Windsurfing Magazine

chrisk97
2010-09-23 11:33:57 | 877 views | 3 Comments

Now that the votes have been cast and the polls officially closed it is time for me to do two things. Firstly announce the winners and possibly more importantly reflect on the experience and consider what it means for windsurfing in the wider context. Announcing the results is the easy task assessing how the JUMPFEST Concept changes my view of windsurfing is more challenging.

The PRO Men contest was closely fought but in the end there was no match for Graham Ezzy’s no handed backloop shot. Graham worked tirelessly during the three days so that Jimmie had the opportunity to capture the perfect moment. He had so many great shots it was hard to choose his best. Graham is an extremely talented sailor on and off the water and I look forward to seeing what sort of impact he can have on the industry when he concludes his studies at Princeton where he is now entering his final year as an English major.

Graham’s contest winning shot. He sails for Ezzy Sails , Quatro International and DAKINE he is currently ranked #25 on the PWA World Tour (2009=27th)

The AMATEUR Men was the most closely contested of the polls with the lead changing almost on a daily basis. It looked like Tom Hammerton might take it, then it was all Morgan Henderson and in the end Olaf Sutor stole the show with a great backloop shot, I really like how Jimmie composed the winning image.

As you might guess from Olaf’s custom Hot Sails SuperFreak is one of the men behind Maui Ultra Fins.

The GIRLS’ contest was another hard one to call until the final day, I was convinced that Nadia Pfister would win with her powerful forward shot. You should see her Facebook profile image, boy that girl can jump! She was an early leader but the style that oozed out of Tamara Nichtern Bockius’ one handed shot proved too popular and eventually defeated Nadia’s power image; I have now seen Tamara’s printed (each of the winners were given a mounted print of their image – worth $100 courtesy of Jimmie) and it makes a great piece of artwork.

Tarama’s Photo Comment: “I look for a vertical ramp, boost it as high as I can and let go… and hold it out there until the last second. Super fun. “Studied nonchalance”… I also like the composition of the photo, the sailors in the background are framing me going in either direction and I’m going straight up.”

The FUNNIES competition was designed to put some added fun into the three days and I wondered what people might think of. I personally had a few ideas but got totally distracted and let the side down a bit but full credit must go to Morgan and Tom both out of the Hot Sails stable who raised the stakes. Morgan was extremely unlucky not to win the Amateur Men’s vote with his sick backloop shot and I really thought that he might take this one. After a long and hard voting battle it was Tom Hammerton who took the honors with his “Will JUMP for Beer” slogan on his (brand new) Smack, I guess only a sail designer could get away with that! I hear that Tom will be donating his prize to The Maui Brewing Company (his favorite beer if anyone wants to see him jump some more!)

What would you do with a brand new sail? I hope that the Maui Brewing Co. like his pic!

 

Counting the votes would always be the easy task but I am left with the question;

What does JUMPFEST mean for Windsurfing?

Judging but the comments from; sailors, spectators, industry figures and the seer volume of press that were generated by this event put together in THREE days sends me a clear message. People love to compete and they love to promote the sport in a fun and friendly environment. It is also clear that competition helps us all to challenge ourselves to do new things and that can only be great for those concerned and the industry in the wider context.

The US is a major force in windsurfing but it doesn’t have its own proper wave or slalom national tours. This is in comparison to the UK for example which has possibly the most developed national circuit with a full line up of wave events (taking in Scotland, Cornwall, Wales and Ireland) and competitive slalom and racing competitions across the country, these all produce national champions, promote the sport and help to improve the countries standing on the PWA World Tour, international racing scene and Olympics.

Isn’t it about time that we developed a US Wave Tour that showcased the obvious talent out there and took advantage of some of the excellent windsurfing venues that we have. With so many sailors based in Hawaii that seems a natural place to start but I would also like to see series events in perhaps Cape Hatteras, The Gorge, Florida, Hood River and what about an event in Mexico. This doesn’t have to be about big prize money but a way of pushing ourselves as sailors, promoting our sport and having fun in the process. I think that you get the idea; I wonder if there is anyone out there that will stand forward and take the lead?

As for JUMPFEST it was a test, we have already had it suggested that we run WAVEFEST 2010 in the Autumn which I think is a great idea and we have started to think about that in more detail. For next summer I would like to develop the idea into SUMMERFEST 2011 and more details will develop over time and be shared here. I already talked to a few people but if you are interested in discussing ideas then please get in touch.

I would like to conclude by thanking Jimmie Hepp  (jimmie4art@gmail.com) for his dedication on the hill, tireless shooting and late night editing. If you are interested in having one of his windsurfing prints on your wall then you should get in touch with him by email and add him as a friend on Facebook. I would also like to thank all the competitors for their hard work on the water, those who made it into the voting but also those one who were out there to get shots but didn’t make the shortlist this time. I had a great time helping to put this together and thank everyone who provided support, motivation, ideas and everything in between. We proved that there is a real community spirit out there that is waiting to be tapped into.

Aloha and Thanks

Chris

 

Chris Freeman rides for Hot Sails Maui and Black Project Fins, you can read his own blog here.