Alex Caviglia race 2009 Miami
One more time Miami will be the spotlight on formula windsurfing here for more pictures final results
One more time Miami will be the spotlight on formula windsurfing
End of the 1st day of racing: Provisional results Wilhelm in first, Gonzalo on 2nd and Jimmy on third. Three races were run on shifty 8 to 15 knots.
Very long upwind-downwind course. Around 55 competitors..more news tomorrow..skippers at 9 am..
03:22 Race 3
The wind dropped so the race committe decided to make the small course option which consisted on 1 lap only and a very short upwind finish after the bottom mark.
The upwind was very tactical and hard to say which side was gona pay off. Gonzalo seemed to be dominanting the first half but then Jimmy going left of the course had a good comeback. Gonzalo rounded on 1st, followed by Jimmy and Wilhelm. Gonzalo sailed into a whole and both ISV11 and BRA999 capitalised and jybe early. It was game over for ARG3 as he got seaweed on his fin and had to stop on the low..the fight was on between Jimmy who wanted a bullet and Wilhelm.
They rounded the bottom gate practically at the same time on opposite tacks. The did around 50 mt and both tack at the same time and it was a sprint to the finish,, probably the most exiting moment of the day. Jimmy on port barely cross the line in front of Wilhelm by 1 board length. Gonzalo took third followed by Steve Bodner.
1st BRA999 (1,2,2)
2nd ARG3 (2,1,3)
3rd ISV11 (3,4,1)
4rth USA4 (5,3,4)
03:19 Race 2
The wind got stronger, up to 15 kt. Some guys went back and changed to 11s. Jimmy and Gonzalo stayed on 12, Wilhelm stayed in 10.7 too.
This race Gonzalo took a very good lead after the first lap. BRA999 who was quite closed catapulted on the first downwind after hitting something in the water.
On the second upwind Gonzalo far in front just covered Wilhelm and Steve Bodner who was right there hiting every shift.
ARG3, BRA999, USA4, ISV11, and then Steve Silvester.
03:11 Race 1
Gonzalo rounded on 1st with a big lead while Wilhelm and Jimmy had to double tack the upwind mark. ARG3 sailed into a whole on the upwind so opened the game again for the second upwind.
Gonzalo and Wilhelm battle for the 1st place all second upwind and downwind. Gonzalo opened the lead but it was Wilhelm that took the first bullet taking advantage at the very end that Gonzalo fall on his last tack to the finish. Jimmy was on third quite back followed by Ron Kern who had an excellent race.
03:08 End of the 1st day of racing:
Provisional results Wilhelm in first, Gonzalo on 2nd and Jimmy on third.
Three races were run on shifty 8 to 15 knots. Very long upwind-downwind course. Around 55 competitors..more news tomorrow..skippers at 9 am..
00:35 sorry.. but no news yet about racing in miami. We hoped to have live coverage from the event site -but a problem with the internet connection. a report on the first day as soon as we get it.
18th January '09
The ACBC regatta will take place this comming weekend , fomula rock stars from the USA and the world will battle hard this weekend for the NORTH AMERICAN TITLE , the list of windsurfers include names like Gonzalo , Shurminator, Jimmy Diaz , Dave Kashy, Fernando Martinez (US National Champ), Steve Sylvester, Steve Bodner, Ron Kern, Eduardo Owen, Martin Abete, Farrah Hall, Rick Randall , Alex Morales and many more . Stay tuned for more info as well pictures of the training and tuniing the next couple days here for more pictures
Alex Caviglia Blue Water Regatta 2008
Bluewater Regatta Wrap Up....................
The final day brought us what we had all been waiting on, wind! Though many competitors were freaking out about the potential for nuclear winds, with iwindsurf reporting winds around 34 knots an hour to the North, we never quite got there. The race committee was also a bit worried and set the course closer to land, with the upwind mark only 50 yards from shore in the lee of some giant condos.......
By the first start, which was missed by about half the fleet, there were gusts solidly over 20, and the holes in the wind, especially around the upwind mark were just as large. The famous Biscayne Bay weeds were there too, which added to the challenge. A port favored line, mad the final races of the event quite an experience. In the third race of the day, the wind shifted and made a starboard start catastrophic ( what was I thinking! ). The final race was held as the breeze died off, and as in the earlier races, finding a puff as you rounded the upwind mark was critical to success.
Standouts at this race were of course Jimmy Diaz, the winner, who was incredibly consistent and had great speed on all points of sail with his 2008 F2 and 08 North Warps. Last year's winner Micah Buzianas came in second after a tie breaker and sailed really well too on his 2007 NP's and Starboard( hmmmm thought he was sponsored by JP.....). In third was Mathias Pinheiro who was really fast on his 2008 F2 and 2008 North Sails also, and he is really a nice guy too ( he smiles and waves as he flies past you). Local hot shot Fernando Martinez was hot on their heels riding a 2008 F2 and new Norths also. With all the North Sails out there, it must have been really hard to tell who was doing what from a distance! Ron Kern was doing well out there on his NP/Mike's Lab also, narrowly beating Steve "the Professor" Sylvester. Also in the top 10 were Vincent Barre on the new Exocet/Aerotech, Robert Willes on NP/?, and Peter Ifju on North and his homemade special the first 2 days, and then using his L7 ML the last day. Britt "I love the light air" Vieheman on TR 3/Starboard 161 was next in line. The windsurfer of the year Alex Morales sailing a 2007 F2 with some custom plates, and using 2008 Norths, was hanging in there in the varied conditions. Raul in his first major race, sailed really well too. Part time local Natalie did really well especially as the wind picked up, with some blazing speed downwind. Eduardo who was feeling under the weather was still fast out there, and would have finished higher if not for some equipment failure in one race. Alex Stahnkie came down as had some good results, and another young guy, Pieter Botha all the way from Texas was fast and showed great promise. Alas, this reporter did not fare very well with the light wind the first 2 days, and managed to find every hole downwind, after getting to the top mark in 6th to 10 th place in each race on the final day.........
We will have some detailed equipment reviews, and impressions coming from Team Miami members soon, as well as interviews with some of the key players. All we can say at this point is North and F2 look to be good bets for 2008!
Rick Randall
Day 2--------------------- Well, the wind never really materialized today, hovering around barely planable conditions with tantalizing puffs that lasted only a few minutes. The often present Biscayne Bay weeds and weekend boat chop contributed to the difficulties. Of course the top guys managed to make it around the course but it was obvious