WEST DENNIS, MA -- For the 1999 WD40 Downwind Classic, we had old equipment, new equipment,
longboards, shortboards, big sails, small sails and some stuff that was...
well... a little difficult to classify. But the one important piece of
equipment everyone remembered to bring, was a smile. The WD40 is about fun
and there was plenty of fun goin' around on Saturday May 15th along an 8-mile
stretch of coast between West Dennis and Hyannis. With a sunny forecast of
only 10-15 knots of South East wind, we were expecting only a small turnout
for the event but were happily surprised when nearly 50 competitors traveled
throughout the Northeast to join the fun.
New for 1999 was the addition of an aggressive up wind mark for the Pro and
Longboard classes. This not only lengthened the course by several nautical
miles but also added to the technical selection of equipment. With winds
ranging from 8 to 14 knots it was nothing but incredible to see how quickly
our Pro competitors, using stock equipment available at your local shop, were
able to plane to the up wind mark. Meanwhile the cruising and amateur fleets
were making equally good progress blasting to Great Island and out of site in
no time. Only a few years ago this would have been a longboard only event but
now most of our competitors were able to plane in about 10 knots of wind with
big sails and wide boards! For anyone who still thinks that 10 knots of wind
is better spent on a golf course than in the water... guess what, you're
WRONG! Nary a white cap in sight and 50 people blasting around with big
sails, big boards and big, big, honkin' smiles is enough to make you
seriously consider throwing those clubs away for good.
Overall, the conditions at West Dennis were a bit windier than Kalmus so a
few competitors were surprised when they got around Great Island only to find
light wind. Even so, many were able to keep their boards planing and carve a
nice jibe around the finish. Those that weren't, battled it out in a low
velocity, highly tactical downwind challenge where, to my understanding, the
lead changed place several times. After everyone completed the course they
loaded their gear into the cube truck, climbed in the passenger van, kicked
back and let the CCWA strategic van driving team (Marc and myself) take on a
low velocity, highly tactical challenge of our own, battling with route 28
cape traffic and tourists. With only a few run red lights and a couple of
back-road short cuts we managed to keep our driving records in tact and get
everyone back to West Dennis in respectable time. Now it was time to party!!
The party was held at Pufferbelly's in Hyannis. It was a pretty interesting scene with country western line dancing in one room, rock n roll in another, volleyball out back and 60 staving windsurfers upstairs. Something always happens at the party. Last year we had a nuclear thunder and lightning storm that blew the power out several times. This year the ovens unexpectedly blew up and 60 hungry people were forced to wait an extra hour before being fed... I'm scared to even think what's going to happen next year! Once everyone was fed and sufficiently watered, we migrated down to the volleyball court and conducted the awards ceremony and raffle. I'm happy to say that everyone that came to the party, left with something, some with t-shirts, some with gift certificates, and others with hundreds of dollars worth of windsurfing equipment.
Results: The competitors were divided into 4 fleets, Cruising, Amateur, Longboard and Pro.
| 1999 WD-40 Downwind Classic Results |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRUISING: | RACING: Amateur | RACING: Pro | |||
| Place | Name | Place | Name | ||
| 1. | Jay Baldwin | 1. | Jeremy Stevenson | 1. | Nevin Sayre |
| 2. | Michael Burns | 2. | Weston Gould | 2. | Jamie Ford |
| 3. | Rachel Darman | 3. | Gerry Sollner | 3. | Doug Stryker |
| 4. | Jason Hyatt | 4. | Dan Slason | 4. | Myles Borash |
| 5. | Jennifer McBournie | 5. | Greg Healy | 5. | Platt Johnson |
| 6. | Steve Saunders | 6. | Greg Pease | 6. | Jonathan Craig |
| 7. | Bob Squires | 7. | Eric Rahnerfuehre | 7. | Nancy Johnson |
| 8. | Rachel Darman | 8. | Randy Hart | 8. | Seth Besse |
| 9. | John Ventimiglia | 9. | Mike Tucker | 9. | Marc Lefebvre |
| 10. | Jim West | 10. | Bob Connor | 10. | Fred Vetterlein |
| RACING: Longboard | 11. | Chris Mauk | 11. | Eddie Senechal | |
| Place | Name | 12. | Stu Saffer | 12. | Chris Decerbo |
| 1. | Stephen Besse | 13. | Dave Hundt |  |
|
| 2. | Bruce Metzger | 14. | Marcus Brooks | ||
| 3. | Johnathon Richardson | 15. | Steven Heller | ||
| 4. | Michael Casso | ||||
In the coming weeks we will be putting the event up on the web. Some great video coverage will be available at www.hydroactive.com.
Special thanks go to Ken Holland our generous chase boat owner who donated two days of help and fuel. Thanks also to Kathy Mirrus, Kathy Skillman, Stacia Dennis, Leslie Loui, and Annie Phelan for their help in coordinating registration, starts, finishes, food, photos and more.
I'd also like to thank our generous sponsors without them the WD40 could never happen. This year's sponsors included, WD-40 Company, Neilpryde, Fiberspar, DaKine, EZ Rider Snowboard Supply, O'Neill Wetsuits, Can-Am Sailcraft, Sound Sailboards, Hydroactive, Saurus Suntan Lotion, the Wind Hotline and of course The New England Windsurfing Journal!!!
Race Director - Skip Dennis
Events Chair - Warren Skillman
Public Relations - Marc Lefebvre
