New Jersey Windsurfing &  

Watersports Association  

 

   NJWWA Late Summer Classic

Brant Beach, NJ September 13th - The NJWWA held its “Late Summer Classic” event sponsored by Island Surf and Sail. This event was the second organized by NJWWA over the summer months and again it proved to be a tremendous success with between 35-40 attendees over the course of the day. The event was designed to allow participants to enter a number of “fun races” and to attend clinics designed to provide an introduction to techniques required for Kayaking and Stand Up Paddling (SUP).

Due to the forecast for early NE winds with late morning drop off, Paul and Brian, the respective race and event organizers made a decision to move the windsurfing up in the schedule to make the most of the conditions. Eileen again graciously volunteered to sail Paul’s sunfish to the middle of the bay to act as the outward mark. After anchoring, it did not appear that she had sailed far enough out to create enough of a challenge. A last minute “audible” was announced to require that the sailors use the small island in the cove as an additional mark, and make a second lap out to the sunfish, then return to shore again, clearing the windward side of the small island once more. This proved to present more of a challenge than the race organizers, and indeed race participants had anticipated.

With the sound of an air horn blast, 11 sailors set off from a knee deep beachstart in 7 knots of wind. On the way out to the downwind Sunfish mark, the winds started to drop off rapidly and the tidal current conspired against the racers, making it extremely difficult to make any upwind progress back to the inward mark. This is where tactical decisions came in to play: when, where, and how many times to tack to get back upwind and round the island. The top three finishers were actually the same group as the last race. Bill Steber, having led from the start, improved from his previous third place finish to become the new NJWWA Champion. Relinquishing his crown, Alasdair Gilfillan finished close behind in second, and Wallace DaPron dropped from his previous runner-up performance taking the last podium spot.

The women’s event was even more challenging, as the wind dropped off to close to zero as they were on their last lap. Corinne Gilfillan was the first lady to struggle back to shore giving her back to back victories in consecutive events. Barb Bauer was the women’s runner up. Despite the conditions, everyone enjoyed that challenge and had fun.

Windsurfing Final Results:

Men’s
1st: Bill Steber
2nd: Alasdair Gilfillan
3rd: Wallace DaPron

Women’s
1st: Corinne Gilfillan
2nd: Barb Bauer
3rd: (special service): Eileen Pfafman

Anna Marchefka, a trained kayak instructor, conducted a Sea Kayak clinic for three students. The content was very informative and focused on the basics of safe water paddling for a beginner kayaker. Anna patiently instructed on different paddle strokes, safety measures, turning and self rescue. She then took out her enrollees on the water for some supervised tutoring.

The two kayak races followed soon after the clinic ended. Each of the two divisions (men’s and women’s) had separate heats. The course for each had the participants staying well within the shallow cove waters, rounding small islands and water posts all within 50’ from the shoreline. This made both races very exciting to watch as participants were often within feet of the spectators who cheered the racers on enthusiastically. The racers started with their kayak half on the beach and half in the water. Paul gave the start signal and at that point participants shimmied their kayak into the water. To finish the race participants had to drag their kayak onto the beach and physically cross a finish line etched into the sand. The race for the men’s division ended in a near photo finish with the 2nd and 3rd places dragging their kayaks and nearly crossing the finish line simultaneously.

Kayaking Final Results:

Men’s
1st: Ray Blanchard
2nd: Bob Kopec
3rd: Guy Juliano

Women’s
1st: Gallina Fishman
2nd: Christine Nguyen
3rd: Anna Marchefka

At noon, Terry Deakyne, Ann Marie Deakyne, Jack  Bushko, along with the “SUPer” ladies, gave a SUP clinic, which provided a warm up to the SUP race which attracted many novices in addition to more experienced paddlers. The conditions for this race were perfect due to the light winds and calm water and allowed those new to the sport to test their abilities against more advanced participants.

In the spirit of “fun”, participants all started on the beach, holding their SUP and standing behind a line drawn in the sand. Once Paul gave the start signal, a long line of participants raced into the water climbing up on their SUP and paddling away. The course was challenging as it went out of the cove and around a large sailboat moored up the main boat channel. Once rounding, the participants paddled along the outside of the larger island on the inside of the boat channel, around a “no wake” buoy and then to shore. The finish line was carrying your SUP back up the beach and physically crossing the finish line (which was same as the start line).

Terry got off to a blazing start and his lead was never challenged over the entire course, and he finished substantially ahead of the field. Ann Marie was the second place finisher, not only coming in first in the ladies division, but ahead of all of the rest of the men in the field.  We had yet another photo finish for the 3rd and 4th place finishers. Barb Bauer and Holly were neck and neck (or paddle to paddle) heading into the beach from the last mark (‘no wake’ buoy). Holly had a slight lead hitting the shore, but Barb jumped off her board first and started scurrying for the finish line. Holly was right there and just crossed the finish line first by the smallest of margins – needless to say the crowd got a terrific show. It was a great introduction to many of the NJWWA members to the sport of SUP.

SUP Final Results:

Men’s
1st: Terry Deakyne
2nd: Jeff Bauer
3rd: Don Mitchell

Women’
1st: Anne Marie Deakyne
2nd: Jaime
3rd: Holly

At the end of the day an awards ceremony was held at the gazebo. All winners and second and third place finishers were awarded medals for their valiant efforts. The awards ceremony also included a raffle for Hobie Sunglasses and decals which were provided by Hobie for the event.

Many thanks are due to Brian, the event organizer, for the success of the event, and to Paul for organizing the races. Thanks are also due to Terry, Ann Marie and Jack, from Island Surf and Sail for their support of the event and their help with the SUP events; to Anna for her volunteering her expertise and time with the Kayak clinic and races; to Hobie for their sponsorship and for providing prizes; to Eileen for again volunteering to act as the marker for the windsurfing race; to Joni for managing the park during the event; and finally to the various members of NJWWA who volunteered their help during the event. We are all looking forward to future events and it is hoped that other NJWWA members will take part in these future events. They really are a lot of fun!!

Event Photos Courtesy of Sue Steber, Alasdair Gilfillan, Corinne Gilfillan, Roscoe White and Guy Juliano