NIK BAKER | BACK ON THE ROCK

In the prime of his career Nik Baker spent the best part of two decades based in Hawaii, sharing houses and sailing with his best friend Jason Polakow.
Pics and interview by John Carter

Since he quit competing four years ago and started his role as the UK Fanatic distributer, Nik has had to put those glamorous trips to Maui on the back burner to knuckle down and focus on his real job and spending time with his family. Last Spring he was invited by North and Fanatic to attend the annual Hawaii photo shoot, the perfect opportunity to relive those times and catch up with his old friends.

With a juicy line up of wave and freeride boards to shoot, there was no way photographer JC was going to let Baker off the hook with an easy ride, and after ten days of shooting Baker boarded the plane, with both hands full of blisters after endless hours on the water, tired but happy!

A TASTER
There is nothing like jumping in straight at the deep end and with logo to mast high swell slamming the north shore of Maui on the opening day of the shoot, it was a no brainer for JC to kick off by sending out the riders at Ho’okipa. No problem for the likes of Victor Fernandez and Klaas Voget who had already been on Maui for six weeks but for Baker, who had only arrived the night before, this was an inauguration he wasn’t counting on when he left the UK less than twenty four hours ago.

NB: In the last two years I had not seen a wave bigger than head high. The last time I sailed any real waves was when I was in Maui a few seasons ago. I’d been hoping to score a day or two of head high Ho’okipa and maybe get a Sprecks session under my belt before I had to sail proper Ho’okipa. As it happened I went straight out at HQ and not only was it solid mast high, it was beautiful weather, decent wind and I was on a new tri fin that I had never used before and a new sail as well.

Everything was all stacked up but I had such an amazing day. I enjoyed it so much, I had holes all over my hands by the evening session. I can tell you I have not had blisters on my hands for a long time. I will say that I did fall off and swim at least every third wave, if not more, but that just added to the entertainment. I felt a little bit rusty at first but my timing was not too bad. I still had a good understanding of the wave and in general I was kind of happy with my level of sailing considering I had not been out in proper waves for so long.

FIRST TIME
As a teenage kid from Shoreham, Nik’s dream as a windsurfer was always to head to Hawaii to meet his hero Robby Naish. That first trip was the stepping stone to a career that led to multiple world titles and even a victory at the legendary Aloha Classic in 1999 – an event that is usually ruled by Hawaiian locals and down-the-line specialists.

NB: My first time to Maui was when I was sixteen.  I came over with one of my best friends at the time, Danny Seales who was also from Shoreham. He was even younger than me, only fourteen and he came with his dad. I had just won the Robby Naish trophy and my dad had promised me that if I won that (He used the bait obviously for motivation) that he would do his best to get me out to Hawaii to possibly meet Robby Naish. Robby was then and to be honest still to this day is my biggest windsurfing hero. True to his word, my dad bought me a ticket to Maui and I tagged along with Danny and his dad. We spent two weeks on Maui and two weeks on Oahu. That was it, within days of being in Hawaii I knew that it was the place I wanted to be and this is what I wanted to do. Not only that we went to Oahu, met Robby Naish and he was a true legend when he met us. That set me on my path and I suppose directed my dedicated to what I wanted to do and be.

NOT JUST HO’OKIPA
Maui has always boasted a reputation for hard-core wave sailing with Ho’okipa and Jaws stealing most of the headlines every time a major swell hits the north shore. Even though Hawaii deserves its status as a wave mecca, the majority of the days through the year boast smaller waves and even some flat water conditions making it the perfect location for windsurfers of all levels.

NB: Well I spent 17-18 years of my life based in Maui, I know the place pretty darn well and I love it. It is an incredible location to come to whatever reason you have to visit.  First of all the weather is amazing. It is warm all year round and what they class as cold is not so bad, they called it cold a few days I was in Maui and we were still in shorts and a vest with sun screen on. The water is always warm all year round and it is nearly always windy. If it is not windy on the north shore, you can drive twenty minutes and find wind on the south. You have got flat water, to easy Kanaha-type wave sailing. Then you have European wave sailing conditions at Spreckelsville, epic down-the-line wave sailing at Ho’okipa and then even further up the road you have one of the world’s biggest gnarliest waves at Jaws.

Not only is it great for sailing but it is also an amazing place to watch the action. It’s great to sit and learn, experience what the pro guys are doing and just soaking up the whole feel of Maui. All the pros are often visiting and many live on Maui, which gives the place quite a special and unique feel. To me it feels like home whenever I come back. Even if you just come to Maui for a two week holiday it is quite a special place. Compared to the other Hawaiian Islands the North shore of the island is still relatively untouched compared to Oahu. I love Maui, it’s a beautiful place.

YOUNG GUN STEPS UP
Nik’s windsurfing hero has always Robby Naish and ironically one of the big steps in Baker’s career was when he beat Robby at Ho’okipa wearing booties and a waist harness!

NB: I think I was eighteen at the time. It was my second Aloha Classic competition. I had just signed for Mistral and Rushwind. My boards were made by Robby’s dad and at the time I got on well with Robby. He was obviously a great guy, but at the same time he is also the most amazingly competitive person there is. Even to this day whether he hides it or not he is probably the fiercest competitor that you will ever know. He really is! I had the heat of my life at that stage of my career; he probably had the worst heat of his life! Anyway I beat him at Ho’okipa. I mean back then he never lost! Not only did he not lose, he wasn’t used to it and he didn’t like it if he did lose! At the time he was pretty used to winning. He certainly wasn’t handed all of his victories, he worked hard at it and he thrived off of that.

Not only did I manage to beat him but there is another funny story. Not only did I beat Robby but at the time I was wearing wetsuit boots and a seat harness. I am not proud of it but I was. I remember a couple of weeks later, I went into Hawaiian Island Windsurfing which was one of the biggest stores on Maui at the time and funnily enough I was on my way to buy more wetsuit boots. The guy at the counter went ‘Aaaagh, you are that guy who wears booties and a seat harness! My God and you beat Robby Naish at Ho’okipa’ after that I had to make a bit of an effort to get out of the booties.

STILL AN INSPIRATION
Even to this day Naish still remains an inspiration to Nik Baker, always professional constantly motivated and ever an ambassador for the sport which has driven his life. In a similar path Nik Baker is flying the torch back in the UK, inspiring young kids and windsurfers of every level to embrace the sport and share his passion.

NB: I went one morning at 6.30 am to Ho’okipa for a paddle board shoot and who was out there? He is fifty now, he is still fitter than I probably ever have been, he has a wife and two kids, his older daughter is thirty now, he has a five year old daughter, he has a massive business empire, he is still a paid professional athlete – and there was Robby with his prodigy Kai Lenny out there on their paddle boards on their own. They were having a great time.

I so hope I can be like that. I am still pretty dedicated to my windsurfing. The last time I went sailing before Maui I was out there at home wearing a drysuit, gloves, hoodie and boots in the middle of winter. I was the only guy out that day. I love it. I still love sailing and that is something you can’t take away. Windsurfing is in me and I thrive off of it and still really enjoy it. I am also into the paddle boarding too and even a bit of kitesurfing. I love doing all of these sports. They are all an important part of my life and to see Robby so dedicated and making the sport a priority is so inspiring. He has made it the priority in his life that is why he is in this business and that is why he is the guy he is – because he loves going in the water.

MASSIVE JAWS
Every winter in Maui, one or two monster swells are big enough to trigger the massive waves at Jaws to start breaking. There have been a few exceptional days when even Jaws starts to overload and Nik’s first ever session was on the mother of them all!

NB: I have not heard anybody ever saying that there has been a bigger day. It was actually my first day ever at Jaws. It probably was not the best day to get inaugurated. I went up there with Scott Carvill and Bjoern [Dunkerbeck]. I had just won the Aloha Classic, back in 1999. I had a snapped tendon on my left ankle. I had won the competition with the ankle strapped up. I was booked in for an operation a week after I was meant to go home. I extended my ticket by a day because Jaws was forecast. I had never sailed it and I always wanted to. We went up in Scott’s boat. Nobody could launch anywhere on the north shore except Kahalui Harbour.

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