2014 NZ Gear Guide
Logan Collier: Committed
Words by Logan Collier
Photo’s by Blair Robertson
A
few of us boys in Auckland have been looking
for new places to winch at. A while ago Aaron
found this spot whilst driving around with his
kids and had a quick look, contacted me and said
“you need to check it out, its pretty big but you’ll
have to judge it your self”. James (from Rewind Winches)
and I went to check it out. At first i didn’t know if it was
possible, but after working out the distances from pond to
pond found out the jump distance was 16 meters with a 2
meter step down. I knew straight away i needed a big kicker
and was totally keen to give it a go. So I organized a date and
got the boys together with a few cameras as well.
After setting up the kicker i dragged the rope across both
ponds and strapped in. On the first pull as soon as i pulled
out i didn’t think I wasn’t going fast enough. The second one
was the same thing. By the third one i said to myself ‘just go
for it’ and i did, but as i left the ramp i felt the winch pulling
me down a bit. I knew it was what I had originally thought,
that the winch was not fast enough, i was right and started
to drop fast!! All i saw was jagged concrete. I tried to manual
my board so it took more of the impact which worked until
my nose dropped, grabbed and threw me in to a sommersalt.
Luckily I just missed the rest of the jagged concrete and hit
the grass before ending up in the water. All i remember is
the boys yelling “are you ok??”. I put my hand up and said
“yeah, dam wasnt fast enough!!”. James ran over from the
winch and the first thing he said was “we need to get the 13
hp winch ready!”
This is not the end of the gap, we will be back for another
attempt and I’m hoping to make it easily next time with the
help of a faster winch!
Stay up to date with Logan and the boys on the O’Brien NZ
Facebook page, the Forward Wake Facebook page, or in the
next edition of the magazine. For a bit more, check the video
below.