2007 Cheniere Energy U.S. Open Windsurfing Regatta
Hot Time In Texas
The weather is being a bit difficult this year, with an unusual weather pattern set up over the normally windy Corpus Christi area. Winds that normally come from the South are out of the north today. Yesterday, the first day of competition brought a thunderstorm driven easterly breeze that got the racing started. Doug Hunt, the Principal Race Officer, got the racing going as soon as he saw sailors planning consistently. The first race saw good steady wind, but many competitors did not make the start, due to a little confusion on their parts. The second race had wind at the start that was around 10 knots, and then as the rain came through a few minutes later, the wind became a bit more squirrelly. The wind died off to the point that the race was abandoned. The third race had decent wind, but it was very puffy and those who found the right line prevailed. The final race of the day was to be 2 laps, and the wind was becoming lighter all the time. The top places went to the guys who had the stamina to pump through the lulls, and who had been spending time recently sailing in similar conditions on the European circuit.
Racing is on hold at this time, waiting for the breeze to clock around out of the East or South, which may happen around 2 this afternoon.
Lots of the downtime is being spent discussing equipment and tuning. A huge majority of the racers are using the F2 Formula board, and Gonzalo has been sharing some tuning secrets learned at the last few events in Europe. The fin of choice is still the Kashy, for those lucky enough to have them.
Hopefully, the next report will be filled with a bit more excitement, but that will depend on the wind. The F2 Speed challenge is scheduled for today, and Doug is really hoping that we will get the required 20 knots to pull off a slalom round before the end of the event.
click here for pictures
Results:
- Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel
- Wilhelm Schurman
- Seth Besse
