The US Nationals in Worthington, MN
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…
