The Dam Jam Windsurfing Regatta

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…