Windsurf Woody » Woody’s Blog

2011 Moose Regatta

Woody — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 23:09:24 +0000

The 2011 Moose Regatta will be held June 24-26 at Sandy Beach Park on Wabigoon Lake in Dryden, Ontario. Practice day Friday, with racing Saturday & Sunday. We are now part of the US Windsurfing National Race Tour so very excited about that news!

Even more excitement planned for this years event. More news to come in the next month so stay tuned!!

Good winds,

Woody – CAN757

2010 CMWA Canadian Windsurfing Championships

Woody — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 02:18:22 +0000

CANADIAN MASTERS MEN’S DIVISION ENDS IN CLOSE COMPETITION

Dryden – August 9th, 2010 – Although the wind was not always on the side of the competitors at the 2010 Canadian Masters CAN-AM Challenge, the almost three-thousand spectators sure enjoyed the weather! Sixty-five (65) competitors from across Canada and the USA participated in the successfully run three-day event held at Sandy Beach Recreational Park in Dryden, ON. Nine (9) of fifteen (15) races were held over the course of the weekend with good representation from silver, gold and junior fleets.

Overall men’s Masters Champion was Andy Gratton USA3 from Fond du Lac, WI was tied overall in points with Nick Cox CAN32 from Ottawa, but was edged out by earning more first place finishes over the course of the competition. Andree Gauthier CAN83 from Toronto won the women’s Master Championship with a total of 213 points. Daniel Muller CAN87 from Thunder Bay was the overall winner in the Junior fleet.

Other notables were local sailors Darren Kennedy CAN19 from Dryden who raced to earn a 2nd place finish in the Apprentice Masters category and landed up in 10th overall in the men’s competition. Margot Woodworth GER17, also residing in Dryden, topped the women’s Silver fleet.

Congratulations’ goes out to TEAM USA who won the CAN-AM competition by a mere 16 points using a high point scoring system. TEAM USA 1,070 points versus TEAM CAN 1,054 points.

“All of the competitors were very impressed with Dryden as a host community, the infrastructure improvements at the beach and the portable equipment at the venue contributed to the overall success of this national event. Dryden should be extremely proud of how it was able to coordinate its volunteers, sponsors and City departments”, stated Brad Woodworth, a.k.a Woody.

Remembrance…

Woody — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:05:16 +0000

CAN757 Phantom380

Well the snow is on the ground now here in Canada, which means the windsurfing season has almost come to an end. It’s always a sad time of year when you have to put the gear away, and for us this season, it also included our sailboat which we happened to have spent alot of time on the water with this past year. More gear it seems every year, but, more gear always makes for more memories.
A few years ago, a group of us had decided to get a yearly “last sail” in on Nov.11, a national holiday here in Canada called “Remembrance Day“. Remembrance Day is a day of tribute to our fallen Canadian soldiers that have given there lives for country, and freedom as we know it today. We also use this day to remember the season that has passed, and how we charished the moments on the water together. Together in harmony of friendship, wind and water.
Our thoughts will soon turn to snowkiting, watching the kids whip around the lake on the snowmobile, sliding down the hill on the GT snow racer, and warming up in the ice shack. Good times can be had in every season of the year, you just have to make it happen.
Be sure to take the time for remembrance…

Woodette is "The Champ"

admin — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:24:18 +0000

Rigging for Woodette…even in the winter!

Some of the kiters for a group photo. Look at the shine off my goggles!

Marg and I before the race

The Champ in her playground

Paul coming down after a 20′ jump! haha

Margot and Rob “The Professor” Evans (Men’s ski champion)

We are back from another terrific weekend spent with friends and fellow wind junkies at the 4th Annual Kite Crossing. This years event with over 100 registered kiters made it THE largest snowkiting event in North America! And who else better to represent the woman ski class as Champion? Well, non other than our very own Woodette! Holy cow eh!
The winds were forecasted all day Saturday to be steady in direction and speed, but good ol’ Mother Nature proves us wrong again, by mixin’ it up just a bit with a 40 degree wind shift 5 minutes before the start, failing winds halfway through a 32 mile killer thigh burning course, all the while with sunny blue skies above. Paul and I after crossing each other on a few tacks, to get to what was now, the windward mark (remember the 40 degree wind shift?), decided to stop for a ‘rest’ after the international ‘beer signal’ of a hand raised high in the air tilting back n’ forth was seen. I had packed some emergency beer in my backpack for such an occasion, so stopping made sense to us! We decided when we ran out of beer to just head back to the event site and cruise around with some of the other no-competing kiters. Good choice because later, better than half of the racers decided to either turn around, walk, or get picked up on the lake (remember the failing winds?). I was looking for Woodette on the return trip, but with kiters spread out all over the place and just trying to focus on the terrain in front of you, I must have passed her by.
Time passed by back at the event site by trying new gear manufaturer’s had to demo, kiting, chillin’ and socializing. I took my binoculars out to look for Woodette and spotted her still a few miles out struggling to keep her kite in the air with he lack of wind. I contemplated flagging down a snowmobile to go pick her up, but decided to just let her be… Sometime later the wind started to pick up, kiters were out and about then I grabbed everybody’s attention pointing to the sky and Margot’s kite heading to the finish line saying ” now let that be a lesson to all of us!” 3-1/2 hrs later she was cruisin to the finish that none of us made! Awesome stuff!
In the end, it was Woodette. The only woman to finish the race! Back-to-back Summer & Winter Crossing wins! Wow, that is still so unbelievable! By no means is she the most talented kiter or windsurfer, but determination? Well, her wins prove her will to finish!
Put your hands together for our Super-Champ Margot “Woodette” Woodworth!

I wish I was windsurfing….

admin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:17:47 +0000

Call it the winter blahs I guess, but I sure wish I was windsurfing somewhere right now! Windsurfing would mean we would be on water, NOT ice & snow and the temperature would be a whole lot better than we have around this part of the world right now! It’s been so cold and windy, but only windy it seems when I’m out of town without my kite, or at work unable to kite! So, with my snowkiting sessions being few and far in between this winter, my thoughts turn to ’soft’ water, warm temps, sandy beaches, and on and on.
I wish I was windsurfing….

Typical Sunday…

admin — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:56:56 +0000

Knowing there was a warm fire burning in the ice shack, we decided to walk down to the lake and just hang out for a bit. The wind picked up, so we rigged our kites and headed out into the sunset…
Stay Cool….

Annual Hockey Game

admin — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 18:14:25 +0000

Our cheerleading section!

Both teams post game photo

For the past 5yrs now we’ve been gathering at our good friends Barb and Rick’s place challenging the kids to a hockey game on Link’s rink on the lake. The annual ‘Parents vs Kids’ game has become a real highlight of our winter activities. The Parent Team was coming into this year with a perfect 4-0 record, but we quickly found our hands full with a kids squad of 12 and all 6 of us parents trying to defend our title! The kids jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead before we started to claw our way back. In regulation time (first team to score 10), there seemed to be a bit of controversy on how the parents managed to get 10 goals first while the kids had only 8. So with kids dreams almost shattered, we decided on a good ol’ shootout. Well the kids displayed their true ability in whooping our butts 4-0 in the shootout. So a big congrats to Team Kids for finally de-throning “The Champs” after all these years.
We will have our parental revenge! Hmmm, house chores anyone?
Stay Cool…

Winter Snow Kiting

admin — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 17:02:13 +0000

Well this Christmas season has been extremely busy with work, family and everything else I seem to find myself getting into to use up my spare time. I’m making a New Years resolution (haha) to try and not be so busy all the time! I can just hear Woodette saying ” Oh, I’ll find something for you to do”, so I better be careful for what I wish for!
The Woody’s had just a terrific Christmas this year and Woodette is now the proud owner of her first kite! It’s a 6m Flysurfer ‘2Cool’. Quite the appropriate name for her I might add. We flew the kite yesterday on Christmas Day in light winds. It was perfect winds for her to get the hang of flying it. She’s genuinely stoked about learning to snowkite which I think is pretty cool. My younger sister Guin flew in from Toronto to spend Christmas with the family again this year, which I think is pretty cool too!
Guin brought her 9m Monkey ‘Griffin’ kite with her!

Going over the kite safety system(s) with Woodette

Guin hooked in flying my 10m Ozone Access kite

Woodette powered up with my bro Al and Guin in the background

Guin and Woodette filling the sky with colour

Woodette showing us how it’s done! You can see from this video (thanks Al) when one of the previous pictures were taken. Cool!

I trust you all had a very Merry Christmas, and our wishes go out to you for a happy, healthy, safe, enjoyable, full-on ‘ride’ into the New Year.
Have fun in life!!

A little update

admin — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 19:26:32 +0000

After shoveling 4′ snow drifts around the FJ.

Driving back to Dryden in a snow storm. Not fun!

It’s that time of year when we just can’t seem to do much in the area of ‘windsports’. Our lakes have frozen over now, but with the loads of snow we’ve been having the past week(s), it’s making for some uncertain ice conditions. I hope we can get our ice shack out on the lake soon as ‘The Shack’ is a great place to warm up when we go out snowkiting.
Hope you’re all getting ready for Christmas!
Stay Cool…

Windsurfing in Canada: Lesson 101

admin — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 23:52:29 +0000

Windsurfing in Canada late into November requires some serious planning in order to minimize your risk to the elements. I’ve outlined some safety procedures I hope you all benefit from.
Rig your gear (with warm clothes on), then place beer strategically near hot tub…

Pre-warm feet in hot tub prior to hitting the ice cold water…

And I mean ICE-COLD-WATER….

Beach start with water level below “the boys” to prevent major shrinkage…

Sail your ass off until you can’t feel your fingers anymore…

Run back up to hot tub, undress as fast as you can…

Jump in warm hot tub and go Ahhhhhh…

In a nut shell, that’s Windsurfing in Canada 101.
Stay ‘Cool’…