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BABA racers and Meet at the Beach inspired windsurfers scored a big weekend at Mayo for the East Coast Championships on September 21 and 22.

We’ve got lots of pictures and words to share, but in case, dear reader, you don’t make it through the entire post, I’m going to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers who pulled together to put on the regatta. As Myles Borash said when asked why he traveled all the way from Boston to compete – he makes a great effort to travel to our regatta because BABA still cares about racing and has volunteers who will work to put on an event, while his local windsurfing community gave up long ago.

Windsurfing Will Not Be Cancelled — ECC Skipper’s Meeting

ECC Skipper's Meeting group picture — ECC Skipper’s Meeting

It takes a village to put on a regatta, along with a dedicated Commodore, and BABA has all that and more! We had 2 days of beautiful weather and WIND for the 2012 East Coast Championships Regatta, part of US Windsurfing’s National Race Tour. The first race started around noon on Saturday, September 22 but there were many hours of planning and organization ahead of the horn’s blare.

Big thanks to Commodore Tomaso for bringing all the pieces together and running a great regatta. We’d also like to acknowledge Anne Arundel Recreation and Parks for co-sponsoring the regatta, and park manager Dary Lofgren.

Jeff and Darlene Forte spent Friday night on their sailboat Something Special, a 1973 41 Tartan sloop at the marina on the West River where it is moored. It took them about an hour to motor over to Mayo on Saturday morning where they anchored in position to serve as committee boat for the regatta – a much more luxurious committee boat than BABA usually experiences! Thank you Jeff and Darlene.

Albert Pritchard and Tom Caswell brought out their motor boats for the regatta – Tomaso and the committee would not have been able to put together such a great course if they didn’t have a boat. The smaller boats also served as safety boats to rescue befallen sailors, including Amber who broke a mast far from shore and appreciated the ride. I hope her string of bad luck has ended. Thank you Albert and Tom C.

Jeff and Darlene, and Dave Iseri and his daughter Jasmine ran the racing from Something Special under the tutelage of Commodore Tomaso. They ran a tight series over 2 days with excellent starts and undisputable finishes – some camera ready.