3rd Annual Bayview Park Fun Fest

NJWWA Fun Fest Bayview Park

On Sunday July 17th, NJWWA held its 3rd annual Funfest at Bayview Park, LBI sponsored by our local affiliate, Island Surf and Sail (ISS). This was certainly a case of third time being a charm as the conditions could not have been better: warm and sunny, shallow warm water, light winds in the morning for the beginner sessions and, more importantly for the windsurfing contingent, healthy thermal-driven southerly winds building all afternoon. Not that the previous events were not a huge success – they were, but until this year’s event, we were beginning to think that we were jinxed in the wind department as, inevitably, our events would coincide with what seemed to be like the most windless days of summer. This year however, timing could not have been better as this was one of the few breezy weekends in what has been an otherwise unusually windless summer.

As in previous years, this event was not only designed to allow NJWWA members to participate in fun kayaking, standup paddle board (SUP) and windsurfing races, but was also designed to introduce members of the general public to these sports. The latter was achieved through on land training, and on water one on one teaching conducted by volunteers from our membership with the help of AnnMarie, Terry, and Jack from ISS.

Volunteers from NJWWA started to arrive around 8:00 a.m. to prepare for the day’s activities. This involved setting up the registration desk, strategically placing refreshment stations on the beach, inflating and positioning the marker buoys for the demarcation of the safety zone on the water and for the various race courses, and for getting all the equipment set up. This year ISS provided a tent which was a great focal point (and indeed shelter from the strong sun) and streaming music which provided an additional festive atmosphere.

Registration commenced at 9:00 a.m. Tracy, Mackenzie, and Ally did a great job managing the registration station and with the number of participants registering and their various family members and friends, we had more than 50 in attendance throughout the day. Indeed, by mid morning the parking lot at Bayview was almost full. It was good to see so many repeat attendees at the festival, several of whom had been participating in all three Funfests held at Bayview Park. The day’s festivities were recorded for posterity (well at least until the link is removed) by a reporter and photographer from the Atlantic City Press (Click Here to View online)

The day’s events commenced in earnest at 10:00 a.m. when Tom started the proceedings with the on-land introductory lessons on the basics of windsurfing. This was to allow attendees to understand the fundamentals of the sport, before proceeding onto the water where they could try out the sport for themselves under the watchful eye(s) of NJWWA volunteers. Jack also provided a clinic on beach starting and offered great tips and advice based on his many years of teaching the sport.

Midmorning, while others were honing their new found skills on the windsurf boards, those interested in trying Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) were given the opportunity to do so under the supervision of AnnMarie from ISS. This proved to be a popular activity, especially as it allowed some of the younger kids (and their parents), who may have found the windsurfers a bit too much to handle, an opportunity to get out on the water.

The first of the days fun races, the SUP race, was held mid morning to avoid the stronger winds forecast for the afternoon. To keep things fun, the entrants were first required to break a piñata (well actually a brown paper bag) containing fuzzy balls which then had to be thrown through a hoop at the end in order to complete the race. Popping the piñata almost proved to be more difficult than the race itself. To even the playing field the race was separated into two categories Pro’s and Am’s. The former category comprised Terry (a true pro) and Alasdair and Corinne who ended up there somewhat by default as they had their own equipment. The Pro’s were obliged to complete a longer course than the rest of the field. This proved a little bit more challenging as the wind had already started to pick up by then. The amateur group was a closely fought race with Mazie coming out ahead of the pack with Austin runner up and Ally taking third place. In the Pro division Terry was way ahead of the field with Alasdair and Corinne coming in 2nd and 3rd (or was it second last and last) respectively. Next up was the Kayak race which produced an exciting finish with Thermal Bob repeating his victory from last year, narrowly beating Chuck Chao at the finish line with Mackenzie finishing in third place. After these races, awards ceremonies were held in the tent with Tom MC’ing and Mackenzie and Ally presenting the awards. Each placed competitor was presented with a really nice trophy and a lei garland, the latter of which produced some witty banter.

At midday, everyone broke for lunch (sandwiches and pizza slices) purchased from Joey’s Pizza. By early afternoon, the winds had really started to pick up and this produced some perfect conditions for the windsurfing races. As for the SUP and kayak races, a fun element was introduced by the breaking of the paper bag piñata (again a difficult task) and the requirement to toss a fuzzy ball through a hoop at the end of the race. The fleet was separated into three classes: Women’s Fleet, Open Unlimited Fleet, and Sport Fleet. The later demarcation was a bit fuzzy but may have had something to do with sail size. Regardless three races were held, each on a figure of 8 course, starting just in front of the beach, crossing the boating channel then out into the open bay. Each race comprised two laps, with all entrants taking part in each race.

The conditions were perfect with sheltered winds for the start but really nice winds further out which meant that the racers could stay on a plane for most of the race. The final lap of race #3 was quite thrilling for the spectators (and competitors for that matter) with a photo finish as Mark, who lead the entire race, and Wallace sprinted for the finish line at full tilt. All three races were dominated by Wallace, Mark and Bill S, who respectively came out 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the Open division. The women’s division went to Corinne with Eleni coming in second and Ally third. Alasdair was first in the Sport division with Thermal Bob coming in second and Guy third. After the awards ceremony for the windsurfing race, the final event of the day was held –the raffle with prizes kindly provided by ISS. As an additional bonus, those that stayed around after the event was over, were treated to several more hours of incredible windsurfing.

The consensus was that it was truly a wonderful day. Of course it would not have been possible without the hard work of the many volunteers from NJWWA and ISS. We would especially like to thank Tom for the organization, lessons, MC’ing and other activities throughout the day; Tracy, Mackenzie and Ally for running the registration and Mackenzie and Ally for presentation of the prizes; Terry, AnnMarie and Jack for donating their time, providing equipment, providing prizes, and for providing the tent and sound system, Mik and Vadim for dropping off some surplus sails for giveaways; and Joni for so efficiently managing the park throughout the day’s events.

UPDATE: One of the benefits of being a New Jersey Windsurfing & Watersports Association member and/or participating at one of our events, is eligibility to win valuable sponsor giveaways. We recently held a drawing at our last Fun Fest, which included the names of all windsurfing racers from three Fun Fests; Seaside Park, Bayview Park, and Lakes Bay. Congratulations to Corinne Gilfillan and Michael Larkin on winning one-year subscriptions to iWindsurf.com. Congratulations to Wallace DaPron on winning a one-year subscription to WindSport Magazine. These are such a great prizes for windsurfers to win. I hope it will inspire them to get out on the water more.