2010 Calendar is Huge!!

The calendar of events for 2010 is shaping up to be a big one with lots of important events. Check out the list on the left of this page and start making your plans now for which events you are going to attend. And that means it is also time to start training! If you are planning on attending any of these events or training camps you don't want your physical conditioning (or lack of it) to stand in your way.

Florida Season Begins!

While the sailing season is winding down further north, the regatta season is just beginning in Florida. The junior windsurfers who are lucky enough to live there are busy preparing for a full calendar of races and training camps. If you don't live in Florida but think you can come to a regatta or training camp- remember, you are always invited! Just send a note to Britt (the coach) at britt@nbwindsurfing.com and he can give you more information!

Last weekend several junior competitors travelled to Miami to race slalom and a great time was had by all. Austin Emser, Kevin Hendrickson, Chris Waldo, Chris Conlon and Margot Samson showed everyone just how fast a Techno 293 can go around a slalom course; there were a few adults on slalom gear who were finishing behind the Technos who have a new found respect for the kids!

Cullin Ahearn raced in the open class with the adults and pulled off a third place!

Girls in the Gorge!

The 2009 Nationals in the Gorge had one of the biggest junior girls fleet ever!  With Marion Lepert of San Francisco (who handily took first place), Lene Botha from Abilene, TX, Margot and Charlotte Samson from Florida, Solvig Sayre from Martha's Vineyard and gorge locals (in the summer anyway) Fiona Wylde, Alyson Fromm, Kelly Watermeyer and Audrey Davis - there were girls ripping around the race course everywhere you looked!  I hope the rest of you windsurfing girls join us at an event or training camp soon.....

It's Been A Busy Summer.....

Is it really September already?  The calendar says it's so, and school is back in session and a whole lot of you have some great "what I did on my summer vacation..." stories!  

Floridian Cullen Ahearn raced in Hood River at Nationals at his first big Formula event.  This is what he had to say about the first day of Formula racing:

I was on my 10 meter and the wind was very up and down, anywhere from 7 to 17 mph.  After every tack and gibe I had to pump a lot to get going again.  In the first race my start was good and I was second around the top mark, but with good angles and lots of pumping downwind I was able to pass and hold the lead until the finish.  We went back to the beach and the wind died again to almost nothing and we they decided it was a good time for lunch.  The wind picked back up to about what it was in the first race and we were sent out again. I had another good start and was first around the top mark and held it on the downwind. Around the bottom mark it was very light because it was very close to shore and I was pumping a lot. On one of the pumps I snapped my fin and that race was over for me.  I went out in the third race looking for revenge and was pumping very hard to get another bullet. I  was in good shape as we were nearing bottom mark with a good lead but I made the very dumb mistake of going to the wrong mark.  Fortunately only 1 person passed as I had to do 2 more gibs downwind to make the right mark.  I was too far behind to catch up but I held second. The fourth race was incredibly light and I was pumping the whole way around and got a solid first, but unfortunately after I had already finished they abandoned the race.     

You can read more about Cullen (and an interview, watch out for the paparazzi!) at www.windsurfingtour.com/?p=413            

Chris Gardiner (also from Florida) and Solvig Sayre (from Martha's Vinyard) got their first taste of international RS:X competition at the ISAF Youth World Championships in Buzios, Brazil and then flew straight to Portland for Nationals.  Chris won first place in the Junior Formula fleet at Nationals and was super stoked.  Controversy abounded on the beach with the Gorge junior racers pondering what effect it would have on the results if they had Formula boards instead of Formula Experience boards, Cullen wishing he hadn't broken a fin in one race and Chris wondering if his sails have less low end than Cullen's.  Everyone is eager for a rematch next summer in San Francisco at the 2010 Nationals.  Chris had this to say about the event:

Day one of the 2009 windsurfing nationals started out windy and sunny, and it only got windier. At the skippers meeting it was announced that we were going to race slalom for the day, because it was so windy, which was really cool because I had limited experience with slalom so it was great practice. The first four races I rigged a 5.9 TR-5 which was still super overpowered because the gusts were reaching close to 40. Then it got even windier so I downsized to a 5.0 and kept racing hard. I got much better throughout the day, and went from getting 7^th’s and 8^th’s to 3^rd’s and 4^th’s.

            Day two started out slightly less windy than the first, but still really breezy. I rigged a 6.6 TR-5 and started to do some serious work, and finally figured out how to jibe, bending your knees really does help in chop! I was getting 3^rd and 4^th every race and even got a 2^nd in one, which I was really stoked about. Then the wind started dropping a little bit and the holes were everywhere, and at that point the lighter sailors started to prevail. This was the end of the slalom series and I finished 4^th overall out of 20 or so.

            Day three was the beginning of the formula racing, and started out glassy, however by mid afternoon the wind had filled and we got in a couple good races. I was rocking the starts and was 1^st around the windward mark every time, but I found that I was a bit slower on the downwind, and the second place racer was usually very close to me by the downwind mark. Then every race, at the bottom of the course there was a massive lull, and my board just would not plane through it, making for some tight racing as the rest of the fleet caught up. I ended the first formula day tied for first, but then they threw out the last race due to lack of wind, so I was in first place alone.

            Day four started out even lighter than the third, with the east wind trying to fill in, and we only got two races off. The first race, I came in second, even though I was first around the windward mark I lost it on the downwind, and I was tied for first going into the last race of the series. They moved the course further up the river towards the hatchery in an attempt for more wind on the last race, so I knew there was going to be some wind involved. Instead of rigging down, I decided to have a little extra power should I need it so I just down hauled my 10.0 a little harder. Sure enough, when I got out there, it was windy. I knew that this race decided the regatta, so I went out half an hour early and did my homework, making sure I knew where the favored parts of the course were, which end of the line was favored, etc. and it paid off. I got the best start by far, hitting the pin at full blast as soon as the gun went off, tearing upwind, with the person tying me for first behind me in my dirty air. I as first around the windward mark, but seriously overpowered so I played it safe on the downwind, which was a good idea, because one person passed me then promptly crashed, and multiple others crashed behind me. With all these crashes, I just had to get around the course without falling myself, which I did, staying towards the flat water, and playing shallow angles on the downwind, and with that, I won the race, thus winning the junior formula class!

US Windsurfing Nationals!

There is a big junior fleet here at Nationals with tons of racing in both Slalom and Formula and T293 course racing.  Jay Watermeyer dominated in the junior class in slalom after two days of super windy, 25-35 mph (with higher gusts), classic gorge conditions.  Marion Lepert finished fifth in slalom out of the juniors, first junior woman and also first out of the women of any age!  After one day of course racing, Chris Gardiner and Cullen Ahearn are sailing super quick - with Cullen having the edge when not plagued with fins breaking off or mental errors (nooooo........don't sail the wrong course!).  

You can see pictures and results at www.vmgevents.com.  You can also find pictures and stories at www.windsport.com where Team USA member Margot Sampson was recruited to contribute to the website!  

More news soon!

What it Takes to Win

Reprinted from www.sailingscuttlebutt.com

In the realm of sports, elite athletes are different, with the biggest difference often lying between the ears. Their "wiring" allows them to handle situations at a superior level. This difference can be most evident at the youth level. While some kids are easily distracted, others are highly focused. Meet Duncan Williford. Sailing Optimists for Lauderdale Yacht club in Fort Lauderdale, FL, Duncan qualified for the Optimist Worlds last year in Turkey at age 12 and this year missed the Worlds team by one point. His sixth place finish at the U.S. Team Trials (April 30-May 3) qualified him to attend either the Europeans in Slovenia or the North Americans in Dominican Republic. Now 13 years old, here is a paper he wrote for school as a persuasive essay:

Never Give Up On Your Goals
Have you ever REALLY wanted to accomplish something? Not like "Oh, that sounds nice, I would kind of like to do that," but something where it is your dream. What you can never stop thinking about, never stop dreaming about, never push out of your mind for later. It's different and the same for everybody. It can be academics, sports, a job, or something else. But what they all share is that they are inner goals. If you feel this way about a goal, and never give up, the goal is never impossible.

Sometimes, though, one decides to stop following their dreams. Usually, it is not one of those dreams that you can't stop thinking about, but one of those "Oh, that would be nice," kind of dreams. Those are more hollow dreams. If each time you have a dream, make a goal, and then give up; your goals start to get shallower and shallower. Eventually they are going to just become thoughts. Imagine walking through the middle of an ocean, with a path for you to walk forward, but every step you take, the ocean water fills in behind you. It seems as if there is fair weather ahead of you, but there is a hidden storm. If you go back, you must swim hard against the current and work that much harder to get back to where you came from. That is what it is like if you start giving up on your goals.

Working hard to achieve your goals is almost exactly the opposite. As if you are on a trek through the desert. You don't know exactly how long it will take, but you have a clear path, and a steel determination that will give you all you need to best the twists and turns and rocks and thorns and beasts, anything that will get in your way of that crystal clear vision of what wonders lie ahead at the end of your path. That determination will stay the burning heat, turn away the beasts, crush the rocks, and straighten the twists. But if you decide to stray from your path, "just for a minute," it will turn into that salty ocean way in which it is so very hard to come back from.

If you can grind your teeth, set your jaw, and kindle a blazing fire in your eyes, and never stop to even think about straying from your path, you arrive at your oasis; your lush, green, flowering, wonderful oasis. Here you can do whatever you want and have all the time in the world. Here is where you reach your inner happiness.

Now sometimes there are those few, extraordinary, wise people, who wish to depart again from that wonderful oasis and brave again the desert. These few people realize that it is not the oasis that really brought the peace, but the journey. They wish to feel that feeling of accomplishment again, and again, and again. When they see those who have given up and who are wandering aimlessly through life, they do not laugh or consider themselves better, but pity them. They will help guide them back to the path, so that the others may too enjoy the wonderful oasis. Sometimes this brings an even greater happiness, and inspires them more. That is how it feels to accomplish ones goals and follow ones dreams. That is how it feels to never give up, and to always strive for greatness.

Gearing Up For the Season!

Look for Alyson in the Gorge this summer training for Nationals on her new Starboard Formula board!

Calema Midwinters '09

Kona Junior Class winner Mateo Vargas reports on the Midwinters:

The 2009 Calema Midwinters and Kona North Americans was a great experience. Although the wind was on the light side for the majority of the weekend, the Kona fleet still managed to get 7 good races and Formula squeezed in 3 at the very last moment.

Friday started out with no wind despite forecasts for it to be a solid 12. The lack a wind wasn't a problem though as our skateboards laid at the ready. After a couple hours of skating and beach volleyball the Kona fleet was sent out in a light ,but manageable, breeze. This being only my second Kona regatta I made a point to begin tuning and looking at other people's technique the very second I left the beach in order to have the best chance of being in the top pack. Being slightly out of the groove off the start I tacked out right where I was able to get clear air and ended up making it to the windward mark in the top of the pack. We had one more similar race before we hit the beach and ate the great food Calema Windsurfing had ready for us.

Saturday morning was a carbon copy of the previous morning. As soon as it was realized that the wind would take a few hours to fill, a paddleboard relay race was organized and put into motion. This race was easily dominated by Team USA members Jay Watermeyer, Chris Gardiner, and myself. Not wanting to sit idle for a minute, a group of us moved on to wakeboarding behind a local sailors boat until the wind filled. The races held in the afternoon on Saturday were similar to Fridays with the exception of the wind being in a little more of a left phase. This initially hindered my race results, but I adjusted my strategy for the remaining races and produced a couple alright finishes. We ended our day by skating one of the best bowls on the East Coast at Cocoa Beach Skatepark. It was a great end to an already sick day.

The final day of Midwinters was the windiest of the regatta. The high pressure that had been sitting over the area moved out overnight allowing a for a nice ESE breeze at about 12 knots. The race committee quickly fired off two races for us Konas before sending out the Formula fleet to get in the three races the desperately needed. The last two races of the regatta were my best to date. The stronger breeze and a pin favored line helped me to get ahead and hold my position, giving me a third and then bullet in the last race.

Overall Calema Midwinters was a great event. The competition was great and although the wind was light, there were plenty of other things to do. I definitely plan on going to this regatta again next year.

Alex Caviglia Bluewater Classic - Formula Fleet

Chris Gardiner reports from the Formula fleet:

The Alex Caviglia regatta held in Miami this past week was one of the best I have ever been to. It was  a great venue, and it was awesome to have food waiting on the table right after we came off the water. Being Formula North Americans the competition ranged from professional windsurfers looking for gold, to the average windsurfer just looking to have a good time, it was a great bunch of people to be stuck with for three days.

On the first day, there was very good conditions for formula, I was pretty powered up on my 11.0 and was going upwind and downwind comfortably. The starts were very competitive, much more than i was used to, as all 36 competitors fought for a place on the line, this taught me to be more aggressive off the line and to find a hole earlier. One of the coolest things about the regatta was watching the pros such as Gonzalo on his TR-5 tear upwind and downwind, much faster than i ever thought possible. By watching his stance and technique I was able to refine my own to go a little faster.

The second day there was no wind so it gave my friends and I a chance to skate around the parking lot and have a good time. I also talked to a lot of the racers there and got to know them better along with picking up some tips to do better the next day.

The third day started out light, the first race i had trouble planing the first time, only the sailors on 12's and higher were able to plane the whole time. The second race however it started to get windier, and I was on the edge of being overpowered as i ripped through the course at top speed. This was one of my best finishes, and was a very fun race. By the end of the second race and before the third race, the wind had picked up even more, and was close to a steady 23 gusting higher. At this point most of the formula sailors went in, thinking that they were at their limit, for they had rigged big for the lighter winds in the morning. As the gun for the start of the third sequence went off, a gust hit, and as I could barely sheet in my sail, I began to have some doubts about whether I'd finish the race. I made it to the first upwind mark, and resolved to go back downwind just to try it out, and it was the fastest of my life. The gusts were hitting almost thirty as I later found out, and i was able to go almost dead down wind, strapped to my 11.0. There was spray everywhere and i could barely see, but i did manage to see some Konas doing kart wheels around me as their riders got tossed over the handlebars, This was pretty cool as long as i was the observer. 

In the end it was a great regatta. We saw all sorts of wind conditions, there were great people all around, and it was a ton of fun. I'm looking forward to next year.

 

Alex Caviglia Bluewater Classic - Kona Fleet

Here's another quick report regarding the Kona fleet - from Tom Ingram

Saturday - the St. Pete contingent of Team USA Windsurfing together with team member Solvig Sayre of New England were dominating the fleet and humbling the old timers, showing that practice might have something to do with finishing well. I hear that the St. Pete crew is practicing fleet racing twice a week now. Their skill level is way, way up from last year. Race 3 in particular was fun, with a huge 2-lap windward leeward and yet almost all the fleet finished within a couple minutes of each other. I couldn't tell you firsthand who won because I was so far behind these guys most of the time, but the results showed that Team USA was 1-2-3 at the end of Saturday with Cullen Ahearn leading. Bruce Matlack was also up in the mix.

Sunday - a beautiful day in Miami, air mid 70s, but no wind. Bruce, Mike and I went SUPing (Bruce on his Kona) - the highlight was Bruce falling into the water in dry clothes.

Monday -

Race 4 - started out in marginal planing conditions for formula and good but nonplaning wind on Kona for windward leeward racing (it was planing conditions on a reach). Solvig won and from my perspective it looked like she decided to railride across the finish line (she was standing on the rail, sailing along for a second or two) - I thought, "rub it in!" but she apparently just had the board rail up due to the higher winds. 

Race 5 - full tilt, perfect planing conditions, daggerboard up the whole time other than a minute at the top of the first windward mark. The wind was increasing throughout the race, around 20 knots. 

Race 6 - I would say it was survival conditions except that after Race 6, it got even windier. Completing the race was all about not falling. My tactics were to head to the flatter water, windward side of the bay where I could sheet in and not be bounced off the wave tops going upwind. I did the formula-style "super chicken" strap thing on the way downwind and that worked pretty well. My main thought was, wow, we're racing in this? 

Getting back to shore - the wind nuked so hard that it took major muscle just to hold the sail up in the air during the gusts. None of us had our sails trimmed for wind like this since it was 10 knots when we left the dock. Some of us rerigged them some on the water but I know mine could have used more tweaking. The launch was a couple of miles upwind, in the lee of skyscrapers and upwind through a marina. Good times! 

Congratulations to Cullen Ahearn of Team USA Windsurfing for his win in the Kona Class. He did well in the big range of conditions that we had and I hope all of you Kona racers will remember him well at the Midwinters starts in March :). Thanks also to the team coaches, Britt Viehman and Karen Marriott, who are doing a great job, and to the guys for letting me borrow their skateboards to cruise around between the races.

All in all it was another great regatta in Miami. The Calema midwinters should be just as fun if not more so. 

Tom

Alex Caviglia Bluewater Classic

Halfway through the regatta here in Miami - Team USA is well represented in the Kona fleet, in fact we make up almost the entire Kona fleet!  Check out the score sheet so far (there are a few mix ups however, David - FL14 has finished races, he just isn't currently scored properly).  The three races yesterday were in breezy conditions (10-15 knots) and today we are sitting around waiting for it to fill back in .  

Check back later for more pictures and a complete report!

Jay Watermeyer's Peru Report

Formula Festival World Championships – Ancon, Peru

By Jay Watermeyer

 

I first found out about the Formula Worlds from a fellow teammate on Team USA, Todd Selby. Because of the location in Peru, it sounded like an exotic and a fun place to gain some new race experience.  After doing some research on the bay where the event was being held, I quickly found out it’s a perfect place to race.  My dad and I left Seattle on a snowy, white Christmas morning and arrived in Peru at midnight.

     

When we first entered the terminal in Lima, the airport was hectic.  There were about 100 people holding placards with travelers’ names on them.  My dad and I could not find our own name, despite looking around carefully, and eventually found a sign with our name on it leaning up on a wall, with a gentleman standing next to it. 

     

Our journey from Lima to Ancon was an adventure.  Both my dad and I  knew little Spanish, and had a hard time communicating with our friendly driver.  Despite the posted speed limit, our driver drove in the middle of two lanes going as fast as he pleased for the 50 KM journey.  It felt like we were playing X-box live. We stayed at a friend’s apartment (who previously sailed with us in Hood River) which was roughly ¼ mile walk by beach to the Yacht Club. They extended me a warm, Peruvian welcome and introduced me to some of the local kids. 

     

The first day we were in Ancon we participated in successful practice races in perfect Formula conditions.  Many of the other Junior and Youth racers from around the world were very friendly, and we soon got to know each other very well.  The first day of the competition, however, there was no wind and the races for that day were cancelled.  Some of my Peruvian friends and fellow competitors, Sebastian Aguirre & Mario Romero, took me, Connor Baxter, and Zane Schweitzer to a local surf spot called Pasamayo, which was only a 15 minute boat ride away. We had fairly decent waves and thoroughly enjoyed the surfing experience.  We appreciated the graciousness of the Aguirre family for taking us there.

     

For the next couple of days the races were cancelled due to no wind.  On December 31^st, one of the local sailors knew of a place that would have wind, and it was only one hour bus ride to the north, further into the desert.  So the next morning at 7 am, all of the competitors put all of their gear into the back of a semi truck, and loaded themselves onto a Grayliner coach.  When we got to this beach, the wind was 10 – 15 knots and picking up.  It was perfect!  I had a great couple of races and everyone was stoked!

       

After three races, the race committee decided to call it for the day and we went back to Yacht Club in Ancon to celebrate New Year’s Eve.  The party was a lot of fun because everyone was dancing and singing and having a good time.  Many of the local neighborhood kids purchased fireworks at the local market and the streets were lit up the whole night with fireworks and bottle rockets going off. 

     

On New Year’s Day, everyone was hopeful we’d race, but the wind in Ancon did not cooperate.  Since we achieved our three races to make the championship legal, the race committee gave us another day off. The final day of the competition was roughly 10 – 13 knots in Ancon Bay.  The bay was a little tricky to sail in.  Out in the middle of the bay was light and unbeknownst to me there was a lot of floating trash and debris close to shore.  I had some pretty good racing until I hit a piece of a submerged mattress and lost my lead.  I was still able to catch up, but I wish we had more races in the championship to make up for less successful races.

     

I was stoked to be able to participate in such an important regatta and excited to meet kids from around the world who love to windsurf as much as I do.  Hopefully I will get the chance to compete in the 2009 World Championships in Cadiz, Spain, where I will see most of these friends and fellow sailors from around the world who participated in the 2008 Formula World Championship.

Jay finished 7th in the Formula Experience fleet and Team USA was also well represented by Conner Baxter in 9th and Zane Schweitzer in 11th.

Does Christmas mean windsurfing?

Margo's Race Camp Report, she is 14yrs old

Just came back from a 4-day youth race camp in Cocoa Beach, FL. Happy to report that I had a blast! I wasn’t thrilled with the scheduling at first: squeezed between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, it’s a time I’d rather be thinking about snow and double diamond stuff. Or at the very least something seasonal like hanging by the chimney, drinking eggnog or getting a group of friends to go prank caroling. But windsurfing?

The camp was run by Karen Marriott, Dominique Vallee and Britt Viehman at Cocoa Beach’s famed Banana River Resort. Ideal location: we just crossed the street every morning to jog on the beach, headed back to the lagoon’s glassy waters for hardcore windsurfing sessions, and back to the beach in the evening for smores and a chat around the fire. Half of those conversations were in French, mind you! Let me see if I can recall where we all came from: Montreal, San Francisco, Martha’s Vineyard and Clearwater. Go ahead, draw those on a map and see what you get. Yep, a sail.

Not just a sail, but a sail in a nasty jibe! Pretty fancy, don’t you think? With all of that good mojo around, we were bound to have a great time. And that we certainly did. Everyone was competitive on the water, the hours were long and loaded with instruction on both the 293 and RS:X olympic class boards, but there was always a spark to light things up. I learned to tighten my jibing, that pumping is an artform, that a stuck mast base can be a good thing and that ‘paté chinois’ has nothing to do with China and everything to do with paté - oh boy...

Great weather, great friends. Who needs caroling?

North American Junior Race Camp

Fourteen youth windsurfers from across the US and Canada got to spend four days between Christmas and New Year's at the Banana River Resort in Cocoa Beach, Florida taking part in a super-intensive racing camp.  Each morning started with a run and warm-up exercises on the beach before breakfast, and on a couple of the days sailors were still coming off the water after the sun had set.  

Each day was a mix of on-land and on-water training and the predominantly light winds made for perfect learning-to-pump conditions.  Lots of drills on the water helped to improve board and sail handling and everyone got a lot more experience on the start line! Amazingly, even with lots of time-on-the-water, intensive instruction in pumping and race strategy and tactics, the kids still found time for surfing and football on the beach.  

We had 14 windsurfers (4 Canadians, 10 US - 9 boys, 5 girls) training on both RS:X and Bic Techno 293 and it was very cool to get to know all of these talented, hard-working kids who will likely be racing in future world championships and even the Olympics!