1999 U.S. Windsurfing Championships

"The wind was up and down, which was somewhat of a fluke," Zajicek said. "But everybody had to put up with it. Crissy Field was on fire this season. It was the first day all season that there was no wind. We are just lucky that we didn't get too much wind. Normally gale conditions are the main menu at Crissy Field. I'm glad the wind backed off."

Even though the wind was unpredictable, the crowd seemed to be consistent. Zajicek was pleased at the number of people that turned out to watch the event. "This was the first national race I've seen with over 200 spectators and media coverage." Zajicek said. "It was a nice surprise."

A new addition to the event this year was the "Techno" board. According to Zajicek, on the second day of the event the race had to get tossed out because some of the competitors on the "Techno" boards couldn't finish within a half hour because the wind wasn't strong enough for their type of rig.

"The fact that the race had to get tossed out unnecessarily was a blemish on the event. The fleet was spread out over half an hour from the front to the back."

Unlike the "Techno" board, the IMCO division, which uses restricted equipment, has its own starting time. The IMCO division is the Olympic windsurfing class. They race on the same 12 foot board and the same 7.4 square meter sail for each discipline during entire competition.

Bruce Kendall, Olympic gold medal winner from Auckland, New Zealand, placed first in the IMCO division. For him, the focus of this race was to have fun. "It was a nice, relaxed atmosphere," Kendall said. "It's nice to do a regatta where there's nothing at stake. This was more of a training regatta for me...a chance to brush up on tactics."

Although most of the sailors were disappointed at the light wind, for the IMCO fleet wind wasn't as important. "We can sail in no wind," said Kendall. "All we need is eight knots and above. We use a long board that doesn't need to plain. It slices through the water."

The competition attracted windsurfers from about 10 countries and 20 U. S. states, totaling 120 competitors. The event was open to anyone, amateur or pro. Considering that there was no prize money, event coordinators were happy to have such a good turnout. "The popularity of windsurfing competitions has died

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