The Podium Boys

Pelting sand, frigid waters, strong winds and some of the best windsurfers of the world gathered for an unforgettable display of the sport! Known for consistent winds and cold waters, for the 3rd year in a row Pistol River fired with all her guns blazing!

I had the privilege of flying over with the Quatro/Goya boys consisting of Keith Teboul, Levi Siver and Bernd Roediger. These guys are a great crew and we had a blast. The 6 hour flight into Portland was pretty minor- We had a total of 10 bags and unanimously decided to rent a pickup truck- Keith and Levi went and got that sorted while Bernd and I gathered the bags. Bernd decided to take out all his boards in the baggage claim to check for dings/dents. After paying $250 for 3 bags, they better not have even scratched them he said! II don't blame him, he got the bad end of the stick on that deal.  Needless to say this caused quite a show as everyone was inspecting all this gear and wondering what we were thinking bringing all this stuff- Crazy windsurfers!!!

An hour passed by and the boys showed up with the shiny new quad cab truck. We chucked in all the gear and started our pilgrimage down the mighty I 5. The thought of 7 hours didn't seem too bad and we decided to power it all the way. About an hour into the drive, we were all starving. Bernd was all over the iPhone and found an AppleBees that was open till midnight… Perfect. It turned out to be Tuesday night Trivia so it was pretty annoying but the food was awesome- Keith took us all out- Thanks Keith!

Time seemed to slow when we jumped back into the car and we were starting to get delirious. We kept occupied trying to figure out the best way to get more people into windsurfing. Levi was convinced we need to sell the complete package and make it easier for people to get the right stuff. If you are going to get an 85 liter board, start off with this 5.3 sail, here is the right mast, boom and base for it. Use these fins and you are set to rip! All of this while keeping the price tag reasonable. I ask him if we would sail the same thing and he said Yeah, why not….. that is the goal to get people on the good stuff. Keith chimed in talking about costs and logistics to which I quickly agreed to. Bernd was passed out cold- too much thinking sent him off to dreamville. Our arrival to the hotel was just past 3:30am- Lights out! We concluded our conversation over breakfast and came to the agreement that there is no perfect answer except to spread the love and stoke as much as we can. A perfect example of that stoke is the AWT (American Windsurfing Tour).

The AWT has brought the sport of wavesailing back to life in the USA- the last wave sailing contest prior to the first AWT event in 2010 was in 2000- 10 YEARS!!!! That is pretty sad. But now we are back in the game and people are coming and you can feel the energy and stoke that is growing. Their is a good group of youth sailors that are charging and learning how to compete. The women are even starting to step out of their comfort zones and getting more into it. Ingrid LaRouche is leading the charge and ripping. Fiona Wylde is a 15 year old prodigy that is an incredibly gifted individual in all aspects of life. She is one to watch for a long time. The Master division was pretty full with 16 competitors and an awesome crew- west coast legend Brian Casserio has been taking his time to help with judging as well as battling for a podium position. The Pro's are also ones to thank for showing up- Levi Siver is the one to watch and he is supporting the AWT. One of the top dogs in any windsurfing arena, Levi has made a name for himself as one of the worlds best! My brother Kev is also involved, more so than just competing, he is helping out with all the media and video endeavors and making these events come alive to those that can't make the trip! Newcomers, Bernd Roediger and Morgan Noreaux are also ones to watch as they are turning it up and making the veterans quiver!

The contest summary goes a little something like this…… The Pro men, Levi dominated. He made it look easy. I don't know if there was anyone else in the world of wind that could have beat him here. Bernd was 2nd although he had to fight for it against his rival, Morgan Noreaux. Fourth place went to the veteran, Kai Katchedorian. Graham Ezzy had his issues with a heat that he thought he easily won, not so according to the judges. Brother Kevin saved all his hot moves for the SuperSession- HUGE one hand/one footed back loops, front side 360's, backside 360's…. he was not happy not being left out of the final and put down an impressive performance to win the Chinook Carbon Boom. The masters had a close battle with Atilla Tividard and Brian Casserio- these guys were great to watch. Brian took the top honors. The Amateur sailors had their work cut out for them as Ingrid LaRouche decided to enter and she schooled some of the boys- battling all the way to the final against Atilla, the masters runner up. The youth are the future and there is some good talent coming from there. Zane Schweitzer and Morgan Noreaux were battling for 1st and 2nd and Fiona Wylde, Casey Rherer and Ben Grodner were dicing it up for 3rd and 4th and 5th. Bernd has graduated and chose to focus only on winning the Pro division. For the women, AWT Tour organizer Sam Bitner was in a heated battle with Fiona Wylde for 2nd place. In the end, the enthusiasm of Fiona sent her to 2nd place right behind Ingrid LaRouche! Jen from Canada made a long trek down for all the fun and she took 4th place. Nice work girls!!!

I wasn't sure how I was going to make it back to Portland Airport for a 10am flight the next day. Fiona happened to ask me when I was going back to Maui and I said hopefully tomorrow!!! She offered me a ride as she has been learning how to drive with her learner's permit and wanted to show me how she was able to navigate the big Ford 15 passenger Van….. I experienced no frights or scares as she operated that machine with ease. Thanks Fiona and her dad MacRae!

An epic contest and an exciting journey to and from. Pistol River did her thing and gave us the goods. Spectators from all over came to watch and it was great to see old and new friends supporting the windsurfing spirit. Next time you have an opportunity to check out an AWT event, don't hesitate, there is fun for all…

See you there!

MP