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Image: Shane Baker
US Sailors Compete at the 2023 Windsurfer World Championships in Perth, Australia
Brett (USA 13) charging out at the pin end Photo: Shane Baker
Way to go Lanee Beashel, Mark Powell, Brett Davis, and Jaime Malm! These seasoned windsurfers, hailing from various parts of the US, recently competed in the 2023 MPS Windsurfer World Championships hosted by the South of Perth Yacht Club in Australia. They became part of a huge fleet comprised of international participants and a hefty number of talented Aussies hungry to represent their home country.
All smiles before the races: Jaime, Mark, Brett
Homage to the hometown club
Jaime and Brett staying cool in the shade
The event opened with two days of course racing. On Day 1 conditions on the Swan River were “light and shifty”. Day 2 got “super sporty” as Brett described it, with the Freemantle Doctor kicking in in the afternoon bringing gusts to the mid twenties.
screaming reach
racing trim
good start!
screaming reach
Photos: Shane Baker
The marathon was held in a solid 18-24 knot breeze on the afternoon of day 3. From the photos and drone footage, it looked as if the start line of colorful sails stretched on for miles! It proved to be a tough race, putting competitors to the test on screaming reaches with big gusts and spray flying off the boards.
Photo: Shane Baker
Days 4, 5, and 6 saw slalom action, freestyle, and the conclusion of course racing. Brett was especially happy with his results in slalom, this being his first time competing in that discipline. Thank you Brett and Mark, for posting daily updates to the USWCA Facebook page so onlookers from afar could revel in the incredible athleticism on display, pick up a rigging tip or two, and share in the excitement of meeting new friends from around the world.
charging off the wind
heading upwind
start of the marathon
charging off the wind
Photos: Shane Baker
If you followed the action on social media, you’d have noticed many comments from competitors, organizers, and others about the spirit of sailing in the Windsurfer Class: it’s 50% fair racing and 50% social fun. As Mark said in one of his posts, “The windsurfer class is all about inclusivity, fun, and fair racing…a class that’s inclusive enough to add age categories!” Mark, who’s sailed in several world championships over the years, earned 1st Place in the Super Legend age group in his weight category.
Mark with fellow medalists and super legend competitors
Lanee, a four-time Olympic windsurfer currently living in Australia, sailed a fantastic regatta to finish 1st place overall in the women’s division. We also want to mention Valentina Vix, sailing in her second Windsurfer worlds in a row, who represented Venezuela but lives and sails in Florida. She finished 8th overall in the women’s fleet.
For Brett and Jaime, both top-level racers in several sailing classes, this was their first world championship experience on a Windsurfer, and they were stoked. Congratulations to all —Lanee, Mark, Brett, Jaime, and Valentina — for your effort and achievement!
Brett with 1984 Olympic gold medalist and former Windsurfer world champion Bruce Wylie
Everyone had a fantastic experience and all agreed that the Australians put on an amazing event. As Brett said, “The Aussie hospitality was the best!”
Cheers to our windsurfing friends Down Under!
For the complete wrap-up from Perth: www.sopyc.com.au/windsurfer-worlds-2023/
West Coast Tour Galleries: The Gorge, Seattle, Sacramento, Foster City
First stop: The Gorge 7/7-9/2023
photos and videos: Caroll-Ann Alie
Gorge Olympic Cup: Windy and Wild! Mark Powell
This event was conceived and organized by Caroll-Ann Alie the past three seasons. In Cups 1 and 2 the IQ Foil Olympic windsurfing class was featured but this season the Olympic contenders were all in Europe competing to represent Team USA at the Paris Olympics. Therefore a seasoned, mature Olympic class was brought in, the Windsurfer LT Class, which first appeared (in slightly heavier and lower tech form) in the Demonstration event of the 1984 LA Olympics. Cobra International provided a fleet of ten boards to kick off the West Coast Windsurfer LT Tour, and the Gorge Olympic Cup at Stevenson, WA was the first stop. The 3-day event started out (once all the boards and rigs were fitted out) with a rigging clinic on the spacious lawn at Bob’s Beach. Many mature athletes who were out sailing their own windsurfing or foiling gear stopped by to marvel at the board that they first learned on and one brave soul, Stefan from Arizona, donned his helmet for an evening sail in afternoon winds gusting to 25 kts. In the evening Caroll-Ann prepared a spread and we enjoyed dinner in the Ponderosa Room of the Pine and Wilder Resort.
Saturday the races were delayed a bit until the women’s 6 person outrigger canoe downwind race started (a spectacular sight on its own). By noon a windward-leeward windsurfer course was set by PRO Craig Daniels with help from mark setter Karl Waldman and his helpers RIley Powell and Spencer Duffy, and a few rugged sailors went out into winds already gusting above 25 kts. Our star Olympian and race organizer Caroll-Ann was sidelined by a hand injury but was out on patrol in her Tornado RIB. Saturday’s races were dominated by former Canadian National Team members Gabrielle and Stefan. It was their first time on the LT but they proved it can be raced in winds that were now gusting over 30. Also impressive for even getting out to the race course were Greg Mejlaender, Stefan from AZ, Joe Waldman, and Barbara Belt, who had the flattest LT sail I have ever seen. My goal for Saturday was to just go for a sail and I did…. I lasted about 5 minutes just before the start of the outrigger canoe downwinder. Saturday night we returned to the Ponderosa Room at Pine and Wilder for Pizza and craft beer.
On Sunday races started at 9:00 am in much more approachable 12 kts and five races were held. By the 5th race only 3 sailors were still standing and the wind was nuking again like it was on Saturday. Again it was a Canadian National Team reunion but Barbara Belt and I were able to mix it up a bit with them in a couple of races. There were some lead changes and strategic decisions to be made. The west wind was shifty and gusty and the current was going against the wind, and stronger mid river than closer to shore. Timing the starboard lay line tack was crucial to catch the “elevator” (favorable upwind current) without over standing the mark. I was very happy to sail 3 races!
We all had a blast reintroducing the windsurfer class to the Gorge! Special thanks to the tireless efforts of Caroll-Ann Alie “She’s here, She’s there, She’s f’ing everywhere” driving 120 miles roundtrip each day, patrolling on the water, driving the 26ft Uhaul Truck across white-knuckler bridges, unloading boards, recycling cardboard, you name it she was doing it! Thanks also to our various West Coast Tour supporters: Cobra International for providing a fleet of charter Windsurfer LT’s, Chinook for providing harness lines for all the charter boards, Columbia Gorge Racing Association, Goya, Arntson Marine, Tajima-Direct Lenses, and Pine and Wilder for letting us use the Ponderosa Room at their race site cabin resort.
Lots of stoked and thankful longboard sailors enjoyed the Windsurfer revival!
Second Stop: Seattle's Lake Washington 7/14-16/2023
The Seattle Windsurfer Cup was hosted at the Sail Sand Point Community Boating Center on Lake Washington. Local boardsailor Greg Mejlaender put together an awesome event with a full schedule of clinics, social sails, fun races, and apres-sail gatherings. A sizable group of boardsailors from all over the Seattle area and beyond came out to try the Windsurfer LT’s and were treated to beautiful weather and fair winds. Many thanks to Greg and his volunteers for organizing the event!
Video: Caroll-Ann Alie
Big smiles all around!!
Photos: Caroll-Ann Alie and Greg Mejlaender
Third Stop: Sacramento, CA 7/29-30/2023
On the Road Again…that could have been Caroll-Ann’s theme song this tour, as she drove the charter fleet from the Gorge event to Seattle and back again and then to Sacramento! Participants had two great days of sailing in sunny, warm breezes and warm water. Organizer John Mathias hosted the event at the Lake Washington Sailing Club, a friendly and laid-back spot popular with local sailors and windsurfers. Course racing filled the day on Saturday with Bradley Wilson coming out on top. On Sunday the day started with a skills clinic for all, followed by a pursuit race up the shipping channel. Thank you John, Caroll-Ann, Owain, and the great group of volunteers from the club who made this a fantastic weekend!
Photos: Caroll-Ann Alie and Owain Chilton
Fourth Stop: Foster City, CA 8/5-6/2023
Fantastic fun and racing was had on the Foster City Lagoon, home of Fleet 18. Many thanks to our USWCA board member Owain Chilton and his family for organizing two great days of sailing and socializing. The Lagoon was a perfect spot for enjoying time on the water -- with easy access, plenty for friends and family to do shoreside, and spectator-friendly!
Photos: Dana Chilton and Owain Chilton
West Coast Tour Announcement!
3rd Annual Gorge Olympic Cup welcomes the Original Windsurfer Class!
The Port of Skamania, the Columbia Gorge Racing Association, along with the City of Stevenson will once again host the 3rd Annual Gorge Olympic Cup, July 7-8-9th, 2023 at Bob’s Beach. This year’s windsurfing regatta will differ slightly from years past, as most Olympic hopefuls (IQ Foilers) are headed to Europe, right after their journey in Long Beach, CA. These athletes are vying to be the sole USA representative at next year’s Paris Olympics and are therefore attending high caliber international events in July and August to get that extra edge. Most will either compete in the U21 World Championship in Switzerland, the Olympic Test Event in Marseille, France and /or the IQ Foil World Championships in The Hague, Holland. So, it is highly unlikely that IQ foilers (aka the Ferraris) will make it to The Gorge this Summer. However, at this time next year, a vast majority of those IQFoil athletes will have lost their 2024 Olympic Trials. That means that both national and international IQFoil team members will be turning their Olympic efforts to the US. They will be visiting us again real soon, all in preparation for the 2028 Olympics in LA. Word on the circuit is that “they can’t wait to come back to train and race in The Gorge!”
So, the organizers decided to fill the gap, and slot another fun Olympic windsurfing class, the Windsurfer LT for the Gorge Olympic Cup. The “Old School” Windsurfer Class will step in and join in on the fun. The rising popularity of the newly resurrected Windsurfer LT is due to its amazing performance in a variety of wind and sea conditions. Upwind performance is outstanding, thanks to the significant upwind angles that are granted by the board shape and racing daggerboard. The width and stability of the LT board makes it perfect for schools and/or used as a SUP. This was a crucial component to successfully relaunch the sport of windsurfing worldwide. The Windsurfer LT is both affordable and caters to both the young and the old alike. The Original Windsurfer was first featured in the ’84 Olympics as a demonstration event (slalom, freestyle, long distance and course racing) while the Medal Olympic event was raced on the Windglider that same year.
The newly formed US Windsurfer Class Association (USWCA) is supporting this event by providing brand new Windsurfer LT boards to charter for those that simply want to fly in and race. USWCA has organized a friendly “West Coast Tour” (WCT) that all starts at Bob’s Beach in Stevenson, WA. This is a unique opportunity to showcase One-Design racing in windsurfing and to reignite the love of racing, fun socials and community feel. It promises to be quite an exciting Tour. The mission of the Windsurfer Class is about 50% fair racing and 50% socials and fun. The format of the WCT is a 3-day event. The first day is for competitor’s onsite registration, distribution of chartered equipment, tune up clinics, sports nutrition/fitness talks, and mentoring for competitors who are new to the game and would benefit from some coaching. The next two days are fun racing and socials.
After The Gorge Olympic Cup, the Windsurfer LT charter equipment will head to Seattle (July 14-16, 2023) for the Seattle Windsurfer Cup on Lake Washington. The next stop on the circuit will be in Sacramento, CA also on a body of water called “Lake Washington” (July 28-30, 2023), and to wrap things up the final stop will be in the San Francisco area at the Foster City Lagoon (August 4-6, 2023).
So let’s LT in 2023!
Stephen C Smith Regatta Recap
The 50th Stephen C. Smith Memorial Regatta was held April 28-30 in beautiful Shell Point, Florida. Shell Point Sailboard Club (SPSC) hosted the Windsurfing races beachfront on the scenic, shallow waters of Apalachee Bay. Saturday started out sunny and warm with a nice SE breeze, but the threat of stormy weather moving in later had the organizers hustling to to get some races in. A modified triangle course was set close to shore with the option of a beach or on-the-water start, and a finish line that guaranteed a thrilling end and maybe a an unintended sanding of your skeg if you didn’t jump off in time. Two races were fired off with very close finishes in the Windsurfer LT class. Local LT sailor Mark Powell took line honors for the first race, followed by Rinn Newmeyer of Sanibel. The second race had Lianne Dunbar of Annapolis just edging out Powell for a 1-2 photo finish. The skies were quickly darkening and races were suspended for the rest of the day, so it was off to the beer truck across the street for some awesome fellowship and tasty local brews. Later on, the festivities for the evening included a locally catered shrimp dinner with all the fixin’s at the Apalachee Bay YC with all the racers, families, friends and neighbors.
We woke up Sunday to gale warnings of gusty westerly winds. Luckily the land and flat water moderated the effects of the wind; top gusts were more in the 20-25 knot range over the oyster bars! Two all-comers slalom races were held with the Windsurfer LT’s performing very well with the high-tech open class boards in big wind. There were a few spectacular wipe outs and crowded mark roundings, but the LT performed spectacularly in the conditions, jibing inside the finned boards and streaking across the flat water— who could ask for anything better?? Cody from Sandy Point Progressive Sports in Daytona brought a load of Windsurfer LT charter boards and all were used during the event. It was great to see the interest generated in the class, with local sailors giving lessons and demos during the day and sailors trading stories and tuning tips. People traveled from up and down the east coast to enjoy the sailing here. Congratulations to all the novice sailors who stuck it out in the challenging conditions and managed to finish with a smile! Also kudos to Rinn Newmeyer and others like him who jumped on an LT for the first time and hadn’t raced in ages but loved it.
What a great crowd there was at this regatta! This was the fiftieth running of the event, a memorial to a beloved member of the community. That love was evident in the spirit of the event with the incredible camaraderie and generosity of the hosts. There were over 200 registrants and at least $50,000 raised to benefit the American Cancer Society. Many thanks to all the organizers, fellow sailors, and super friendly neighbors who made this such a fun, memorable weekend.
A fellow windsurfer just shared this great article about the resurgence of windsurfing and the background behind the development of the Windsurfer LT! Read it here: Phuket expat spurs windsurfing renaissance
