What did you do at the age of 8? What ever it was we bet that you didn’t challenge your windsurfing skills in waves that are twice your size! Sounds crazy? Well, that was how Wiley Daniels spent his last Saturday, riding the waves of Ho’okipa for the first time.

8 year old Wiley at Ho’okipa from Hot Sails Maui on Vimeo.

Wiley, an 8 year old child from Oahu came to visit his friend Dax Barker(10), who at the age of 7 set the record of being the youngest sailor ever at Ho’okipa 3 years ago.

After getting some guidance from Jeffrey Henderson on launching through the large shore break, and how to stay away for the rocks, Wiley entered the realm of windsurfing history, Ho’okipa, the official mecca of every windsurfer. The conditions were gusty and lacked consistent wind, but with no fear in sight Wiley made his way in to the water using his 2.4m KS3 Hot Sail rigged on a 270cm mast. It is hard to imagine how small this little sailor is.

After a quick recovery in the waist high shore break, he made it to the impact zone only to meet a pretty big set closing out. Though he got knocked down, he calmly popped back up on his 45 liter STK board and up-hauled in the gusty wind like and old pro. After that he sensibly sailed the point wave into the channel. He caught 3-4 waves in very light wind, making a sweet bottom turn and top turn on one of the cleaner waves.

At the end of his session he caught a nice set wave into the beach and perfectly navigated the shore pound into the sand without incident.

After the interview, Wiley admitted that the conditions surprised him, and that the waves were more powerful than what he had first anticipated, but he can’t wait to go be out there again!

Wiley is going to be the youngest contestant in the AWT Aloha Classic at the end of this month, so watch out teenagers in the juniors!

Authors: Louise