This past weekend, the St. Francis Yacht Club hosted their most successful Windsurfing Junior Olympics ever![more]


We were able to spread the word far and wide that any young lady or man interested in learning more about Windsurfing was welcome. The US Sailing Junior Olympic (JO) format is ideal for introducing people to Windsurfing and other forms of sailing. This was our fourth year running this Windsurfing JO and we were excited to introduce more people to the fun and excitement that is Windsurfing as well as sign up more new members to US Sailing than we ever have before. We had many people sail for the first time in their lives by hopping on a Techno 293 Windsurfer. It was fun to see many parents show up and share their stories of how Windsurfing was in the 1980’s as their son or daughter participated in one of the three different areas of learning (dry land simulation, rigging up or going for it on the San Francisco Bay). We were blessed with a rare shorts and t-shirts day on San Francisco bay with light breeze and virtually no swell on Crissy Field Beach to make for easy learning conditions.


The event was such a success that we are now planning to host two Windsurfing JO’s per year at the St. Francis Yacht Club to introduce even more people to sailing. We plan to keep our fall date and are looking into adding a spring date (likely in May) after the high school spring season ends and before the summer season begins. The synergy of the club and all the people supporting this event has made for many many smiles on our young sailors faces while having fun on a Windsurfer.


Special thanks to –
– New Junior Sailing Director, Brent Harrill for inviting his ‘sit down’ junior and high school sailors to this event. Brent manned one of the ribs in the water and was key in helping us keep the pace fast and fun with his many years of successful junior sailing mojo.
– Dennis Deisinger, the St. Francis Youth Windsurfing Coach for inviting his team (as well as their friends) to help teach.
– Team Berkeley Windsurfing Coach, Weyman Lundquist, for inviting his crew of up and coming racers from the east bay.
– Race Office Director, Robbie Dean and Jessica Barhydt for all their help.
– Lee Parks for providing lots of killer US Sailing schwag to give to the eager sailors at the conclusion of the event. Lee was a key motivator to make this whole event a big success.


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Written by Editor of Waterhound Magazine