What a great day on the water! We had about 100 people turn out for BABA’s 3rd annual Mayo Water Sports Fun Fest. The event is sponsored by Anne Arundel Rec and Parks, Outdoor Architects, East of Maui and Annapolis Community Boating. That means lots of different wind and paddle powered water craft (aka car top boats) were available for folks to try out at Mayo on Sunday, June 29th.
Thank you event chair Mike McCormick and his essential event partners Ann Jackson and Maureen Pritchard for putting Fun Fest together. They took care of all the logistics, worked with AA County staff and our sponsors, and made sure we had a delicious lunch and lots of refreshing drinks to power us through the day. Event sponsor Outdoor Architects (owned by BABA member Mark Storch) generously contributed the funds to provide lunch for everyone at the event. Fun Fest included a Taste of Windsurfing, stand up paddling, kayaking and canoeing, and a slalom & formula racing and tuning clinic for advanced windsurfers. Jon Fleuchaus and Helen Van Gelder took pictures for the blog, and Becky Belogay, Afi Chamlou, Kathy Iseri, Eddie Murawski and Albert Pritchard helped with logistics, lunch, clean-up and whatever else needed doing.
BABA is a strong organization because we have devoted members who take charge and do great work for the club and the community. Thank you all!
Keep reading – it was a fun filled day, and there are lots more pictures too!
Mark Raginsky and Daphne Lathouras, US Sailing Certified Level 1 Windsurfing Instructors, held a Taste of Windsurfing session with on-land simulation and on the water coaching. Janice Emerling, Warren Evans and Sandy Rollins helped coach the 20+ participants on the water and we saw lots of people of all ages learning basic skills and getting a taste of our sport. Several BABA members loaned their beginner-friendly and kid-friendly gear, including Mark, Daphne, Janice, Dave Iseri and Dary Lofgren. That meant the Taste participants got plenty of time on the water to work on basic windsurfing skills including up-hauling, turning around (180) and sailing away and returning to shore successfully. A few familiar faces from the BABA Learn to Windsurf with Ultimate Watersports showed up and made a little more progress on the skills they learned the week before. Congratulations to all the Taste of Windsurfing participants, and thanks to the volunteers who made it possible.
BABA member Christophe Waerzeggers (BEL 29), fresh off a 2nd place finish at the US Windsurfing National Championships in Worthington, MN, gave a well attended formula and slalom clinic for advanced windsurfers. There wasn’t enough wind for participants to put Chris’ teaching to test on the water but they were more than ready with sail tuning skills, speed techniques and racing tactics for the next big wind day. Thanks for sharing your stoke and expertise Christophe!
All in all a splendid day!
