At the midway point of the US Windsurfing Nationals, held on the San Francisco Bay, 39 competitors from the US, Australia, Brazil, England, Finland, Latvia and New Zealand have all had their plates filled with great on the water racing and great hospitality from the organizing committee.
Racers have been treated to excellent conditions as the famous 15-25k breeze has filled in like clockwork everyday at 2pm and had kindly stuck around till 7pm which has allowed PRO Darren Rogers to run 9 formula course races and 7 slalom heats all while a freestyle competition has been run near shore- and there’s still 2 more days to go! Im not sure you could ask for anything more.The slalom racing yesterday took place with the San Francisco city front and golden gate bridge as a backdrop and international competitors showing the an amazing display of talent ripping around the course.
The Brazilians continue to dominate with Paulo Des Reis, BRA-3333 “The Brazilian bullet” sailing a perfect regatta thus far with 9 1st place finished under his belt in the formula course racing division. “The Schurmanator”, BRA-999, Wilhelm Schurman has also made sure his name is at the top of the leader board with a perfect showing in the slalom heats and only playing 2nd fiddle to his fellow country man in the formula division. A true show of talent in both disciplines!
No stranger to competition, Australian native and lifelong racer, and currently training for several Ironman competitions, Phil McGain has been putting the pedal to the metal in both formula and slalom rounding out the top group of professional racers
Its always fun to race with the pros as it really ups your game. Xavier Ferlet has been a great example of this with a strong showing thus far in both disciplines and is currently the top amateur in the rankings. The local fleet is always on their game and despite not a big turn out, you cant make one mistake with out the local talent slipping by. I am constantly amazed at showing by Steve Sylvester year after year in the competitive side of our sport. The guy has been racing for longer than Ive been alive and is still kicking my ass around the course. He’s been a mentor to every single one of us coming up through the sport and is one of the nicest guys you’ve ever met- lending a fin and constantly pushing the envelope of what a windsurfer and human body can do. After 3 days of racing, we’re tied on points but just as it seems, like the energizer bunny he keeps ticking.
Both Maris Burzulis and I commented to each other after yesterdays racing that weve been in racing mode for the last 16 out of 17 days as a group of us immediately came to the US Nationals after having raced the Formula World Championships in Puerto Rico last week. Seeing how my legs were like jello I politely declined yesterday’s slalom heats in lieu of saving of my energy for the last 2 days of course and long distance racing. I made my slalom gear available to Paulo, who normally doesn’t race slalom but you sure couldn’t tell. I dont ever think Ive seen my gear go that fast. After 2 races he called it quits to make sure hes focused on the rest of the formula event.
Steve Bodner
USA-4
