boats out to the reef for about 30 to 40 minutes every day through the inland waters. There you spend the day surfing and, as soon as the wind gets strong enough and the surfers disappear from the lineup, windsurfing. Cloudbreak shows a different face almost every day, depending on swell size, direction and period, as well as wind strength, direction and tide. At hightide the waves break in slightly deeper water - at lowtide a wipeout quickly means you end up on the dry reef. The wave breaks powerful and clean - for windsurfing it usually has the ideal speed and you have no problems getting around sections.

On the first day of competition the waves are big and the wind relatively light. Since I have a relatively easy first-round heat, I take some bigger gear to be on the safe side - 5.3 and 90 liters, so I don't get stuck in the inside. It pays off in that I can take a lot of waves, even if I'm a bit overpowered on the wave itself. I ride a few set waves, try to go a little deeper on each button turn and put each cutback a little later on the fat lip. After a big wave with good turns and an aireal to finish, I know I'm in the next round. What an epic day - the long journey around the globe has already been worth it, I think to myself.

After the wind comes back a few days later, round 2 is started. Unfortunately, the conditions have changed completely. The Pacific Ocean is flat and only every 10 minutes a wave comes through that breaks reasonably along the reef. The other waves do Cloudbreak no honor. Unfortunately, I don't catch any of the good waves in the 28 minute heat and so have to try to get scores on mediocre waves. The 5.0 and my 82 liter board feel ideal and I manage to string together some powerful turns and airs. I finish my last wave with a Taka on the almost dry reef. Unfortunately not enough to advance against Takuma Sugi, who caught all the good set waves, and Antoine Martin. Frustrated and disappointed, the Cloudbreak competition experience is over for me before it even started.

FLORIAN JUNG

Fiji is pretty much the farthest point you can travel to from Germany. 3h to Istanbul, 10h to Singapore and then again 11h to Fiji. Then another hour in the car and another hour on the boat to be at the spot where this year's Fiji Pro Event takes place.
We are accommodated here on a kind of surf camp on the main island Suva and go from here with small boats to the reef.
This is logistically not always easy because of course you also have to take the windsurfing equipment with you, which then also has to be set up on a tiny little boat. Most of the time there are four of us on one boat with 5-6 double boat bags. That means: rigging is team work. Every day we spend 5-7 hours at the reef called Cloudbreak in the middle of the ocean, about 5 km from the mainland. Here probably one of the best waves in the world breaks.
The waves break in perfection. The swell hits here at the perfect angle from the deep blue Pacific unchecked onto a razor sharp shallow reef. "Cloudbreak" is therefore extremely powerful and has shredded several boards sails and masts into pieces this week. Each of us has several abrasions from the reef, which come as a free tattoo when you visit the colorful coral.
The question naturally arises: is all the effort worth it? Do you have to fly halfway around the world then sit in a boat for over an hour every day to ride a wave or hold a World Cup here?
The answer is difficult. As a surfer I am looking for the perfect wave. The feeling of seeing this wonder of nature really up close or riding these walls of water is really special. It is an experience I would not want to miss. Normally there are so many surfers on the water that a windsurf session would be unthinkable. Riding a contest in these conditions and having the spot all to myself is a once in a lifetime chance. With each day of experience, the level here goes through the roof. I can say that I have ridden one of the best waves of my life here.

JULIAN SALMONN

This year, in the Wave World Tour format of the PWA and IWT, which was merged for the first time, the selection of the competitions was and is not easy. In the classification of the events according to 5-4-3 etc.. stars, I decided - like probably many riders - for the 5-star competitions with the exception of Japan, as well as supplementary for the participation in individual 4-star events, depending on the forecast and training situation.

After the 3rd place at 4-star event in Chile I started the journey to Fiji at the other end of the world full of expectations. But already in Tokyo I realized that this time it could be a real challenge. During the stopover at the airport in Tokyo-Narita I experienced my first real earthquake. Despite a magnitude of 6.2, fortunately nothing really dramatic happened, but it should not be the last experience with the forces of nature on this trip.
Arrived at the resort, I shared an accommodation with Marc Pare, Jake Schettewi and Victor Fernandez. It quickly became apparent that the resort, located on a river with no beach, was far from my idea of Fiji. Simple but quite comfortable accommodations formed our base camp for the next few days. Logistically, especially at low tide (this required an additional transport of the material via van to an offshore beach), each day was a small additional task.
At the beach, small boats welcomed us and transported us as well as the material to the offshore reef (Cloudbreak) on a daily basis. This service was financed by a considerably higher entry fee.
Unfortunately there was not a single minute with wind on the water for me before the competition, so my first heat was also my actual first experience at this probably worldwide unique spot.
AFTER the scheduled 28 min in my heat I got a first feeling for the wave and the spot. The big sets were 4-5m high on this first day for me and required perfect timing to use the full potential of this perfect wave.
After an intense wash over the reef there was no chance for me to increase my score in the heat and I had to leave the first round early. Nevertheless the gap to Takara Ishii was only 1.1 points.

In the next few days, the wind was no longer quite so stable and it resulted in many hours with the surfboard / wave rider in the water. How powerful and challenging this wave really is, was shown among other things by various washes that have left various wounds on the material as well as on my body.

The whole beauty of this remote region we could still experience the next days. Incredibly clear water welcomed us at the spots Natadola Beach and Namotu. Windsurfing in incredibly beautiful and perfect conditions.

My personal conclusion is positive, despite the far from satisfactory result in the competition. Among other things, due to the above-average friendly and very positive people I met on the islands. A basically positive (and also towards strangers very open) attitude towards life belongs here to basic attitude. These positive vibes alone make me look forward to seeing this, in many respects, challenging location again.

© Pictures by Fish Bowl Diaries