Suzanne's Blog: CMWA Championship in Toronto, August 2 to 5, 2013

For the first time in 25 years of existence, the Canadian Masters Windsurfing Association held its annual regatta at the Toronto Windsurfing Club (TWC). Stephanie Todd was our organizer extraordinaire with the help of a bunch of volunteers. We had 17 Konas racing, 2 youths on Bic Technos, 8 on open raceboards and 4 youth on RS:X and raceboard. A great group of people of all ages!

I convinced my friend Dave Luck, who used to race, to come to Toronto for the weekend and partake in some of the activities. He was beach master on Saturday and joined us for dinner on Saturday.

On Friday evening, we had registration and great munchies at the TWC. Saturday brought us sun and wind but very unstable wind that kept shifting too much to set a course. Our race officer, Anne Sanderson, was very patient and after lunch managed to set a course and sent us on 2 one lap races. I did those 2 races!

Sunday was also sunny with more stable winds. We did 3 races before lunch. We were set up close to the eastern gap and the wind was gusty so I had to hold on with all my might and also watch for slight wind shifts. After lunch, there were 2 races that I opted not to do because my arms and upper body were tired from the morning. I lent out my board to Jean-Robert Wilhelmy, from Makani Fins, for him to try as he had never been on one but had help design the new weed fin for the Kona.

Monday was our long distance race. Nice steady light wind, just for moi!! I had a good start and shortly after, I spotted Andrée and Bob going up along the far shore so I decided to follow them. It paid off because as I was approaching the finish, I could count only 4 Konas ahead of me. But a race is never over until you cross that finish line... and low and behold, Marco and Tom came from behind and finished just in front of me but by not much. After the race, the wind was nice in front of the club so I continued to sail for a while. Then in to pack up and have the awards ceremony.

I came home with a 2nd place in the Grand Master's women Kona class and a 3rd place in the Kona ladies class, behind my usual opponents, Andrée and Stephanie. All in all, a good weekend was had on the water and off the water.