As the glow from last weekend is just beginning to wear off, I have three things on my mind. The first is to thank and share the names of the key people who made the event happen. So thank you:
Mike Burns: Organizer, and King of the East!
Thom Hering: Organizer, and King of the Mic.
Joe Natalie: Race Commitee, and generous provider of the safety boat.
Jill Marr: Official Scorekeeper.
Bill Doutney: Official Photographer.
Warren Anderson (of Bestway Tools) donated the custom screwdrivers.
Dan Lefkowitz provided flags, racing marks and ground tackle.
Ocean Air provided the GPS units and demo sails.
Lee Owens designed the logo and trophies.
Joe and Dave at the Parks department for their support.
The second thing on my mind in the 2009 East Coast Windsurfing Festival. I'm told it's going to happen, and that it's going to be bigger an better than this year's, yet with all the charm and fun of our inaugural.
If you have ideas for what would be great to add or change, please leave your thoughts here (or tell His Lordship Mike Burns King of the East, or Thom, if you know them.)
The third item is figuring out how to beat Pete!
(Here are two bonus thoughts for you: People did very well in the racing with 20+ year old longboards! So if you have such a thing in your garage (I literally dug mine out from beneath a brushpile) dust it off and get it into halfway decent shape. Also note that there is "vintage longboard racing" scheduled for August on the Great Peconic...contact Windsurfing Hamptons for details.
The other bonus thought is to note the observation made by George Marr (current front page star of New England Windsurfing Journal, and husband of Queen of the East Jill Marr) before the freestyle "sports" finals: All the competitors were graduates of ABK freestyle clinics. Freestyle is easier than it looks, and a lot of fun, and ABK makes it easy to learn. There will be an ABK Freestyle clinic this September (9/19-21) out at Napeague...come check it out. There is also a "regular" ABK clinic the week before which will include some freestyle instruction.)
(Photos by Bill Doutney)
I'm loving it. From all appearances it looks like you guys had a great time.
Posted by: Joe Rouse | June 12, 2008 at 08:36 PM
It looks like you had a fantastic turnout! It reminds me of the good ol' early days of the sport. Cape Cod events used to get big crowds for your typical weekend regatta or crossing. I have a t-shirt collection from those days. One of my favorite events had a live steel drum band, barb-b-que, and demo tents set up on the beach in front of a nice hotel, good fun. I always liked being surrounded by windsurfers and windsurfing chatter, total windsurfing immersion for a weekend.
Posted by: scooper | June 14, 2008 at 01:11 AM
Yup this sure was a great event!!!!
This event was way over due for the area.
The only way to keep people interested in this sport are with festivals like this one.
Thanks again to all who made this happen.
See you guy's out there next year.
Pete
Posted by: Pete | June 14, 2008 at 06:36 AM
Scooper, come on down next year...join us all as we sail in Pete's spray! Joe, I know it's a long haul from Cali but if you're in the area, we'll arrange some gear for you.
Posted by: Michael | June 14, 2008 at 12:14 PM
I had a great time, but would have liked to see more women participating. It would have been great to have races and heats that were all women! To all you girls out there-please make an appearance and join the fun! :)It is just not fair for me to have all of this fun to myself! See ya next year!
Posted by: Jill | June 14, 2008 at 06:38 PM