by Mike McCormick, BABA Chair
If you missed the BABA Season Opener party on March 16th, you didn’t miss any action on the water. The day was gray and calm with just the slightest hint of spring approaching. No one got their gear or themselves wet in the Severn River that day. We’ll all be doing that real soon!
If you missed the BABA Season Opener party, you did miss a great time reconnecting with friends. About 40 folks showed up to kick-off the season. Everyone shared home prepared and “bought-along-the way” treats and beverages. My personal favorite was Jack Ames’ pecan pie – my timing was off and I only got one piece – can’t wait until next year.
It was fun remembering the many windsurfing highlights of 2012. We had two great Hatteras trips and mother nature spared us the nail-biting travels we had in fall 2011. We were fortunate to get good wind for a number of our race series events and we had a good turn-out for the East Coast Championship – I want to try Myles Borash’s new board! (ed note: for those of you who didn’t see him at the BABA ECC last fall, Myles was riding an Exocet D2).
2012 was especially exciting for all of us as we watched BABA member Farrah Hall represent the US on the Olympic sailing team. It was a special treat to welcome Farrah home at an East of Maui party, to hear about the competition and to give her the first ever life-time BABA membership. The decision to keep windsurfing in the 2016 olympic games in Rio was welcome news. Many of us had written letters asking that the kiting decision be overturned and it turned out that “Windsurfing will not be cancelled”.
A final highlight of the year was a BABA first – the Watersports Fun Fest held at Mayo beach and jointly sponsored with AACo Recreation and Parks, East of Maui and Outdoor Architects. The 75+ friends and family who showed up definitely had fun – most everyone got a SUP demo and around 20 people got a “taste of windsurfing” lesson. We will be doing this again in 2013 on July 14th.
The Season Opener party was also a time to thank some special people. Tom Sargent was awarded the Pat Pugh Service Award for his many years as race director keeping the spirit alive and as a windsurfing instructor spreading the spirit to young people. Chuck Schnee was also recognized for his early years at the BABA helm teaching us how to find the right balance of organization and fun as BABA grew. And finally, we all need to thank those members who volunteer to keep all of the BABA activities that we enjoy afloat year after year.
Our goal for the new year is to “share the work and spread the fun”. See you on the water soon.
