Windsurf Woody » Windsurfing

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.

2009 Moose Regatta in the news

Woody — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 03:21:03 +0000

2009 Windsurf Regatta

A story run in our local newspaper about The 6th Annual Moose Regatta.
Click HERE
Enjoy!

2009 Moose Regatta

Woody — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 05:02:33 +0000

yes it’s been sometime since my last post no doubt, but what not a better way to start the ‘posting’ season off with an update for our annual Moose Regatta.
You know, there are ‘prizes’ for the winners of a regatta, but then, there is THE PRIZE for the winner of the 2009 Moose Regatta. From the all time best windsurfer on the planet, a personally signed poster from the man himself saying:
“Congratulations to the winner of the 2009 Moose Regatta!! Aloha & keep rigging.
Robbie Naish US1111″
So, it doesn’t get any bigger than this for us at this years Moose Regatta. Something to come and try and snag for yourself! A huge thank you to TBay Ray for getting the autographed poster from Mr. Naish himself while he was in Maui this past April. Very cool to have friends like that!
We are looking forward to another unforgettable regatta. Every year it just gets better and better. I have to thank my friends and family for for all their dedicated time and effort for our event.
Click on the regatta link above to check out the full schedule of events.
Good Winds….

The US Nationals in Worthington, MN

Woody — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 15:24:03 +0000

Formula Class winners L-R: Allison Shreeve (3rd), Fernando Martinez (1st), Ron Kern (2nd)

A-Fleet Open Class winners L-R: Jeff Adamski (3rd), Andy Gratton (2nd), Arden Andersen (1st), Ian House (5th), Woody (4th)

RSX/Hybrid winners L-R: Lisa Kremer (3rd), Richard White (2nd), Beth Williamson(1st)

Sport Class winners L-R: Glen Kremer (3rd), Woodette (1st), Randy Moon (2nd)

Group shot of all the winners. If you look closely you can see Allison Shreeve (3 time World Champion) from Australia, and Stefan Lidington (2004 Canadian Champion) now living in Oregon and many others

Well we’ve been back for almost a week now, but it’s taken me this long to recoup from the gruelling 5 days of racing we had at the US National Championship held in our favourite regatta town, Worthington, MN. We were treated as “exaulted rulers of the universe” by which the local organizers greet their guests who travel to the sleepy little town of Worthington, which is so far south in Minnesota, that it’s almost in South Dakota. We were also treated like slaves (haha) on the water by Kevin Gratton & crew of the race committee who raced us hard, giving us 17 races over 5 days in winds gusting to 35 knots! The strong and determined like Woodette kept pace with the conditions ending up at the end of the regatta in 1st place of the Sport Fleet! So stoked for her to challenge herself like that and not lose focus in the big events. Way to go!! I also sailed hard to a 4th place finish in A-Fleet Open Class with my good friend Jeff Adamski edging me out for 3rd place. Arden Andersen and Andy Gratton both of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin placed 1st and 2nd respectively. Those two guys are from another planet I’m sure! The whole Team World crew had a good showing at the Nats on the water. So many stories from the 5 days it’s hard to put into words. We met and hung out with the editor of Windsurfing Magazine, Josh Sampiero during our time in Worthington. He is a really cool guy who likes what we represent with our Team World concept. I’m sure we’ll be seeing him again at events in the future. This event will be embeded in our memories for a lifetime. Things like screaming arm pain going downwind in 30 knot winds, to thigh muscles that felt like they were melting on the same downwind legs, staying up all night because of Chinese food rejection my body went through after day 3 of racing, hanging out with friends, making new friends, listening to the shoreline jam at night, taking cover in the Kremer’s lake house basemant because of Tornado’s in the area (one touched down just 10km away!) and of course, all the gas stops we had with the Blue Moose!!
To wrap, like it was on our trip, when we pulled into our driveway at home after the 12hr drive back from the Nats, I looked to the top of the trailer and discovered that 2 of my windsurf boards were no longer there!! They must have wiggled themselves loose on the drive back and slid out from the straps. One board was found and returned which was my Mistral Woody Screamer now with a 3″ hole on her deck…[sob]. Very thankful about that the Woody is back! Still missing is my new JP 134 Slalom III. I’ll try and get in a plane and fly over the HWY to see if I can spot the silver bag from the air. I’m sure it’s sitting in the ditch somewhere on the remote HWY to Dryden, but not visible from the road. Keeping my fingers crossed on that.
I’ll create a photo album from the Nats in my Gallery when I get some free time. In the meantime, check out Woodette’s blog for story and pics, plus Dan Norman’s website for over 800 professional pics of the whole event.
Good Winds…

The Dam Jam Windsurfing Regatta

admin — Wed, 21 May 2008 03:53:30 +0000

Josh rippin’ on the JP/7.5

Paul, Woodette, Josh and I made the fun trip to see our friends and compete at The Dam Jam! It started with packing the trailer full of windsurf gear (lots of gear!), then making the 12hr drive to Des Moines, Iowa down Interstate 35. When we left Dryden, there was no green in the trees or grass hardly at all. But as the hours passed by driving south, we felt the air warm, and could see the earth come alive with the rich colours of spring. What a treat for the soul after our long winter.
We arrived late Thursday evening and hung around and caught up with friends. Friday we woke to warm sunny skies with wind! We eagerly rigged the gear for our first rides of the season. It was so nice to be on the water again, I could hardly believe it! Windsurfing in 80 degree weather after leaving our still frozen lakes. Friday night we went to this cool pub called Harbour Grill. It’s actually a floating pub that serves food, gas and booze. Lots of boats and people in the marina made for a fun atmosphere. Jeff ‘Eagles’ Adamski sang his fellow windsurfing faternity “Hotel California” and almost brought the house down! Great times!
Saturday we woke to sunny skies again, but zero wind. No problem though as we sat around and socialized with everyone until just around 1pm, when it looked like someone just threw the fan switch on high, and we watched Saylorville Lake go from glass flat to full-on whitecaps in about 2 miutes. The wind just kept buillding as the day went on reaching gusts of 35knots! Crazy stuff! The Race Committee tried to do some course racing, but with the building winds and bigger waves, it was hard to manage race gear in those conditions, so they decided to do figure 8 slalom the rest of the day getting seven races in after day 1. On the second race of the day they had a “dash for cash” race where I got $50 for 3rd place! First time being paid for a regatta. Hmmm, does that make me a pro now? LOL! Oh boy, we were all exhausted from the extreme racing conditions. Saturday night we partied again at the Harbour Grill til around midnight. We presented Kevin, Don,and Ulf with ‘Canadian Survival Belts’ for the efforts with us as guests of theirs over the years. We had so may laughs with the belts!
Sunday saw lighter winds in the 10-20 knot range where we managed to get in 4 course races before 2pm. We packed the trailer back up and went to the awards. I placed 6th overall in the regatta, Margot sailed great to grab third in Sport Fleet, but our son Josh was the ripper of the family on the weekend snagging FIRST in Sport Fleet! We are so proud Josh for his efforts during the regatta. It was very cool to have three Woody’s on the line! Huge thanks go out to Ulf, Larry, Randy and families for helping out putting on a first class regatta, and looking after our sleeping quarters! Very much appreciated!
For lots of pictures of the weekend click here: The Dam Jam
Next up: The US Nationals in Worthington, MN June 11-15
Stay cool…

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….

2010

Woody — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:59:48 +0000

*Woody competing at the Canadian Championship’s in 2004*

Well, as was announced last week to Dryden’s Centennial Committee and the media blitz that followed, Northwest Ontario Windsurfing (NOW) is super stoked to let you know that Dryden, Ontario will be host to the 2010 Canadian Master’s Windsurfing Championship! This major national windsurfing event will take place Aug 6-9 during the same time as our city’s 100th birthday celebrations, so there will be lots to do for the windsufer’s, and non windsurfer’s alike. I would ask all my wind brother’s and sister’s whom I’ve met over the years to attend our special event in 2010. This is a dream come true for myself and our local windsurfing community. Your attendance in 2010 will be acknowledged with deep gratitude, aaaaand maybe a beer or two You may want to compete in the regatta, or just simply hang out and have a holiday weekend that promises to be full-on in the social dept.
Look for lots more about our windsurfing club NOW and the 2010 Canadian Master’s Windsurfing Championship’s on our soon-to-be website www.windsurfnow.ca
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’…

The last session…

admin — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:16:57 +0000

Guess who is R I G G I N G !

Strat on the liquid mercury…

Surfy rippin’ on her JP180/6.2m

Strat and I blasting on the flat water!

Ooooooo, jibing in the butter flat water!

We’ve been blessed with a late fall that has extended well into November now (yeah to global warmng!) allowing us to windsurf comfortably later than I can ever remember. With just a dusting of snow on the ground, we were all hoping to get out “one-more-time”, but now with the air temps below freezing, it really takes the fun factor out of windsurfing. As it is this time of year, we only windsurf where the flat water is and not take any chances getting smashed on the big part of the lake.
The lakes will freeze over any day now with a calm cold night, then we’ll turn our wind attention towards winter snowkiting. Thanks to my Big Bro Al for standing on the dock freezing his hands taking the pics and video. Woodette and Josh also showed up later in the day (when Josh finished school) for some windsurfing, but they missed out on the photo ops.
Stay Cool…

A sail to remember…

admin — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 03:20:11 +0000

Doing what I do best…rigging, rigging, rigging!

Paul with his wolf ‘block heater’ hat that he wore sailing all day!

Strat warming up his feet in Paul’s ‘hot water’ cooler!

Waiting for the wind at the Dryden Yacht Club.

Woody (9.2m Neil Pryde RS Slalom/Formula board) bundled up to the max!

Woodette (8.5m North sail/Formula Board) before the wind started to crank up.

Strat (9.8m Nitro2/Formula board) winding it up.

Josh (7.5m Neil Pryde V8/JP 160 board) hammin’ it up for the camera!

Paul (10.8m/ML5 Formula board) rippin’ in the flat water!

With today being Remembrance Day, we thought what not a better way to show tribute to our fallen soldiers than to ‘rough it’ a bit windsurfing in the ice-cold-water of Wabigoon Lake. Paul, Strat, Woodette, Josh and myself toughed it out for over 2hrs today. The day was looking like the wind wasn’t going to materialize, but when the clouds cleared, and the vibe started to turn on high, Mother Nature rewarded our patience with some awesome planing conditions for a day to remember with windsurfing in November! We kept the Blue Moose running with the heater on for a toasty warm place of refuge post session, and Paul also filled up a cooler full of hot water for anyone that needed to warm their feet/hands up mid session. What a great idea!!
All in all, an awesome November day on the water with family and friends!!
Stay Cool…