Getting Ready for the Miami ISAF World Cup

The New Year Windsurfing Regatta and RS:X - Techno 293 training clinics were held at the Banana River Resort in Cocoa Beach, drew nearly 30 participants and ended Sunday, Jan 4. Long time Olympic hopeful Beth Winkler was the driving force behind the regatta. Beth has put a tremendous amount of energy into renovating the resort for its guests and training athletes. Now the RS:Xers are focused on continued preparation for the Miami OCR, ISAF World Cup, Jan 25 - 31. For the Americans, the best eligible finisher will qualify for the 2nd position on the U.S. Sailing Team and best U.S. finisher will qualify for the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto.

Farrah Hall, 33 year old, 2012 London Games RS:X and 2015 U.S. Sailing Team member (won by being the best U.S. finisher at the 2014 RS:X Worlds in Spain) has been a full time active RS:X campaigner since before the 2008 China Games. Her years of hard work and training have made her the best female RS:X racer in America. She won every race at the just finished Cocoa Beach regatta. Even though the U.S. has yet to qualify for the 2016 Rio Games, she's confident the U.S. will complete the mission at the 2015 RS:X Worlds where 6 additional country slots are up for grabs. Farrah Hall Blog

Marion Lepert, a Stanford University sophomore and U.S. Sailing Team member is caught between her commitment to college and an unquenched Olympic thirst. She left the New Year Regatta, Sunday in Cocoa Beach, to start classes on Monday back in California. She'll miss classes later this month to return to the ISAF Olympic Class World Cup Series in Miami, hopefully to learn more about her real chances in the Olympic herd. Marion Lepert Blog

Diana Detre, 31 year old, 2 time, China and London games, RS:X competitor for Hungary is here in Florida testing the water for another campaign. Back troubles and a dose of burn out have kept her away from competition and training. She's back for a month with questions that need answers about how well she really is and whether Olympic training is a real possibility. In 2012, before the London Games when windsurfing was afraid they might lose their chance to compete in Rio to kite racing, Diana and a few others had the chance to test and evaluate a new RS:X prototype board. With a healthy quantity of used gear on the market, the Class decided not to adopt the new design because they feared the financial burden on the development of the class. Even though they liked the new fin, the test team really didn't see much performance difference in the new, lighter hull.  They were worried the lighter board might not survive a new racer's learning curve. But Neil Pryde still hopes the Class will adopt their new RS:X Evolution Concept.


Dominique with Beth

Dominique Vallee, 40 year old Canadian windsurfing coach once qualified for the Olympics, broke her leg and missed the chance to compete. She organized and ran the just completed Banana River Resort clinic/regatta and claims she is at peace with being a coach. Her friends privately wonder if she'll throw her hat into the ring for one more Olympic campaign.

2016 - The last chance for North American countries to get into the Rio Games for RS:X will be at the Miami ISAF World Cup event in late January, 2016 where one slot is available for women and two for the men. Who will represent the U.S. for RS:X at the Rio Games? The best combined finisher in the two 2016 ISAF World Cup events in Miami and Spain.