The Calema Midwinters was literally blown away at the end of a spectular 7 race event. On the last day, due to wind gusts up to 47mph – racing was postponed and eventually cancelled – resulting in an earlier awards ceremony. [more]
Sailors from Peru, Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. finished tight competition in the Techno 293 North American Championships held at the Calema Windsurf Center in Merritt Island, Florida. The sailors enjoyed a variety of conditions before the third day was blown out with 30 knot gusts. The Techno 293s were part of a windsurfing festival with 97 windsurfers in the Formula, RS:X, and Kona 1 classes.
Rasmus Sayre (Vineyard Haven YC) becomes the Techno 293 u17 North American champion 2012 as he narrowly pulled out the podium by one point over Jonathan Rudich (Clearwater Community Sailing) and Juan Bazo (Peru) in the Under 17 Techno class. 1st Under 15 techno sailor, Maximo Nores (Miami YC) sailed well to finish fourth overall and becomes Techno 293 u15 North American champion 2012. Maria Bazo (Peru) was second in the Under 15 division.
Olympic Youth Development Coach, Leandro Spina, was at the regatta evaluating the performance of the up and coming sailors. “I was very pleased to see 20 youth windsurfers at Calema. It’s cool to see these sailors now switching over from Optis and O’Pen BICs on to boards.”
Final results for all fleets/divisions are posted on the Calema website – http://calema.com/events/calema-midwinters-2012/calema-midwinters-results/!
At the close of racing on Friday Jonathan Rudich leads the Techno fleet with Juan Fernando Bazo in 2nd and Rasmus Sayre and Maximo Nores tied for 3rd.
The Midwinters are loaded with talent this year. 96 entrants for the event, across the Techno 293, Formula Windsurfing, Kona and RS:X fleets.
“Today (Saturday) promises to be a wild day – sw winds increasing ahead of an approaching front. We will have anything between 15 and 30 knots of wind.”
The wind picked up nicely by midday and made for planing conditions for all fleets. However, many racers became spectators as the wind proved too much for their sail sizes later in the afternoon, as predicted early in the day: “The last race of the day will be without a doubt what makes the Midwinters memorable. Hang on to your hats.”
Over four hundred photos have been posted – find yourself if you’re a competitor and share with your friends! Feel free to submit photos and video for our page and tomorrow night’s banquet! Make sure to stop by http://www.calema.com/ as well!
