Oh! Canada!?! - Nitinaht Wind Fest Report

tonyb · Mon Aug 13, 07 9:00 pm **Oh! Canada!?! - Nitinaht Wind Fest Report**

Hey everybody, we're just back in the states from our visit to the Nitinaht Wind Fest in Vancouver, BC. Sounds like everybody had a great time with the blowout! Sorry we missed it but we flipped a coin a few weeks back and Wind Fest won the toss. Hopefully next year we can coordinate BOG, The Blowout and Wind Fest to all be on different weekends. I'll make the effort to get all of the planners in touch with each other to see if these events can be staggered.

A quick recap for the folks who hadn't heard of the event. This was the 2nd Annual Wind Fest kiting / windsurfing event that was held at Nitinaht Lake on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Go here for the official scoop on the place: http://www.nitinaht.ca/index.htm Nitinaht is about 3 hours from Victoria or Nanaimo with the last 2 being on a dirt road that seems like it will never end! Shocked

First off, the event was great and the organizers did a fantastic job with the sponsors, the schhhwaggg, the prizes and the atmosphere. The location is just incredible with monster trees, rocky beaches, driftwood, and beautiful northwest scenery. The local kite crew up there is awesome and very welcoming - and the parties and hanging out weren't half bad either!!!
Drunk

You'll all be happy to know the Gorge Gang went international and did a pretty fair job at representin' our neck of the woods! Pics below but here's the recap (still somewhat un-official but I think it's correct):

Upwinder:
Long, long, upwind race course with 2 marks to go around. (~ 4miles? Shocked

): Steadiness, endurance and a big board were the keys to this race!
- Women: in 1st Place... Carol B! - She was 7th overall and the first and only girl to finish out of about 20 that started.

- Men:
1st Place: Sam Medysky
I got 6th overall (passed Carol on the downwind leg!), Grom got 9th, Bucky (honorary NW crew) got 11th, Josh came in 12th, all out of about 20+ guys that started.

Boarder X:
Triangle race course with 2 small obstacles to jump over before the final downwind leg. Men's comp had 7 heats, women had 2 heats, they both had 2 semi-finals, one final. 4 to 5 kiters per heat, top 2 going on to the next round.

Mens:
1st Place: Sam Medysky
2nd place: Paul Porter (NW crew - Seattle!)
3rd place: Tony B (I was in the lead but choked on the last obstacle and had to go around and re-jump!!! Evil or Very Mad

) But still had a blast doing it! Smile

Womens:
1st place: Shannon! - smoked everybody on the course - and would have beaten all of the guys - she had the best run of the day in the finals!
2nd place: Chris ???? - Canadian girl - I'll get the real results and update
3rd place: Chris off the Best Bus - Connecticut rider.

Freestyle / Big Air:
Men's and Women's each had 2 heats and a final, 5 from each heat advancing to the finals.

Women:
1st Place: Meri Leclerc (always smiling on the water and super smooth to watch!) And she ran the beach faster than the other girls!
2nd Place: Shannon! - She threw down some sick moves, went huge and hung in there for the foot race up the beach as the wind was dying off.
3rd place: Chris off the Best Bus - Connecticut rider with some smooooth moves on the water.

Men:
1st Place: (this after they segragated the Pro from the Amateurs).... Grom! Grom killed it in the first heat then hung on through the dying wind in the final to pull it out. Plus his board shorts were lookin' pretty stylish! Grom also received the BEST WIPEOUT of the day award!
2nd place: Sam Medysky - Sam had some nice moves and he sealed it in the end by going to the skim board as the wind died and pulled of some 720 handle passes and some shov-its!
3rd place: Paul Porter! - Paul went out in the first heat and threw down the first and maybe best pass of the day - goin' HUGE in front of the rest of the crowd. But he suffered a cut foot at the end of his heat that slowed him down for the finals. But he went out a crowd favorite and also won the MOST STOKED award!

And finally the big trophy and award for Best Overall, based on combined score from the upwinder, boader X, and Freestyle:

For the Girls - - ->Shannon!!!

Mens: Sam Medysky from Canada!

That's all for now... I'll post some pictures of the lake, the campground, and the faces tomorrow. and I'll say thanks again to our friends from the north who put on a fantastic event! Hope to do it again next year!

Tony

TWIN-FIN · Since 24 May 2006 805 Posts Portland, OR Hot Monkey

This confirms it....The Bolstad Family Rock's
Good Job, hope to see you on the water soon, killen it as usual.

skydiveblake · Since 28 Jun 2006 63 Posts San Diego

The Bolstad family has always rocked. When nuclear war wipes this planet clean of us all, only the Bolstads will be left, stomping on the cockroaches and ripping it up on nuclear-thermals.

tonyb · Tue Aug 14, 07 8:35 pm

and goin' huge in front of the mushroom cloud!!! Cool

pkh · Since 27 Feb 2005 6549 Posts Couve / Hood Honored Founder

Great pics! What's it like riding there? Looks sweet from the photos...

rodeo clown · Since 29 Jan 2007 40 Posts Seattle

Thank you for posting these results!
I should have paid closer attention to what happened at the end there.
I loved watching Grom and Paul in action, these guys are amazing on and off the water!
This was my 1st time up there, and I was impressed by the location and the native people who helped make it happen.
(thank you for the concessions!)
For more pics, and info on who I thought had won, check out my thread on SKA. (It looked everyone was going balls out, like a 6 way tie to me)
Canadians deserve our respect, too. Wink

You guys totally rock! Twisted Evil

http://seattlekitesurfing.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7202

tonyb · Tue Aug 14, 07 9:19 pm

When the sun came out the riding was really nice. The locals were all bummed that we caught a down weekend - just like we felt when the BOG let us down on Saturday with no wind - at the end of July!

It's a great spot, beautiful scenery, looks like it could get a little choppy when the wind picks up, wind is fairly clean until you get close to the beach but it's probably better when it's really blowing. The camping is really neat. You can stay up in the trees or go down on the beach amongst the driftwood and giant logs.

We'd like to go back again next year and maybe get there a couple of days earlier to get used to the setup and stay a day or two longer to enjoy the vibe. The Canadian crew up there is really really cool and have some kick-ass kiters on the water. And they're just plain fun to hang out with. Smile

Tony

kiterider canada · Since 16 Aug 2007 1 Posts New Member

Congratulations to Canadian Naish team rider Sam Medysky for his 1st place finish in both the Distance & Border-X races and 3rd in the freestyle. For his efforts overall Sam was crowned the 2007 Windfest kiteboarding champion. Congrats to all competitors!!