Monday, May 30, 2011

Tell the story, grow the sport


Our passion for wind, water and the gear that brings these 2 elements together is at the core of the story we tell and retell. In beach speak, passion equates with stoke. Being aware of this passion may help the uninitiated  understand why we like to windsurf and why we like to report, discuss, dissect, and learn more about that thing we do. Lets face it, news has been around for a long time.  Humans are naturally curious. In fact, an interest to learn is the best sign of a healthy, growing sport.

DaNews is a daily gathering of windsurfing news. I call it a digest, in fact it's only a suggestion list.  While Europe seems to be well covered, I think North America could use a little more love (no offense Josh or Pete). And guess what? There's a ton of down in the trenches reporting happening everyday...we just  need a place to connect with it. Of course, you can get out there and take a look for yourself, but if time is an issue, having a meeting place makes sense...














Since you're here on DaNewsBlog, take a look at the top right hand column. The Calendar, puts in one place, the scheduled events of North America and the PWA World Tour. I'm still learning where event information is hidden.. Dear choir, if you're going to all the trouble of having an event, please find somewhere to post, anywhere with an url, the info online. Facebook has an easy to use event page. Even a forum post is a linkable address.  Below the Related Links is one very large blogroll, again, focusing on but not exclusively, North American blogs. There are 116 blogs and counting. DaNewsBlog has been visited by:











Near and dear to my heart is the Community guide found in the left hand column on the Learners guide to windsurfing. Community is an attempt at locating everything windsurfing found in North America (except Central America, which I plan to add this year). Of course the Learners guide covers a lot of  information about what we do and how we do it. The LG is still linked as the go to guide on the U.S. Windsurfing Associations website. The Learners guide has been visited by:












These 3 websites are not for profit. I am not trying to build a media empire. All 3 websites throw traffic to the originators, promoting their efforts. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with making some coin for your website, it's just not what I'm doing. This is my give back to windsurfing for all that it's given me. This is my request: if what I'm doing resonates with you, spread the love. Link it up, embed a DaNews player, tell a friend. Thanks for taking the time to read all of this.

About me: I'm retired but not dead, living in east central Florida and windsurfing as much as possible. It's warm here year-round by U.S. standards even though wintertime windsurfing requires a wetsuit. If you can go when there's wind, Florida works for even the nuerotic and obsessed...year-round. Here, mid-state, we get enough waves to grow a Kelly Slater. Warm season seabreezes fire the inland lagoons; cold season fronts supply the engine for wave sailing and tropical storms...you get it. Throw in a formula or a longboard and you just bought yourself an insurance policy for year-round sailin'. Like I said, if you can go when there's wind, Florida works.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

AWT: Santa Cruz Classic, the whole enchilada


Jeremy Leonard of Surf City Racing observed, "I could just feel that this event was driven by a huge wave of dedicated organizers and volunteers, and sure enough, as I dug in, I found that just about everyone that I talked to had their hands on some part of the event. It had more of a family feel than most of the sailing events that I attend across the country...this type of group participation is one of the top elements that will move the sport of sailing in a positive direction and into the future here in the US."

This event report is for everyone who was too busy doing, playing, organizing, participating and enjoying the moment to follow all the reporting, videos and photos that were recording the time at Waddell Creek. Top left photo, first two videos and more from Erik Simonson at pressure-drop. More photos from Erik at h2o shots.


Sam reports, "First off, this was the first time I had ever competed. Ever. I was scared...It was a lot of pressure to have so many people on the beach watching...Yikes! I was able to catch 3 waves and 1 jump score, so I advanced to the next round! The rest of the rookie's report.



On his first day of competition, "After only one year windsurfing, young Harley Stone attempts a forward during his heat @ AmericanWindsurfing Tour, sick! Dad and Goya congratulate him on the beach!" What's a story without the proof.





David Wells, competit-ing and reporting wrote,     
"Walking the beach here is truly awe inspiring with some of the best sailors to have ever lived walking around. Francisco Goya, Josh Stone, Ian Boyd, Kevin Pritchard, Fabrice Beaux, Warwick, Poor, Mershon, Juban, Teboul, Guadagnino, Katchadourian and more!" His report with photos on Waterhound . Kevin Pritchard, competitor, videographer, photographer was the official chronicler of this AWT event: day one photos. Harry Wiewel was also doing double duty with videos and photos: his day one images.  

Day 2  The local newspaper, The Santa Cruz Sentinnel reported, "Winds of up to 25 mph propelled dozens of windsurfers forward at Waddell Beach Friday afternoon, their wakes slashing like contrails in the sky as the gusts surged them forward across the waves. The flurry of activity at the beach north of Davenport was much changed from Thursday, when light winds left nearly all participants in the 2011 Santa Cruz Classic stranded in the parking lot...The full report with photos and video...

David Wells of Waterhound adds,  "As I was driving down from San Francisco I knew we were in for a good breeze.  The city itself was sitting in the bright blue sunshine but the coast was socked in with a billowy white marine layer, the ingredients for a good day at most of Nor Cal’s major sailing spots. As I broke through at Pigeon Point, about 5 miles north of Waddell, I was once again basking in the sunlight and a solid 20-25mph of wind."  





The AWT reports,    "It was an action-packed day at Waddell with all the single eliminations nearing completion. The one final so far was for the youth and may have been the best heat of the day. Bernd Roediger edged Morgan Noireaux  in an epic battle. I’m sure the double elim tomorrow will be just as exciting." Derek Mangan reports, "On my second run of the day I was pretty surprised to see a bus sized shadow moving in the water directly underneath my board just past the break.  Was relieved to look back and see an adult grey whale surface about eight feet behind me." Day 2 photos:  AWT  Shawn Davis  Harry Wiewel  Roy Ivankoe  Jeremy Leonard (day 1 also)


Day 3 "...started out under the grey skies of the good ol' marine layer that promised once again another windy day," reports David Wells. Derek Mangan adds, "On Saturday we had great wind again and the waves were quite a bit cleaner as they finished off the pro men's single elimination final in the morning with Francisco Goya, Kevin Pritchard, Morgan Noireaux, and Nathan Mershon.  I was really stoked to see Morgan make it to the final; the kid is really ripping and saw him hit some sick moves including several Takas and a Crazy Pete during his early heats. Kevin was ripping as usual and had several really solid waves.  Nathan however was killing it as he picked off just about every good set wave that came through right in front of the judges which sealed the deal for him.  Unfortunately for Francisco his inhaul line had snapped in the middle of the heat which pretty much counted him out."  



Day 3 photos: AWT  Harry Wiewel   Roy Ivankoe  Jimmie Hepp  Vinnie Armato


awtwaddell2011153Day 4 Waterhound reports, "Josh Stone won the final day's Expression Session this past Sunday May 8th at Santa Cruz's Waddell Creek as the American Windsurfing Tour wrapped up a highly successful opening.(right - Josh Stone - photos by AWT) The crowd however was blinded by the sight of a scantily clad Troy Collins who braved the line up with only his Helo undershorts. Lets just say he expressed himself.

Stone was his normal stylish self pulling his full repetoire of moves to earn the victory over the 25 other sailors on the water despite the lightest winds sailed during the contest period. Stone's first prize Chinook booms...were promptly handed over to Collins in admiration (or fear) of his 'chilling' performance."

Day 4 photos: AWT  Lori Makabe



Jordan Reid offers up the next video covering the entire event. . 



The last video, an interview with Bernd Roediger, showcases the aspirations of the AWT: the righteous attitude of fun, stoke and competition.



One more report brings us up to date with Brian Caserio. Check him out

Just in case American Windsurfing Tour and AWT Facebook


Postcript  It's going to happen, the late reports...just as essential as the early ones. Sure enough when I sat down to punch out this article, another video. So check back to see if there's new material. This video is from Benoit Ribeiro. BTW, if you Facebook and use the Secure Browsing (https), you may have trouble with the FB links.




Fabrice Beaux, "This competition marked a beautiful return for the Santa Cruz Classic, and a successful first event on this brand new American Windsurfing Tour. Rendez-vous now mid June for the 2nd leg of this championship on another prime US wave sailing spot, located on the magnificent Oregon coast line"...his report with photos.



Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Jeremy Leonard of Surf City Racing takes a look at the AWT


Text and photos by Jeremy Leonard

The American Windsurfing Tour kicked off the first of five events with the Santa Cruz Classic on a windy and desolate beach about 20 miles north of Santa Cruz. Waddell Creek is a hotspot for windsurfing, kiting and surfing, and the wind usually reaches 20 knots every afternoon. The competition saw wind all over the chart and the waves were generally small, but the good times were big! There was more energy, positively, and pure stoke crammed onto the beach than almost any other sailing event that I’ve attended in the past 10 years.

Perhaps the time span between now and the last time this event was held, 10 to 15 years depending on who you ask, had something to do with it. Or maybe it was the super windsurfing hottie and event organizer Sam Bittner (in the photograph wearing red), whose smile and general aura infiltrated every aspect of the entire event. Between heats, Sam could be seen running up the beach in her gear, on her way to do some official duty.  She’s the epitome of a dedicated competitor that also makes events work; you know the type I’m talking about!

She busted ass to make it all come together, and everyone that I talked to both acknowledged and appreciated the effort that she put in. Competitor from Maui, Vinnie, who goes by one name, explains, “She puts her heart into it and you can tell she really loves the sport. She took the reins and made it happen. This event has been awesome; it’s been a huge success. This is the first stop on the tour, and I can only imagine what the next events are going to be like.” Sam explains her motivation, “I wanted to compete and there were no contests, so I started talking to old event coordinators, and they said, ‘No way we’re going to do it again, but you should go for it.’” And that’s exactly what Sam did! She organized the Pistol River Wave Bash last year, which was a huge success.

Sam was on the sailing team at Western Washington University and she signed up for a windsurfing class and fell in love with it. Sam saw a pic of Maui in a windsurfing mag and thought it was so beautiful that she bought a one-way ticket to The Islands with the goal of becoming a professional windsurfer. She left Washington State with $50 in her pocket and she’s on it! Let’s face it, making money off of sailing in the US is hard business. Why does she like windsurfing so much that she would put all of her chips down on a semi-sketchy career path?  “I’m drawn to it because you have all of the power in your hands. I love going so fast and feeling like I’m flying.” When she arrived in Maui, the sponsors started taking note of her skill immediately and signed her on.

Many of the sailors were from Hawaii, and needless to say, I heard a lot of comments on how freaking cold the water is here in NorCal. Despite the nugget-shrinking, nipple-popping cold, and the blustery, inconsistent conditions, all of the 73 competitors had a great time. There were 7 youth, 7 women and the rest men, competing for the top spots in 5 divisions.

There’s a groundswell of newcomers to the sport as proven by the attendance of this event. One of the young competitors. Twelve-year-old Harley Stone (photo left), grew up windsurfing with his dad. “I love it all, I love the speed and the power that the sail generates, I love that part.” Several of the youth even competed in the Expert and Amateur classes with the adults, in addition to sailing in their youth division; giving the adults a run for their money.

Windsurfing local, Troy Collins hadn’t been on the water in 5 years before this event. Collins used to organize an event in the SF Bay called King of the Bay for kiting and windsurfing in 2001. He attributes the rebirth of the sport to the fact that, “Our kids, those of us that made it big in the 80s, are starting to get into it.” I ask the same question at almost every regatta that I attend, “Why do you think sailing lost so many participants in the late 80s and 90s? As soon as someone can answer that, I think we could find some solutions to growing the sport here in the US.

The event coverage was exemplary, with a small company based out of Germany called Maui Nerd Productions, producing some very well edited video clips after the day’s activities. The event website has competitor bios, pics, video clips of the action and the results were posted instantly. All of the info is there, readily available, in a simple format.  I think that this should be the bare minimum new standard for every medium to large sailing event. The effort goes a long way towards making an event legit…and interesting. The crowd on the bluff was huge as a result from the onslaught of local media coverage, and their top notch website. Go take a look at what they have going, it’s good.

Ingrid Larouche
 I’ve organized a ton of sailing events, and I could just feel that this event was driven by a huge wave of dedicated organizers and volunteers, and sure enough, as I dug in, I found that just about everyone that I talked to had their hands on some part of the event. It had more of a family feel than most of the sailing events that I attend across the country.  I feel that this type of group participation is one of the top elements that will move the sport of sailing in a positive direction and into the future here in the US.

Keep an eye on the American Windsurfing Tour’s upcoming events in Oregon, San Carlos, Baja, Hatteras, and Maui. Take a lesson from these folks and participate in planning, organizing and for chrissake, volunteer to be on the RC every once in a while! Make it happen!



Jeremy Leonard
Surf City Racing

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Calendar: August - September - 2011


PWA | Sotaventa, Fuerteventura | July 22 - Aug 1
http://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=38&tx_pwaevent_pi1[showUid]=183&cHash=0eeb92464b

CMWA Championship | Ottawa, Ontario | July 30 - Aug 1
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/6671850/ON/Ottawa/CMWA-Championships/Britannia-Yacht-Club/








AWT San Carlos Cactus Cup | San Carlos, Baja | July 30 - Aug 6
http://americanwindsurfingtour.com/tour/baja/

ABK | Hood River | Aug 1- 5
http://abkboardsports.com/camps/details/224

St. Francis YC Twighlight Series | San Francisco | Aug 5
http://www.stfyc.com/

118th Bay Week Regatta | Put in Bay, OH | Aug 5 - 7
http://i-lya.org/



















Cabrillo Beach Enduro | San Pedro, CA | Aug 6
http://www.cabrillobeachenduro.com/

SDFW | San Diego | Aug 6
http://sandiegowindsurfing.homestead.com/events.html

Gorge Cup | Hood River, OR | Aug 6
http://www.vmgevents.com/gc/index.htm






Cal Cup 4 | San Francisco | Aug 6













Rum and Root Beer Regatta | Shell Point, FL | Aug 6

Menominee Festival Regatta | Menominee, MI | Aug 6 - 7
billjr@tcsainsurance.com

PWA | Alacati, Turkey | Aug 8 - 13
http://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=38&tx_pwaevent_pi1[showUid]=184&cHash=03a72ad9a5

U.S. Techno 293 Nationals | North Chatham, MA | Aug 9 - 11
http://www.techno293.org/page0003v01.htm

BYC Friday Night Race | San Francisco | Aug 12
http://www.berkeleyyc.org/racing/friday/index.html





ABK | Rio Vista, CA | Aug 12 - 14
http://abkboardsports.com/camps/details/210

Original Windsurfer Series | Traverse City, Michigan | Aug 13, 27

Jem Hall Warm Up Week | San Carlos, Baja | Aug 13 - 20
http://www.solosports.net/Holiday%20schedule/schedule.htm

St. Francis YC Twighlight Series | San Francisco | Aug 19
http://www.stfyc.com/

ABK | Rio Vista, CA | Aug 19 - 21
http://abkboardsports.com/camps/details/211

Tour da St. Croix | Prescott WI | Aug 19 - 21
http://www.mowind.org/wp/?page_id=113



Need for Speed Clinic | Maui | Aug 19 - 22
http://www.shawnacropas.com/ShawnaCropas/Blog/Entries/2011/6/10_%E2%80%98A_Need_for_Speed%E2%80%99_Clinic_with_Micah_Buzianis_and_Shawna_Cropas.html

Cal Cup 5 | San Francisco | Aug 20
http://www.calcupevents.com/

Jem Hall WS Bootcamp | San Carlos, Baja | Aug 20 - 27
http://www.solosports.net/Holiday%20schedule/schedule.htm

Ronstan Bridge to Bridge | San Francisco | Aug 25
http://www.stfyc.com/

BYC Friday Night Race | San Francisco | Aug 26
http://www.berkeleyyc.org/racing/friday/index.html

Waconia Wind & Wave | Waconia, MN | Aug 28 - 29
Fleet-8@juno.com

St. Francis YC Twighlight Series | San Francisco | Sept 2
http://www.stfyc.com/






SDFW | San Diego | Sept 3
http://sandiegowindsurfing.homestead.com/events.html

BYC Friday Night Race | San Francisco | Sept 9
http://www.berkeleyyc.org/racing/friday/index.html

ABK | Hyannis Port, MA | Sept 9 - 11
http://abkboardsports.com/camps/details/225

Original Windsurfer Tri-State Championship | Oceanport, NJ | Sept 10
http://www.originalwindsurfer.com/site/pdfs/OrigWindsurferTriStateFlyer.pdf

Chicago Crib Run | Chicago | Sept 10 - 11
windwardjackie@aol.com

Fall Wrap UP - Womens Clinic | Port Bolster, ONT | Sept 11
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/6602449/ON/Port-Bolster/Fall-Wrap-upWomen39s-Clinic/Burgess-Enclave/













Canceled  Wave Xperience Cinics | Hatteras | Sept 11 - 17
http://www.windsport.com/news_article?news_id=1204

PWA | Klitmoller, Denmark | Sept 12 - 18













Canceled  AWT Hatteras Wave Jam | Hatteras | Sept 14 - 17





St. Francis YC Twighlight Series | San Francisco | Sept 16
http://www.stfyc.com/

Milles-Lac Challenge | Garrison, MN | Sept 16 -18
Fleet-8@juno.com

Cal Cup 6 | San Francisco | Sept 17
http://www.calcupevents.com/

Mammoth 29 Marathon | Toronto | Sept 18
http://registration.torontowindsurfingclub.com/newsletter/mammoth29marathon.html

PWA | Sylt, Germany | Sept 22 - Oct 2
http://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=38&tx_pwaevent_pi1[showUid]=186&cHash=ab34ae39c6

BYC Friday Night Race | San Francisco | Sept 23
http://www.berkeleyyc.org/racing/friday/index.html

ABK | Long Island, NY | Sept 23 - 25
http://abkboardsports.com/camps/details/212

Wind Power Championship | Fund Du Lac, WI | Sept 23 - 25


BABA East Coast Championships | Mayo, MD | Sept 24 - 25
http://www.windsurfbaba.org/pages/racing/racing.htm

St. Francis YC Twighlight Series | San Francisco | Sept 30
http://www.stfyc.com/

ABK | Long Island, NY | Sept 30 - Oct 2











Endless Summer Classic | Shell Point, FL | Sept 30 - Oct 2








Canadian events.

More Team USA junior events.

Mowind does a detailed schedule  for the Great Lakes / North Central U.S.

Calcup covers the west coast U.S. races and more.

Maui Race Series.

ABK continuous tour schedule.

U.S. Windsurfing National Racing Tour.

Southeast U. S. events will be found here.

iWindsurf Events page.

Solo Sports events.

PWA World Tour Events.

American Windsurfing (Wave) Tour.

BABA events.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Calendar: July - 2011


HiHo | BVI, Tortola | June 26 - July 3

Aruba Hi-Winds | Aruba | June 29 - July 4
http://hiwinds-aruba.com/

PWA | Lanzarote | Jun 30 - Jul 3
http://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=38&tx_pwaevent_pi1[showUid]=180&cHash=cc34e166de

St. Francis YC Twighlight Series | San Francisco | July 1
http://www.stfyc.com/

Maui Fin Company Open| Kanaha, Maui | July 2
http://www.mauiraceseries.com/

Door County Breeze WS Regatta | Ephraim, WI | July 1 - 3
http://www26.brinkster.com/dcbreeze/

ABK | Rio Vista, CA | July 1 - 3
http://abkboardsports.com/camps/details/208













2011 Formula Worlds | San Juan, Puerto Rico | July 4 - 9
http://www.puertoricoformulawindsurfing.com/

PWA | Pozo | Jul 5 - 10
http://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=38&tx_pwaevent_pi1[showUid]=181&cHash=28950788de

Wednesday Nite Racing | Miami | July 6, 13
http://www.windsurfingtour.com/?p=3585&ref=nf

BYC Friday Night Race | San Francisco | July 8
http://www.berkeleyyc.org/racing/friday/index.html

ABK | Rio Vista, CA | July 8 - 10
http://abkboardsports.com/camps/details/209







SDFW | San Diego | July 9
http://sandiegowindsurfing.homestead.com/events.html

Original Windsurfer Series | Traverse City, Michigan | July 9, 30

Longboard SF Classic/ UN Challenge | San Francisco | July 9 - 10
http://www.stfyc.com/














U.S. Nationals | Berkely, CA | July 11 - 16
http://www.berkeleyyc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79:2011-us-windsurfing-championship-hosted-by-byc&catid=3

PWA | Tenerife | Jul 14 - 20
http://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=38&tx_pwaevent_pi1[showUid]=182&cHash=af6afddace

BYC Friday Night Race | San Francisco | July 15
http://www.berkeleyyc.org/racing/friday/index.html

Quicksilver Cup | Kanaha, Maui | July 16
http://www.mauiraceseries.com/

Reservoir Rendezvous | New London, OH | July 16 - 17
ptsmantua@gmail.com


Techno 293 Worlds & Racebord Masters Worlds | San Francisco | July 19 - 24
http://www.stfyc.com/

BYC Friday Night Race | San Francisco | July 22
http://www.berkeleyyc.org/racing/friday/index.html

PWA | Sotavento, Fuerteventura | July 22 - Aug 1
http://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=38&tx_pwaevent_pi1[showUid]=183&cHash=0eeb92464b

Gorge Cup | Hood River, OR | July 23
http://www.vmgevents.com/gc/index.htm

Water Start Clinic | San Francisco | July 23 - 24
http://boardsportsschool.com/

St. Francis YC Twighlight Series | San Francisco | July 29
http://www.stfyc.com/













Neil Pryde Hawaii State Championships | Kanaha, Maui | July 30
http://www.mauiraceseries.com/













Butterfly Effect | Cabarete, DR | July 30
http://betheeffect.com/home/?p=1126

Gorge Challenge | Hood River, OR | July 30 - 31
http://www.vmgevents.com/gc/index.htm

CMWA Championship | Ottawa, Ontario | July 3o - Aug 1
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/6671850/ON/Ottawa/CMWA-Championships/Britannia-Yacht-Club/






AWT San Carlos Cactus Cup | San Carlos, MEX | July 30 - Aug 6
http://americanwindsurfingtour.com/tour/baja/






Canadian events.

More Team USA junior events.

Mowind does a detailed schedule  for the Great Lakes / North Central U.S.

Calcup covers the west coast U.S. races and more.

Maui Race Series.

ABK continuous tour schedule.

U.S. Windsurfing National Racing Tour.

Southeast U. S. events will be found here.

iWindsurf Events page.

Solo Sports events.

PWA World Tour Events.

American Windsurfing (Wave) Tour.

BABA events.