The Gathering of the Tribe

The tribe gathered once again on Hatteras Island for the American Windsurfing Tour's Hatteras Wave Jam event Sept 12-15.  The conditions didn't cooperate until the final hours of the 4 day competition window at which time they ran the Pro, Women, and Youth heats but unfortunately didn't get in the Amateur heats.  The good news for some of us lowly amateurs was that the waves did show up from leftover Hurricane Leslie swell and we SUP surfed in clean conditions that ranged from waist to overhead high over the course of the 4 days.  All pics below taken by me unless otherwise noted.

What a Scene!

Rob

Rob - we had mostly long peeling left handers

Waterturtle - pic taken by Rob

Ken looking back

Ralph on a good sized long one

Ralph

Ralph taking off

Rob on the glide in

Ken

Funny lighting in this pic but looks like Rob is paddling in from the heavens

Saturday was the best and most memorable day because of the length of the long waist to chest high rides, a forecasted and very rare 17 second wave period, and beautiful sunny beach day.  Sunday was supposed to give us bigger waves but they didn't stay consistent and came in very infrequent and unorganized sets....we still had smiles on our faces though.

The wind finally came up late Saturday afternoon as we came off the water from SUP surfing and we heard they were going to try and run heats in the final hours of the day (and competition window).  Rob and I figured they would focus on the Pro heats since little time was left so we decided to go do some slalom/bump and jump windsurfing at Canadian Hole.  That was the right call since we ended up fully powered on 5.5s at the Hole and they indeed ran only Pro, Women, and Youth heats and a single Amateur Expression Session.  I'm very happy the wind did come up for everyone that afternoon and that the event came off in the end for all involved...I'm sure we're all very grateful.

Walking my Tabou 9'2" SUP surfboard (and light wind wavesailing machine...yes it has a mast track) to the beach with my coffee on Day 3....we SUP surfed and did some light wind wavesailing on this rainy day.  Pic taken by Kevin Pritchard.

At the final AWT party at Koru Beach Club, which is a very nice place.  Here we are with the former world windsurfing champion, Kevin Pritchard.  From l to r: Randy, Ralph (who won best crash award), Ken, Waterturtle, Kevin, Rob, and Andy (Wind-NC).

Rob and I with Sam Bittner, AWT creator and organizer.  We met Sam last year in Baja and we're glad to call her a friend.  Sam is responsible for single handedly reigniting wavesailing competition stoke across the US and now expanding globally (Peru this year, maybe adding Chile next year).  She also helped resurrect the US Nationals this year after they were going to cancel it.  Keep up the great work Sam and thanks for all you do!

Big thanks also to the local Hatteras sailors who helped get the AWT event to Hatteras.  I think it's a great thing for the area and for our sport.  Special shout out to Bill Bell, who has tirelessly promoted Hatteras wavesailing for several years, provided the stoke to get many non wave sailors out on the water to give it a go with many early local events the last few years, and helped get the AWT event to Hatteras despite many challenges like hurricanes, NPS permits, etc etc.  Also special thanks to Andy McKinney from WIND-NC, who acted as head judge and also did a ton to help with the event and its logistics despite a brand new beautiful baby girl and a shop to run.  Andy has also contributed to stoking the Hatteras wavesailing fire and heavily promoting Hatteras windsurfing over the years.  Kudos to both of you and to your families for their support of your work as well!


Here is the AWT Hatteras Wave Jam final day report with some pics.

AWT Final Day pics

AWT Day 3 pics

AWT Day 2 pics

AWT Day 1 pics

Random AWT pics

Here is a link to a bunch of great AWT event pics posted by Keith M.


And here is the official AWT Hatteras Wave Jam event video...


Cape Hatteras AWT Wave Jam 2012 from American Windsurfing Tour on Vimeo.