Why should you participate at local windsurfing races? 

By Sergio K. 'reluctant racer'

 

I'm not very competitive, don't do well under pressure and get a bit claustrophobic when someone sails too close to me,

so I ask myself why I always participate in local windsurfing races. My initial motivation is just be a part of the community and

support my sport, it takes a lot of effort to pull off a racing event, and the least I could do is sign up for it.

Here're some of what I've learned over many years of participating at the local regattas:

1. If you can complete 50% of your non-plaining jibes, you're ready to race!

   (ALL levels are always welcomed)

2. You get to meet great friendly bunch of people

3. You'll be surprised how much you can learn just by pushing yourself a bit harder

and watching what others can do on the water (every race I learn something new)

4. You'll get to check out latest gear and see if marketing hype has any merit

5. And last but not least, take it easy, be a bit careful and you'll have more fun

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Interview with Dave Kashy:  The Fin Maestro         by Rick Randall

Rick Randall:  So Dave, the first question is, when did you first start windsurfing and where?

Dave Kashy: I first started windsurfing in 1980 while in college at Michigan State University . My folks have a lake house on Lake Lansing , and the neighbor (blond bombshell) had a stock windsurfer. It was a good time.

RR:  And how about racing, when did you start?

 DK:  I started racing sail boats probably in 1970 with my folks, we started in a Ghost 13, moved to Flying Dutchman, the Hobie 16, Lasers. In college I raced Flying Juniors, Hobie 16’s and 470’s for the MSU sailing team. I did not race a sailboard until 1986. It was the Timex de Liberte tour event on Superlights at the Ocean Front in Virginia Beach .

 RR:  And what is your professional background?

DK: I’m a Licensed Professional Engineer and practice mechanical engineering at Jefferson Lab in Newport News Virginia. (www.jlab.org)

 RR:  What is it about windsurfing that captured your interest?

 DK: I’ve been a sailor since we first designed a complete rig to sail our canoe in the late 60’s. I just love to be on the water and enjoy the ability to self propel (no paddling).

 RR:  At what point did you become interested in designing and building fins?  What was the evoultion there?

 DK: I’ve always built things. With my dad we always had projects to do and we still do. With sailing boats there is never a time when something can’t be made better or has to be repaired. Over my nearly 30 years I’ve built boards and fins in several stints. The first board I built was in 1986 an 8’ 0” board that was extremely similar to the Hypersonic. It was FAST, but it took over a year to learn to jybe it.  I built fins on and off over the years. In 1996 I ordered my first custom from Curtis Hesselgrave for the US Nationals. In the beginning of the formula period I was working with Bill Kline and Curtis Hesselgrave to help them improve weed and formula fins. Later I worked with Curtis to develop some new shapes and then I started to work on construction. This is when Kashy Fins started, fall 2004.

 RR:  For the past couple of years, it seems that the only way to win was to be on a Kashy fin.....Did you ever think it would turn out to be such a big thing when you started out? 

 DK:  It is not really true that one can only win on a Kashy. Antoine dominated the World Championship on a non Kashy fin in Fortaleza in 2007. A friend of mine in San Francisco seemed to know that my fins would become popular, but I had no idea how in demand they would become.  

RR:  It became obvious when your fins became available, that this was a very underdeveloped part of the whole equipment package.  Now there are a few new names in that arena, how much farther can the technology be pushed?  What direction can it go?

 DK; I’m still learning things, other guys will learn too. It is hard to predict what will happen next, it just takes 1 a-ha  moment and something new pops up!

 RR:  What is the real difference between a Kashy fin and some of the others out there?

 DK: That I can not say, I have not sailed anything but Kashy fins for 4 years.

 RR:  What is it about Formula windsurfing that you like more than other aspects? 

 DK: I love all forms of windsurfing, that’s why I carry around so much gear. I recently started sailing my slalom gear more and have enjoyed the speed. Formula allows me to go places and do long distance cruising. I really enjoy this “sailing” aspect of windsurfing. I also enjoy tuning my gear and testing my fins.

 RR:  You are known as one of the top US Formula racers, how do you push yourself to get to the top?  Is it, mental? Physical? 

 DK: Doing well in racing is a combination of sailing skills, physical preparation, mental preparation and knowing your gear. I like to cross train to keep in shape, I road bike, lift weights, windsurf and I build fins… all of which are great exercise.

 RR:  The waiting list for your product is world famous, what is it like these days?  Maybe you could detail for us some of the reasons why it takes soo long to get one, and why they cost...............how much?

 DK: Rick, you are indeed correct that the list is quite long. These fins are built by hand and thus are somewhere between hardware and artwork. I have many priorities in my life and these include my full time job at Jefferson Lab, my family, my training and fins.

 RR:  Any plans to ever make a more mass market version?

 DK: I have been thinking about ways to increase production. I will only do it if and when I can be sure that the performance and quality is just as high as it is now. 

 RR:  Any parting thoughts?

 DK: Doing this has allowed me to meet many fun and interesting people around the world including many of the world’s best windsurfers. Getting feedback from top guys and incorporating it into designs, doing development and testing is the most fun part of fin design.

 Thanks Dave, See you on the water!

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Florida Windfest, organized in partnership between Sandy Point Progressive Sports and Calema Windsurfing is coming up April 19 and 20!!        Kona and Formula together forever........

The faithful came from near and far to the hallowed ground of Kelly Park to enjoy a weekend filled with fun.  The Kona sailors and the Formula sailors set aside their differences and joined together for the love of this cool sport.  And the wind gods looked down upon them and said it was all good!   Steve and Marty rallied us all together once again with Tinho's support for some serious fun.  The wind was on the light side for Saturday, and the Kona sailors were sent out for a few races before we lunched behind the shop.  After wards, the Formula sailors received their commandment to get out to the race course.  The first race was held in very puffy winds, which left many slogging for periods, but the race was completed by all.  The second race was held in a dying breeze, and not everyone was able to make it around the course .

Just before dark, the breeze began to fill in nicely and Peter (the wizard), Ron and Alex the Magazine Star, went out for some testing and tuning.  During the days racing, Peter and Ron using the absolutely amazing new Ifju fins, were unbeatable.  So they went out to see how they performed against the exalted Kashy fins........Now you get to hear it here first:  There is a new standard in performance and the line is all ready beginning to form, so que up quickly!  Soon an interview will appear on this site with the man himself, so stay tuned!     After dark we gathered around the hall of the king (Peter's Airstream), to break the pita bread and drink the wine.  At some point late in the evening we tried to solve the country's problems, including the mainstream windsurfing media's lack of support of what is really going on at the local beaches.  Formula is growing (but did not even appear in the 25 year history of the sport according to one mag) and it is impossible to know about it unless you read about it here.  Kona is an amazing thing bringing many new and old sailors to the sport, yet there are no reports seen in the magazines......We decided that we would begin to raise our voices and demand that the media and the manufacturers both begin to respond to the customers, not the other way around!    Sunday got off to a bit later start, with the offshore winds building as the day went.  The Kona sailors once again went out first, and did their thing.  It is really a great pattern begun last year, of combining the Kona and Formula classes together at races.  Though there was some kidding around in the beginning, it has proved to be a great combination.  It gets the racing done at an event, when the wind is on the lighter side, and is a terrific gateway to Formula for those who want to step up.  And the Kona sailors are really mellow people to hang with to top it all off!        After lunch, Team Aerotech went out and set a long distance course for everyone to sail, and the wind filled in nicely enough for everyone to have a fun filled adventure around the river.

The final results for the Formula class:  1. Ron Kern 2. Peter Ifju (a tie breaker) 3. Tinho

 

The overall turnout at the event was not huge, but there were a lot of juniors there sailing in both the Kona and the Formula classes.  The future is looking bright with all these youngsters joining in the fun.  And they make us old farts look bad in the light wind planing by us on their small sails, but as Tinho said"experience and treachery are on our side!"   In the end, the Windfest showed that it was all about fun and friends, new and old coming together to worship at the alter of the wind and water, and enjoy whatever we receive.  

RICK RANDALL    US-089

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Island Style Classic                                                    feb 23-24               

Island Style Classic Kona Report  by Mike Rayl        It was breezy when we arrived on Sat. winds were 5 to 18 gusty and shifting. 2 races in the morning with an upwind, then broad reach, downwind, broad reach and upwind to finish. 2 laps and a time of 30 minutes on average. Darby Marriott, Bruce Matlack, Steve  here for more

From the viewpoint of the committee boat, I was watching and learning on Saturday morning. I had never sat and watched a Formula race. So it was educational and well, not that I want to make it a habit, Fun! We had fifteen racers and it was great to see not only the regular guys you can count on to come, but some local racers from the Tampa Bay/ Sarasota area.  If fact most racers were not regulars on the FL Circuit. We had travelers from TX, John Jay Enrst and Kirk Simmons on F2/Maui Sails  and CO refugee Karen Marriott on Exocet/Severne.  We had great conditions on Saturday about fifteen knots from the south, so most racers were wearing shorts in Feb. So next year if you are huddling in your house wondering how long it is going to take before shovel out the sidewalk, just think of us in shorts racing in Sarasota .here for more

3- Alex morales  US-188  F2/ North   1- Ron kern   K  ML8/ pride   2 - jon Ernest  US1166 F2/ Mauisails

 

  

Woman       1- Karen Marriott      USA- 21                                 2- Natalia Luczynska    Pol-45

Day one ? Sarasota, Florida ? Welcome back to the Formula Class! It?s been a long time since I raced in the formula class, and no surprise ? the gear has only gotten better. After a couple years of RS:X sailing I don?t actually have any current formula gear but the Florida guys are always helpful and convinced me to race with offers of borrowed gear. Thanks to Steve Gottlieb I was lucky enough to race on the new Exocet formula board ? I was prepared for a repeat of my past formula board experiences which usually included being scared to death going down wind and feeling completely out of control. But even with a poorly rigged sail (will I never learn!)_and footstraps that were too big and forgetting a chicken strap?.it felt great! It?s so much fun to sail fast and not be petrified! It was so much fun to sail around, grinning ear to ear, that I kept almost forgetting that racing was the reason I was out there. (That?s my excuse for my bad starts!)   here for more pictures   Stay tuned for more, reports and pictures    here for more

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Farrah Hall touched her dream. Then she screamed. She danced. She took pictures. She celebrated with her mom on the phone. Hall will never forget the feeling, short-lived as it was.
For 90 minutes, Hall, a 26-year-old windsurfer from Annapolis, had won the right to represent the United States at the Summer Olympics. She finished first at the RS:X team-selection trials in Long Beach,

Calif., in October."It was just amazing. It's what I'd worked so hard for," she says  here for more

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From the Directors Chair

Britt Viehman

Sarasota Race Report

From the viewpoint of the committee boat, I was watching and learning on Saturday morning. I had never sat and watched a Formula race. So it was educational and well, not that I want to make it a habit, Fun! We had fifteen racers and it was great to see not only the regular guys you can count on to come, but some local racers from the Tampa Bay/ Sarasota area. If fact most racers were not regulars on the FL Circuit. We had travelers from TX, John Jay Enrst and Kirk Simmons on F2/Maui Sails  and CO refugee Karen Marriott on Exocet/Severne.  We had great conditions on Saturday about fifteen knots from the south, so most racers were wearing shorts in Feb. So next year if you are huddling in your house wondering how long it is going to take before shovel out the sidewalk, just think of us in shorts racing in Sarasota.

I decided to keep upwind leg short to keep the fleet together and provide close more intense racing. Make a mistake and someone is right there to take advantage of it. Not to mention the short courses took away some the equipment advantage the regulars racers have. The first race, the starting line was favored to the boat and so everyone was shaking out the rust and starting conservative.  John Jay, Ron Kern, Alex Morales were slugging it out up front and the happy little thoughts of where would I have been finishing were dancing in my head. I fixed the line to be slightly pinend favored. The racing grew tighter on the second race as Alex started to port tack to gain the advantage of tacking only once, but from where I was sitting ill-timed with the shift to the west. John Jay was leading until he got aggressive and caught the windward mark, Ron, Alex and Peter sailed by undoubtedly thinking “Better him than me!” The downwind was a tight fast parade with the layline jibe decision being where people made gains. Rons legendary skills at getting going fast if he falls came into play at the finishing line as the wind shadow from the committee boat and a ill-timed spinout combined to drop him. With the pressure, of folks screaming in for the kill with smiles on their faces, he waterstarted and finished.

The third race the start was right there on the line. Alex again threw the dice starting on port. He was looking good with the shifts, looking like the rockstar until five seconds to go he was burned and had to tack twice. The neat thing is that ten racers were at the windward mark in 20 seconds, so it was tight and fast. Chris Gardiner who is fifteen, Starboard/Maui Sails was nipping at the heels of the veteran racers like Peter Ifju Mikes Lab/North came in forth behind the regular Ron, John Jay, Alex. Coming from 420s, he has a good tactical sense.

So then I made a mistake, I should have kept them racing instead of sending them in for lunch. Then the black line of rain came in and shut down the racing for the day and then the weekend. But overall it was good racing. A good turnout with two juniors Chris Gardiner and Alex Stanke F2/Maui Sails and two women, Karen and Natalie Starboard/North.

Sarasota , Fl                           02-23-2008

Alex Morales - Windsurfer of the Year

Many great contributors to the sport have gone before, but how many have truly exemplified this more than this year's recipient?  None.  Click here for more

The first two weekends of the official fall season brought hope to the desperate, wind starved windsurfers of South Florida.  After the summer doldrums, many were looking somewhat crazed as they made their way to the beach with their small gear for the first time in a while.  The first weekend in October brought rain as well as wind well over 20 knots to many parts of South Florida.  Though there were some who were disappointed by this Fridays' winds, Saturday brought more of a smile to their faces.  The continuous days of onshore breeze, combined with a strong high tide brought some semi wave like action to Virginia Keys' outside break, and even an unusual shore break to the beach.

With next weekend firmly in mind, there was a gathering of slalom sailors out, tuning up their gear as well.  GPS units were strapped on, and the hammer was put down in the quest for speed.  Sunday held hope for higher winds still, and a promise from the Movie Star to set a couple of marks to practice roundings.  Stay tuned for the action reports from the Miami Slalom Series first event next weekend!

Looks like a couple more days of 15 knots before we get back to the normal Miami wind conditions, but we have really enjoyed the last 2 weeks

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The wind has come to Miami, and it does not want to leave. Day after day of wind here has spoiled us rotten. We may never need to take a vacation again! The Miami crew has been out at Virginia Key every day in the 15-30 knot winds, enjoying bump and jump on the outside, and screaming speed runs on the inside. Five foot and larger faces greeted those who ventured out to the reef all week long. RR took advantage of some smooth water and a big gust to post a 34.3 knot top speed on the inside. And it looks like th wind will stay around for a few more days……….!

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GPS speedsailing comes to miami                                                mon 4/16/2007

We had great conditions yesterday in Miami at the causeway!  Winds were SW at 25-30 knots, and the water was reasonably smooth.  The SW winds made for a couple of choices for some good runs, one was just off Vizcaya inside the sandbar, which got more exposed as the tide went out later in the day.  The other was just off the beach, inside the Motor Boat Exclusion buoys.  This was Rick's chosen spot to feel the need for speed!  I was riding my Greene Hawaii 55cm slalom board, with a 6.6 Maui Sails TR 2, and a Vector Rockit 36 cm fin.  With this set up I was only able to achieve 28.7 knots.  I decided to switch to a Tectonics goldwing 32 cm (from 1996!)  and immediately went 31.4 knots on my first run.  A few minutes later, as the wind really kicked in, I made my fastest run at 33.2 knots.  I really needed to switch down to a 5.9, as I could barely hold onto the 6.6, but other obligations forced me to call it a day.  Also out with a GPS, was John, who managed 28 mph on his free ride gear.  Alex borrowed my GPS to see if he could beat me, but did not pass my mark, and nearly hurt himself using a 7.3 Warp (get a 6.3 b4 Texas man!).

Team Miami is working on making GPS speedsailing big in South Florida.  We are definitely going to promote this here!  As proven in Leucate, even sailing on Formula gear, you can explore the limits of speed with a GPS.  Look here for further information in the future, as we are working on something big for the future (fall).  We will be helping out with the speed event at the US Open, and are really excited about the potential GPS has to bring together all windsurfers to have some fun competition, no matter what gear they ride.   Send us your personal best speed info if you live in Florida, and we will put it up!

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The wind was tired after last week........

so, it decided to take a break this weekend, which gave us all a little needed rest after the race . There was a little testing with Gabriel on Saturday, which confirmed that you need a Kashy if you want to be fasty.....

Sunday, it looked like we would have the conditions for some slalom at Virginia Key, but the wind just never got out of bed.  We all got up and planing on some bigger slalom gear at times, but never did race, as the water was too shallow and the wind inconsistent.

After we closed down the beach park, dinner discussion was all about the upcoming 48 Hours on the Causeway race.  This one is going to be awesome!  Race courses were decided on, and this one will be an easy one for all to understand!  We also talked about the Windsport Magazine article by yours truly.....Miami is starting to sizzle once again!  So, do not miss out on the HOT, HOT action, get yourself down here and enjoy the heat and style of windsurfing in Miami!

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Some more tuning on the new F2 found that in all but the lightest conditions, leaving the plates out was the way to go.  And the board likes a very soft and powerful fin across the wind range.   Despite the huge front end, even huge voodoo chop and wakes from passing super yachts, does not make the nose dive.  It is a bit scary at first, but after a couple of down winders you get used to it.  Or maybe it was only because of the Movie Star Method of training which involves drinking Heineken's on the beach between each session, which gives us no fear!  A quick run with a gps showed that this board was almost 5 knots faster than the new Mike's Lab on all points of sail.

In other news, it is rumored that there will be a new dealership in town catering to all the old people who are retired here.  They will be specializing in the Kona and the Prodigy, which will be the only two things they will have in stock.  Their training program will consist of passing out Viagra to their customers, so that they can at least feel like they are real men when they go out on their giant logs!

 

Stay tuned for the reports on the upcoming race, as there are more and more people signing up every day.  This is going to be a huge event, which will really show that Formula sailors are here to "take the power back

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   2006  Blown off the water Miami style                            1 - 1 - 2007

 

Wow, what a great year of sailing 2006 was!  And Team Miami closed out the year in our typical style!  We had an incredible crowd of sailors of all descriptions show up at the Causeway to ride the last winds of 2006.  Of course Team Miami was there, with the Movie Star, Simona, Raphael, Sergio, Eduardo, Angelito, Brian, Fernando, Barbara, Monica ESP 211(who sailed more hours than anyone) and Rick Randall all there ripping it up.  Also making the pilgrimage to the most awesome place in the windsurfing world were the Don and Ron team.  Alex(the Movie Star) and RR went out and started testing out

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