What up with the big Waddell Windsurf contest?

[More Waves Please]

The reason the contest is at Waddell and not Davenport is because they're trying to rekindle some of the historic stoke of past windsurfing events at Waddell (US National Wavesailing contest happened at Waddell every year from the mid-80's through about 1999 or 2000, and there were a couple of international events mixed in during that time). There's a natural spot for contest facilities and judges in the parking lot and there's lots of room nearby for spectators and recreational riders. Davenport is a tight spot both in terms of riding zone and space for the judges and spectators. Forget parking there, too - there's hardly enough room for 15 surfers when it's going off, let alone a big contest.

It'll be pretty obvious where the contest zone is - right in front of the parking lot. For past kiting contests and all of the old windsurfing contests at Waddell, there was plenty of room downwind for recreational riding. During the last kite contest, some of the action down the beach was more entertaining than what was going on in the contest zone.

I'm sure a kooky rider will get in the way at some point. That happens in surf, kiting and windsurf events everywhere. Hopefully they'll get the picture and get out of the way before they mess up someone's heat.

[kief]

one weekend in 11 years does'nt seem like too much to ask.

[Bulldog]

I wonder how many pages long this thread would be if they were going to close the main jumping area at 3rd Ave. down for three straight days for a windsurf contest and they hadn't bothered to give the kiting community a heads up

Anyway, I've always wanted to kite Davenport :dance:

[OliverG]

Anyway, I've always wanted to kite Davenport :dance:

Ask Kevin K. about his attempt just about exactly a year ago. A few of us were down there for the weekend and after a great Waddell session, when we were back at the house, he decided he was going to kite there. Even before launching, an "concerned" windsurfer trekked up the beach to shut him down. He did launch and while he had the kite in the air, the windsurfer was still talking to him telling him he couldn't kite there. It was true, for other reasons, because the wind was not kite-friendly and it kept stalling and dropping. But he tried.

[fearlu]

Paul says... "Waddell? Really? Very few windsurfers ride there, and most of them don't appear to be very good." My perception is different.

Hey man, you're my friend and I support your right to free speech, but your understanding about what it takes to windsurf well and wave-ride at Waddell forces me to defend their interests. The expert riders at WC (Jalama, Pistol River, San Carlos and Ho'okipa to name a few more) are some of the world's MOST accomplished watermen. To have a contest there is cool with me, in tune with tradition and WAY harder to win than you think!

Of course, I'm already committed to family on Mother's Day...
:mrgreen:

[OliverG]

http://www.iwindsurf.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22184


http://www.waterhound.com/american-wind ... -2011.html

[windsurfer]

Hey Man-Come on down and watch the action. It will be a lot of fun, and as indicated above, there will be plenty of room on the beach to do your thing as well. I was cruising down the coast to Davenport last Saturday and there were an equal amount of windsurfers and kitesurfers at Waddell. Drove by Scott Creek-all kitesurfers and then got to Davenport-all windsurfers. There is little to no wind on the beach at Davenport-it is almost impossible to launch a kite there.

Despite the occassional a-hole on both sides, it seems that as your sport evolves and matures, we are all learning how to share the resources and discover the best etiquette for the beach and on the water. Despite the bumper sticker, windsurfing hasn't been cancelled and we will be part of the landscape for a long time. IMHO, it is about giving/getting respect and giving people a little room/zone of comfort.

There are going to be contests and events in both sports. I am a regular at Crissy. Am I a little inconvenienced by the Thursday Night Kite Races? Yeah. But I am also extremely impressed by the big turnout and enthusiasm that it has brought to the beach.

Stay safe and have fun.

[Bulldog]

On the plus side, they have erected a wood-fired pizza oven in the space formerly known as "the parking lot".

But I'm not even sure anyone will be able to get a pizza, or watch the comp for that matter -- drove by yesterday and (now much smaller) parking lot was completely full and the event doesn't even start until tomorrow. It wasn't even windy yet. My guess is that Sat/Sun Hwy. 1 will be lined with lots of RVs and cars and there will be a lot of people walking to the "event site".

So getting back to my main point: if you had planned on kiting Waddell this weekend, you probably want to rethink those plans.

The funny thing was seeing the non-stop line of windsurf rigs speeding towards Davenport on the highway around 6 pm after the wind apparently died at Waddell around 5 (it was still windy further south).

[dvp1]

Don't get down on the local windsurfers. We didn't ask for this thing.

And you shouldn't be able to close a beach during potentially some of the best conditions of the year for any reason. Fortunately, it's flat this year so it doesn't really matter.

For future "events", concerned parties should lobby State Parks as they're the ones that issue the permit.

[WindMuch]

No worries. We can all live together. Really. One weekend. No big deal!