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U.S. competitors edge out Canadians in Can-AM showdown on Lake Wabigoon, Aug. 6-8

An exhausted Brad Woodworth holds out his palms to show us a collection of newly raised, painful-looking blisters.

“That’s the result of light air, right there,” he said. “Some people’s hands are just open sores. You’re constantly pumping and working your sail all the time. It’s really challenging and physically demanding.”

‘Light air’, or a general lack of wind emerged as the dominant theme of the competition at the 2010 Canadian Masters Windsurf Championships.

Strong and steady winds on Thursday before the competition tapered off to mere shifty breezes as racing began placing great emphasis on technical perfection and giving lighter competitors a bit of an upper hand.

Woodworth, the race organizer and local favourite, says he had a bit of a tough weekend on the water, placing 12th overall in the gold class.

“I had a few good races, I crashed a few times, got held up — it’s part of racing — you have good races, you have bad ones,” he said. “The light air is not my specialty. With heavy air I can use my height and weight to my advantage. We had to work extra hard out there. Conditioning is a big part of it and maybe my conditioning could have been a bit better too. All in all I’m pretty happy with my results.”

Margot Woodworth had a great weekend on the water, placing top among the women in the Silver class.

More known for his prowess with a fishing rod, Darren Kennedy was the weekend’s top local finisher in the gold class posting solid finishes throughout the weekend that landed him in 9th place.

Final results were posted after a lengthy protest was lodged by a number of competitors after a race start was perceived to be miscommunicated on Sunday.

As expected, Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin’s Andy Gratton was a force to be reckoned with in the gold class — winning five of the nine heats including Sunday’s long race around Picnic Island, which counted for two races.

In a dead heat for points with Canadian Nick Cox when all was said and done — Gratton was named champion by virtue of his number of first place finishes.

“I sailed as hard as I could, sometimes it wasn’t in the right direction, but I managed to squeeze out the first place — which surprises me,” said Gratton. “The light winds you really have to work at, watch where they’re coming from, pump a lot.”

Gratton says the event itself was unlike anything he’s experienced.

“There’s usually five or ten people watching, maybe,” he said. “To have those bleachers up there, to see a crowd cheering as you’re coming in for the finish, and an announcer — I’m not used to that. It’s great.”

On the strength on Gratton’s finish, along with brother Kevin, and fellow Midwesterners Timothy Cleary, Jeff Adamski and young Magnus Zaunmueller, U.S. competitors edged out the Canadians in the CAN-AM showdown.

Festival atmosphere enjoyable

Whether the wind was blowing or not, Dryden residents took advantage of three of the nicest days our Northwestern summer has had to offer, clogging the grounds of Sandy Beach park and lining the bleachers in support of 65 competitors from Canada and the U.S.

The park space was transformed into a festival atmosphere with local food vendors, music, arts and crafts on display and a beer garden.

The main action remained at the beach, somewhat remodeled for the occasion with fresh sand and a re-sculpted bank.

Local windsurfer Blair Skene says he got back into windsurfing specifically to be a part of the event. Skene finished a respectable 12th in the Silver Class.

“I haven’t windsurfed in 25 years,” said Skene. “I wanted to go in this regatta, so I joined up with the club. I got great instruction and I had no equipment. Brad (Woodworth) says ‘no problem, we got your board’. Bruce Stratford says ‘no problem, we got your sail’. All I needed was my swim trunks.”

Chris Marchand