Thoughts on 2016 Olympics- windsurfing & kiting

Lots of mixed opinions flying around these past few days regarding the decision to include kite boarding in the 2016 Olympics at the expense of windsurfing
Obviously - a very happy crowd here in San Francisco with the kite racers ready to take the Olympic spotlight.

I for one couldn't be more happy for them (and Ive been racing windsurfers competitively since the early 90's- getting on the bus late but nonetheless enjoying the ride.)
It's their time to shine so why not embrace it vs fighting it.

28 years of Windsurfing as an Olympic sport 1984-2012 is not a bad run.

Other classes have come and gone from the Olympics with the sailors having made large investments in their skill sets for that class. They had to move on.

The skills in windsurfing will translate to other classes (including kiteboarding) when it comes to course racing.

Windsurfing's been dying a slow death since it's peak in mid 90's.
Sure some racing classes have succeeded- t293, rsx, pwa, raceboard, formula but you see whats happening. The sports become diluted with so many choices, including kiting which has taken a big piece of the pie from windsurfing in the past 5-10 years. While not entirely agreeing that the RS-X is the best format for the Olympics- I have tremendous respect for the guys sailing that class- they are the most fit athletes in the sailing discipline and probably the entire Olympics.

The fact remain- the Olympics can only be so big- while it would be great to see both classes in 2016- there remains room for only 1.

The kiteboard, on the other hand has had a tremendous evolution with windsurfing paving the way for it's success. The 1st  World Championships in kite boarding course racing were held in San Francisco in 2007 and since then the sport has blossomed. It has evolved and continues to change more than any other form of sailing. I just hope that what's make it so successful isnt ruined by the forces at ISAF. Learn from the RS-X's mistakes and success's and blaze on!

The way I look at the decision is that its actually good for windsurfing- at least in the US.
The Olympics has been a hard call for us in the US- getting funding to support an international campaign from an organization that does not believe in us (rightly so as they're job is to win medals and we have a very bleak chance at that.) At the last trials we had 2 men and 1 women vying for the US Olympic windsurfing spot. At the 96 trials we had 40+. 

We've got several of the top 10 in the world in kite boarding and even the top 2 so for the US the decision was right. We'll get more funding with more medals. A win/win for US Sailing Team.



Now with RSX out, the windsurfing world of racing wont be as compromised as before with so many classes for sailors to choose from.
I see it as a win win for the formula class as the rsx'ers have a choice to either continue racing in a high performance windsurfing class or join the kiting fleet.
The formula class is bound to absorb some of those sailors.

The kiting class will benefit from the all the top racers coming in from the RS-X class.

As I understand, the exact discipline for kiting has not yet been selected. That decision will potentially be made in November or after next years Olympics. Most likely it will be racing as that's the format they loved so much at last months kite evaluation trials in Spain.
There's also a chance ISAF could reverse their decision in November with a 2/3 majority voting for windsurfing if that decision gets to the table. There's a petition by the rsx sailors to do this already.

The technical report from the evaluation trials can be found here.

In fact kite racing takes the same format as formula windsurfing in terms of an open one design class. They have a box rule for their boards (registered by isaf 50 board min production) and kites are limited to 3 per event.
We debated and tried having a formula windsurfing one design in the 2012 Games and came to the conclusion that once you're there- they're are many other interest controlling your fate, politics included and the class takes on a world of its own not necessarily in the sailors best interest. A double edged sword that's tempting but often better left alone.

Im still stoked on windsurfing and we had one of the most competitive regattas this past weekend on the San Francisco city front with 8 formula boards racing and overlaps at every mark and finish. But then I look over at the kiters with 20 kites (and averaging at least that in their weekly series where we can get 8-10 formula boards on our weekly series) and I ask myself what am I doing still racing windsurfers when the kiters have a bigger local fleet, more talent, more potential and now the Olympics. I'm excited to learn the sport and hopefully race with them if it all works out.

If you can't beat em- join em!

Steve USA-4


5-11-12 update
Seems the drama unfolding around the decision is just beginning to come to light.

The Spanish delegate apologized after realizing they voted wrong- link

"The delegates were probably confused or didn't understand the motion fully because of language difficulties, or some may have been napping at the presentations and then cast their votes without realising the implications," Yehuda Maayan told Reuters."

Boards magazine did a detailed interview with Rory Ramsden explaining the decision process and the resulting confusion- link

“The Australians and Americans were consistently voting against windsurfing. They were joined by the Irish, who are not known to have a strong windsurf racing team."

Aussies in/Steve out

Its always nice to do a regatta report from your own home waters and although I'm not sailing in this one, the Aussie 18's have been putting on an awesome display of high performance sailing on the San Francisco Bay. It's amazing to see these guys all run across the deck while gybing from one trap to another- like synchronized swimming! Of course with anything high performance there are some amazing crashes.
Last night around sunset near the rigging area at crissy field- a few skiff sailors were searching for some broken windsurfing mast as a replacement for their broken upper section of their mast (see photo below)Check out more skiff photos from Chris Ray, Abner Kingman, Eric Simonson and Serge Zavazin here
Ahhh... the sounds of crumbling high performance carbon- makes me quiver in my seat!
The big showdown between skiffs, kites and boards will be this Friday for the 2007 Ronstan Bridge to Bridge race.
Check out the preview here:

Crissy field has been going off for the past week- and Ive enjoyed almost every day of it- soaking up as much slalom sailing under the golden gate as possible before the big move to Holland later this week. For at least the next 2 years we will be trying out the Euro life in Amsterdam. I will continue to race and train - doing more Euro events next year and will be coming back to the SF Bay for work- and of course windsurfing in the upcoming months

Thanks for everyone here who made racing and training so much fun. You guys have taught me alot over the past 6 years. Ive really enjoyed sailing with a dedicated group of racers and having world class wind and race management- only found on the San Francisco Bay!

As Bill Graham said of the Grateful Dead- "there not the best at what they do- they're the only ones that do what they do!" Thank you StFYC.photo credit Paul Buelow ooto.com

Check out more photos from last Friday's windy racing @ http://ooto.com/journal/

Ill be keeping up the blog so check back and I'll try to update regularly. It might not be the same familiar names but I promise no wooden clog jokes!

Also if you havnt checked out Andreas race blog- hes got a good nationals post mortem thats worth reading. http://g-42.blogspot.com

Windy spring training

With no short supply of breeze, the last 3 weeks have been windier than any spring I can remember. Blame it on global warming if you will , but the unusual weather patterns this year - with a lack of winter and spring storms - have pushed the thermals in earlier this year. Almost every day for the past 2 weeks has been solid slalom conditions at crissy field. On the few days Ive gone out on the formula board to train, I was so lit up, I came in a rigged down to slalom gear!
The new 07 equipment has been slow to arrive but Ive been dialing some newer equipment. First up was a north warp 7.3 from last year. It really has a lot of range and at the bottom end and can handle up to 18-20knots before becoming too much. The biggest difference this year has been the addition of a new wide compact slalom board into the quiver. The f2 sx slalom 105l board is more like a small slalom board at 70cm wide. It really shows its potential in light to medium conditions and doesn't give up too much in the breeze. Although it doesn't gybe as tightly as the smaller skinner slalom board, it does get you out of the transition quicker in lighter conditions.Most of the racers this year are putting together a slalom program for the upcoming nationals in San Francisco in August. As always Billy Weir is showing solid speed early on with David Wells, Soheil, Jean, and Royce all getting some early time on the water this spring on the city front.

I couldn't resist posting the following sequence of Seth on his freestyle gear. Shawn Davis captured the essence of a perfect catapault. Now thats a good huck! The rest of the sequence as well as 300+ photos of spring time San Francisco windsurfing can be found at Shawn Davis' smugmug photo-site.
I just found a good video posted on myhuck.com of David Well's session at fort point on Saturday April 13- some great swell coming in the gate and decent wave riding by David- check out the video here

Alex Cavigila Regatta Report Miami, Fl.

Under Finned and Under Attack by 40’ Yachts in Miami, Fl. Alex Cavigila Regatta Report

The 2007 Windsurfing season started off with a perfect start at this years’ inaugural Alex Cavigila Regatta in Miami, Fl. From January 12-14, over 100 windsurfers gathered at the Shake Leg Sailing Center in Key Biscayne in Miami Florida to pay tribute to one of windsurfing finest watermen, who passed away a few years ago. No tears where shed but rather statements like “The best run windsurfing regatta in a very long time” from Formula class winner Micah Buzianis.

Conditions could not have been better with a steady 15-20k breeze for all 3 days of the event. 4 windsurfing classes were represented giving the dedicated amateur racer; the serious Olympic campaigners; and the w-end warrior all a chance to compete. Several PWA racers and legend Robert Teritehau also showed to race up making it known that windsurfing is not dead or dying in the US. This was the North American RSX Champs as well as the 2nd stop on the F2 Florida Formula windsurfing series- a strong show for the middle of winter!

The biggest compliment doesn’t go to any particular racer but the Shake a Leg organization who threw their first windsurfing regatta but also set the new standard for what we should expect for a w-end of fun and racing. The Shake a Leg Foundation is a non-profit sailing center that helps disabled sailors enjoy sailing on the Biscayne Bay. They have a fleet of tradition Sonars- that allows disabled sailors to race comfortably and safe in the sometimes challenging Biscayne Bay. More importantly, they have an army of volunteers who made the event run seamlessly. From helpers at the launch making sure the flow of 100+ sailors got off, to boats on the course- giving out water and lunch! - this event was one to be remembered- not to mention to great parties they threw in the converted Coast Guard Airplane Hanger just 100’ from the waters edge.

Friday- Day 1: 2 pm first start with a 15-20k breeze from the east and flat water. The RS-X class was up first with a full mix of international sailors and several US sailors. I was excited to watch these guys as I had spend a lot of last year campaigning in this class and know a lot of the fleet. It’s a true mix of athleticism and sailing tactics as these full time young sailors are trying to gain the experience to represent their country at the 2008 Olympics. This was a warm up event for next week’s Miami Olympic Class Regatta-which will draw close to 1000 sailors in all 11 Olympic classes, as well as the north american qualifier for the 2007 ISAF Combined World Championship in Portugal later this year. That event will qualify you for the '08 Games. With 1 minute to go, most of the fleet is one the line, holding their positions; 30- seconds- the jockeying continues; 10 seconds- the mad pumping frenzy begins and doesn’t let up to the finish of the race. Half the fleet gets off strong to the left side, with the other half left in their wake and bad air on the 2^nd row, trying to tack off for clear air. The women’s’ RSX fleet starts next with just as impressive start. The formula and new Kona fleet are left waiting as the RC is learning its first lesson of race management but will soon learn from their mistakes and get the courses and fleets in order to have everybody racing at once.Finally the Formula fleet starts and I get off the line in the middle with a decent lane. Immediately I find out my upwind isn’t up to par as I have trouble holding angle despite hiking my 6’-4” frame out to windward. This years new formula boards all have wider tales and demand a bigger and more powerful fin than last years boards to get the most angle upwind. Most of the fleet is on the new F2 board as well as a few L6’s and L7’s in the fleet. It almost looks like a north sails one design event with most of the fleet on the 2006 and some lucky ones on the 2007 north warps. One thing's for sure- everybody who wants to be competitive has a Kashy fin. I soon find out that a 65 cm Kashy isn’t quite enough and need at least a 67 or preferably a 70 to stay in the top 3 or 4 positions. Otherwise it was damage control for as I wasn’t able to optimize my strongest asset- leverage to windward. Jimmy Diaz leads the fleet around to take the first bullet with a noticeable absent Buzianis – missing the first start. I round the top mark 5^th and watch BRA- 5 go down hard on the first downwind as he catches some of the notorious Biscayne Bay weed on his fin. I hold onto 4^th Behind Steve Sylvester with 15 year old Brazilian prodigy Gabriel Browne, BRA 50- finishing 2^nd.

Race 2- Breeze is still up with some hints of right shifts coming down the course. Micah leads off the line with amazing speed and dominates around the course. Jimmy is in safe 2^nd with BRA 50 pushing hard in 3^rd. A bit further back finds Sylvester, BRA-5 and myself battling it out around the leeward mark and close on the 2^nd upwind. Sylvester was able to climb on us using his dialed in 2006 set up- consisting of a ML6, 67 cm Kashy fin and 9.9 slalom sail. I find myself with plenty of power with a north warp 11.0 but am under-finned with a 65 and L7 board. Upwind BRA-5 and I go back and forth dodging the weeds but he shuts the door on me on the last reach to the finish. Sylvester over-stands the bottom mark- following the RSX fleet to the outside leeward mark. I’m still searching for the sweet spot on my set up but realize I need a bit more wind to fully take advantage of my setup.Saturday Day 2: 11 am first start with 4 races today and lunch served on ‘ a barrier island located a few feet above the tide line ½ mile off shore from the sailing center. Winds are steady 15-20k but die later in the afternoon to 12-14k- still perfect for formula sailing. The left side is still favored and it is a parade to the port lay line. I try starting at the pin as to not have anyone to leeward so I can go for speed and not get crushed on angle upwind. It works as I round in the top 5 but need to wait for someone to make a mistake to gain. The L7 feels great off the breeze- going deep in the puffs while remaining in full control with use of the new double chicken strap. Micah still is able to walk away from the fleet with some amazing speed with an 11.9. Jimmy is bit closer today as he switches to Kashy blade from his Deb. Unfortunately the Kashy fin is a lethal weapon and sends Jimmy to the hospital with a cut foot. Note to self- don’t clear weeds on fin with foot! I manage 2 decent races with a 4, 5 finish and 2 throw- outs- 7, 9 as I struggle off the line and fins some major weeds on the course. The fleet is getting more aggressive on the starting line going for the favored pin end start.

Saturday evening finds most competitors tired from 2 days of racing but the Shake Leg Foundation throws another great party with a live reggae band, great food and plenty of beer to forget about the days mistakes.

Sunday- Day 3: Forecast looks lighter but breeze is still holding in the mid teens. In addition to more chop there are holiday w-end cigarette boats (think Miami Vice re-runs) and more recreation power-boaters running around the Biscayne Bay. In race 1, an obnoxious 40’ yacht plows directly over our beat to windward- surprising us from windward and behind. Sylvester just barley escapes footing across the bow and nearly getting himself killed. I throw the brakes on just 20’ away and stop. Fernando isn’t so lucky as the boat slows for Steve but accelerates again just in front of him and causes him to crash in an 8’ wake. I settle for a 5^th again and watch a close battle on the last leg between Steve Sylvester and BRA-5. With Jimmy, TKO, BRA 50-Gabriel Browne pushed Micah but experience won with Buzianis claiming his 8^th bullet. In the last race, I switch boards to with another racer so I can try the new F2 but more importantly I wanted to confirm it was the lack of fin holding me back and not anything else. Sure enough with a 70 cm Kashy fin, I am able to hold my lane off the starting line with Fernando just below me and Steve to windward of me. I hike and climb to windward- good show and I round in 3^rd just behind Steve. The Brazilians struggle off the line but BRA 50 catches me off the wind as the board I’m using has no chicken strap and I’m fighting the 70 cm fin in the gust and chop. Back upwind, I hold my own but manage to wrap myself around the windward mark hoping to pinch around it with no luck.

Overall- a really good impression of the F2 board, as it’s more in control from last year’s board and has some great speed with the wider nose. I was more impressed with the bigger Kashy fin but couldn’t quite optimize without a chicken strap in the building breeze and chop.

What’s really impressive is the results in the formula class- Micah comes out in first with 8 bullets but behind him was 15 year old Gabriel Brown from Brazil and almost 4x his age- Steve Sylvester in 3^rd place. I finished in a respectable 5th place but know theres room to dial in before the seaon gets underway. The Miami formula fleet has really improved with a bigger and more talented fleet as well their own race series. Check out their site at http://www.miamiwindsurfing.com/alex.html for full results

In the RSX class it was the Polish team taking the honors in the men’s and women’s class. US Sailors Ben Barger finshed strong behind Canadian Zak Plavsic just outside the top 10.

In the new recreational Kona class- long-boarding and simplicity ruled with a dedicated group of older sailors having a lot of fun.

Steve Bodner

USA 4

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www.stevebodner.com