* As of this time the April 20th AWC road trip is not certain.  None the less, the CCWA will invade Bird on the 20th for a day of sailing and fun.  Details will be disclosed in next month’s Currents.  Meanwhile, mark it on your calendar because we will be there with or without the Austin crew. 

BIFF ANNOUNCES SATURDAY NOT-A-BURGER RACE SERIES
     Biff Boardhead announced today that he is "organizing" a Saturday Race Series for Corpus Christi Windsurfing Association members eager to join him in demonstrating their complete lack of Bay racing talent.
Biff's "Schedule" will be as follows:
     On Saturdays where no Club functions are scheduled, at 11:00 AM,  participants will meet at the Oleander Point parking lot to discuss the day's event.  We hope to have at least one heat in the lighter morning wind to practice on our big Formula stuff.
     Depending on the turnout, we'll run as many heats as we feel like doing around whatever course we decide, then quit when we get tired.  Prizes will be bragging rights, entry fees will be waived unless we decide to do something expensive.
     So far, the Usual Suspects have expressed and interest: 
Locally:  Biff, Racerguy, Racerguy's Spousal Unit, Dr. Charles "Molarman " Allen, Molarman's Son; "Bicuspid", Bad Jon Bright.  Maybes are;  Olivier Jallais, Mike Johnson, Skip Johnson, and the ghost of the late Lyndon Johnson.
     Out-of-Town definites include:  MillMan, John-Jay AKA JayMan-"J." Ernst, Darren Rolls and his partner Royce, plus sundry assorted stray cats.
     If I've forgotten anyone, please feel free to make fun.  Then call Biff and get your number on the call-list for notification.  Participants will be expected to help let everyone know when to show up.  Biff's phone battery is only good for 3 calls.         Racerguy

ARE YOU GONNA FINISH EATING THAT UPPER CRUST?
     Have you heard of the names Morgan, Ford, Rockefeller, DuPont?  Neither had Biff.  Nevertheless, our very own Biff Boardhead brushed the Big Time recently with the announcement that the Corpus Christi Yacht Club had voted to welcome Windboarding into the warm glow of its collective bosom.  Yes, you heard correctly. Biff reported he recently paid a visit to what he now calls "the Club" to proffer his registration form and a very modest participation fee of $35.00 for the season.
     Here's the deal:  CCWA members interested in racing Wednesday night get to witness the pageantry, the strategy, and the drama of the MORF (Midget  - um, I mean, altitudinally-challenged Ocean Racing Fleet) starts.  We get to go as the 4th start.  Well, us and the multi-hulls, and other undesirables.  No, the flag sequences are nothing like ours in windsurfing and I still have no idea what they are, so ax at "the Club" when you go to pay your $35.  Scores will be kept for each race you attend, and season results will no doubt be available.
     CCWA sailors will be expected to wear life jackets, and I think that's a good rule.  Also you'll need one of those West Marine battery strobe thingies, probably another $35. May I suggest you wear a Camel Back with water or your favorite beverage?   Oh, and try not to crash into anyone.  Otherwise, we're free to race the course with the boats and hopefully build on the grudging respect we've earned for our little toys' considrable efficiency.  To avoid further embarrassment to Corpus Christi Windsurfing Association members, Biff offers the following etiquette advice when attending "the Club" functions:
1:  Refrain from asking diners for handouts from their plates, even if it's clear they're not going to finish.  And the Club seems to frown on food fights.
2:  Avoid asking embarrassing questions about last-minute large-scale Enron stock transfers transacted by the Club members.
3:  Avoid commenting, even in a positive way, on the attractiveness of female diners' new cosmetic surgery.
     Well, that's about it for this month's Briefs.  And the article is over, too.  I'll get a new one to y'all each month, whether you need it or not. Article, that is. 
Racerguy

Editor's Puffs:   by Roy Tansill
I’ve Been 1/2 Fired (and I’m Quite Happy About it!)
     A few years back I was hired part time to work as a field tech and it seemed like the ideal job but it was not long before I was elevated to full time status and my sailing time got cut way back.  My boss came to town last week and informed me that I was going to be cut back to part time and I did my best ‘Brer Rabbit’ act- ‘please don’t throw me in the part time briar patch’ with all the sincerity of crocodile tears.  Just in time for the Spring sailing season and suddenly I’ll be having some days off!   Fortunately, I bought new gear when the bank account was running up with those full time paychecks- now I’ll get to actually use those new toys.  Replacing me as the full time company guy in town is former CCWA member Chip Ducrest... now he’ll be too busy to sail. 
And now,  for something entirely different.... 
     The Austin Windsurfing Club’s planned combined outing with the CCWA on April 20th ran into some problems with Worldwinds.  It seems that weekend is already nearly booked solid and the AWC folks have to count noses and see how much rental gear they will need. April 20th seems like a great date to me and at least for now we’re keeping that date on our calendar.  We’ll talk this over at the March meeting.  Meanwhile, I’d love to hear your thoughts on some new, unusual fun competition we could put on at such fun sail events.  Dave Kelly proposed a sort of scavenger hunt on boards before he ran off to Hawaii but that’s the only response I’ve heard to the oft asked question, “what are we gonna do?”  I think the ideal would be something that virtually any reasonably competent sailor has a good chance to win, a competition of sorts but one in which luck plays as big a role as equipment and skill.  That’s a tall order but realistically that type of an event is most likely the only event I can ever win these days (and I’m not alone in that situation within the CCWA membership). 
Now the hard part...
Our recently re-elected Commodore, Chip Biery, has received news of his physical problems that don’t bode well for his role in the CCWA or anything else in his hyper-active life.  The plan a month ago was for Chip to hang in there one more year while recent newcomer to Corpus Hans Anderson learned the local ropes serving as Vice Commodore this year.  Chip, in all likelihood, won’t be able to continue his role beyond June and has offered to step down as soon as we can find a replacement for him.  Knowing the local powers that be and who’s who in Corpus is a major plus for the Commodore and while Hans is an energetic guy he hasn’t really had an opportunity to acquire that knowledge in the short time he’s lived in our neck of the woods.  The call is once again out for a Commodore to lead the way for the CCWA in 2002.  This time, the right candidate will only have to serve half a term (if things go as now planned by Chip’s doctors).  Previous Commodore experience is a plus and there is no gender bias- so you ladies out there are in the running.  The CCWA has had a female Commodore in the past so it wouldn’t be breaking any glass ceilings if one of our female members would agree to take on the task.  While we have had one lady Commodore she is the only one in the history of the club and that just doesn’t seem right.  The important matter in all this is really Chip.  He has stepped in and carried the club through some very divisive and difficult times.  Now, he is in trouble and needs someone to step in and lighten his load; how about it,  can you and would you?

2002 CCWA Activities Schedule
Feb 27    Full Moon Bonfire, Mustang Island, Contact Nancy Hamilton
Mar 19   Monthly Meeting at the home of Dick & Arleen Ward 13702 Cayo Cantilles (on the Island)
Mar 28   Full Moon Bonfire, Mustang Island, Contact Nancy Hamilton
Apr 6-7   Gulf Coast Championships Lake Texana Contact Cliff Tudor
Apr 16    CCWA Meeting at Crab Lumley’s Map on page 
Apr 20    Bird Island Bash combined with Austin Windsurfing Club.
Apr 27-8 Texas State Championships, Lake Whitney, get there the 26th says Brian Cunningham, to get a good campsite.  Check out http://www.ntwr.org for more info
The SPI Blowout is May 4 & 5.

Bay Water Quality Study Finally Released
   Ever wondered about what might be lurking in the water as you rip over the Bay’s chop?  You’ve seen some large menacing fish but what you can’t see just might be even worse.
     The question has been asked and a study by Professor Motts from our local Texas A&M Corpus Christi campus was conducted.  The results of that study ruffled a few feathers  in City Hall and public release of the study was held up.  Finally the folks who actually paid for the study (us taxpayers!) will get an opportunity to hear about what they paid for.  From what I’ve heard and the reactions of the local politicians, I’d doubt that the report will contain a lot of good news for those who like to launch along the Corpus Bay front. 
What:   Coastal Bend Bays Association Water Quality Study presentation 
When:  March 11 at 6:00 PM
Where: TAMUCC Natural Resources Center (the same place the Bird Island meetings with the National Seashore were held) 
What you don’t know CAN hurt you 

Gorge Launches Threatened With Closure
     Due to proposed budget cuts in the State of Washington, Washington State Parks is exploring the idea of returning some leased parks back to their primary owners (in our area, the US Army Corps of Engineers) or closing them altogether.  There are 13 parks listed in this category, and three of those parks on the Columbia River involve windsurfing:  Spring Creek Hatchery (the Hatchery), Maryhill and Crow Butte (Doug’s Beach).
     Please write to the Washington State Legislators explaining what these parks mean to you, how often you visit, numbers in your party, "money" you spend at the parks and/or in nearby towns, property taxes you pay for a primary or secondary residence to live near and/or vacation near these sites.  Skamania and Klickitat County have some of the highest unemployment figures in the country, and every visitor is important.
     If you can write on business letterhead...so much the better.  We're all getting used to e-mail these days, but if a letter snail mailed or faxed can easily be done by you & not put off...please do so.  I thought that a copy of your letter could also be sent to the Director of Washington State Parks.  Addresses are below.  If I've left anyone off that you think we should contact, please let me know.  Columbia Gorge Windsurfing Association members have been instrumental in keeping Doug's Beach from being on the "cut" list two times in recent years.  Thanks for your help.
Diane Barkhimer Executive Director, CGWA

 Toll-Free Legislative Hotline: 1-800-562-6000 Spring Creek Hatchery State Park is in Skamania County; Maryhill in Klickitat County; and Crow Butte in Benton County.  For Klickitat & Skamania Counties, District 
15.... Hatchery & Maryhill:  http://wsl.leg.wa.gov/common/maps/15dist.htm
 

Sen. Jim Honeyford (R) Legislative Office: 106-B Irving R. Newhouse Building P.O. Box 40415 Olympia, WA 98504-0415 Telephone: (360) 786-7684 Fax: (360) 786-1999 e-mail: honeyfor_ji@leg.wa.gov Rep. Barb Lisk (R) Legislative Office: 401 Legislative Building P. O. Box 40600 Olympia, WA 98504-0600 Telephone: (360) 786-7874 Fax:  360-786-7871 Rep. Jerome Delvin (R) Legislative Office: 436 John L. O'Brien Building P. O. Box 40600 Olympia, WA 98504-0600 Telephone: (360) 786-7986 e-mail: delvin_je@leg.wa.gov

Rep. Bruce Chandler (R) Legislative Office: 402 Legislative Building P. O. Box 40600 Olympia, WA 98504-0600 Telephone: (360) 786-7960 e-mail: chandler_br@leg.wa.gov For Benton County, District 8...Crow Butte State Park http://wsl.leg.wa.gov/common/maps/08dist.htm Sen. Patricia S. Hale (R) Legislative Office: 303 Legislative Building P.O. Box 40408 Olympia, WA 98504-0408 Telephone: (360) 786-7614 Fax: (360) 786-1999   e-mail: hale_pa@leg.wa.gov Cleve Pinnix, Director, Washington State Parks, PO Box 42650 Olympia, WA 98504 Phone:  360-902-8500  Fax:  360-902-8681

Lake Texana Event... April 6 & 7
     Well, here it is, the Unofficial invitation to the 2002 Lake Texana event. This event will be the combined effort of Windsurfing Sports and GBWA volunteers.  To start off, Windsurfing Sports is NOT reserving the camping spaces this year.  I recommend everyone get on the phone and call Brackenridge Plantation Park and Campground (361-782-5249) and reserve yourself a site so that we can hang together. Cliff & Karen have reserved sites #56 while Leon and Jennifer site #58. There are quite a few sites still available all around us. Campsites 45-63 are tent/RV $14 per night while Full hookup (no tents) are $16 per night. Just tell the park personnel you are with the "windsurfing event" and they should direct you to the right area to reserve your camp site. 
     I look forward to any help you can give this year to pulling off a fun event. This includes racing. If you want to have races, we need to come up with a race committee and find a boat. If you want trophies, we need to make them. Does everyone want to bring a dish for dinner Saturday evening?  I would like to see more fun things to do. Call me with any ideas you might have.  We are keeping this event very low budget. 
ABK Sports will also be there teaching all levels in their windsurfing Camp, April 5-7. (www.abksports.com)
     Look forward to seeing you there.  I plan to have fun, how about you? Come out and try riding some of this new equipment.
Cliff Tudor
Windsurfing Sports
800-WHY-SAIL, 281-291-9199
www.windsurfingsports.com

Weekly Forecast Retired: Speaking of email, I regret to inform you that after several years, Worldwinds is out of the emailed weekly forecast business.  John and I want to thank Roy Tansil for all of his effort in producing the forecast for much longer than either John and I have been living in Corpus.  That’s another way of saying that I don’t even know how long he did it. The problem, it seems, is that Roy has upgraded to XP and his computer gags every time he tries to produce a forecast.  The good news is that our website three day forecast with John’s “This is what’s actually happening on the beach” synopsis/prognosis is only a few keypunches away at www.worldwinds.net/wind_forecast.asp.   You can still hear Roy’s Rants (his word, not mine) every month in his capacity as the longtime Newsletter Editor of the Corpus Christi Windsurfing Association. If you don’t already belong, go to our links page and join up. 

Texas State Championships:  Worldwinds has once again been invited to help out at the Texas State Championships.  John will be traveling to Lake Whitney in late April to run the advanced teaching clinics.  This is a fun and very well run event and we hope to see some of you there.  John is always looking for a familiar face to share a cold beverage with after a hard day of teaching. 

Worldwinds Online Store:  Our new online store is up and running at www.worldwinds.net/store.asp and we are already filling orders.  Keep in mind that we are giving you discounts on almost all items and are introducing the store by offering free shipping on major items like boards, booms, masts, and sails.  If you purchase a new F2 board and take delivery at Bird Island, I will pass along the same discount and throw in a brand new True Ames Blade Weed fin as a complete freebie to make up for no free shipping!!!  Come out and try the new boards.  The Max 2 Airs and Wizzards are very sweet and if you try and buy, the rental is free. 

Mystic Harbor/Worldwinds Package: We still have some availability on our Mystic Harbor/Worldwinds accommodations/full rig package.  Stay a week at our Mystic Harbor one bedroom fully furnished condo with great landscaped courtyard with pool and hot tub and sail with all equipment at Bird Island.  The price is only $575.00 per person double occupancy. The unit sleeps 4 and kids only pay if they sail. Make reservations at www.worldwinds.net/accomodations.asp 

Website 2002 Update:  The 2002 website is progressing with more changes to come.  Besides the introduction of the Online Store, you may have noticed some pretty cool flora and fauna photos in our introduction to the National Seashore on the Home Page.  All the photos in the middle box were taken by Ranger Phil Slattery and scanned onto disk by Dennis Owen at Park Headquarters.  Thanks, guys. Every time you enter the Worldwinds web site you will see a different photo in the box.  Check it out at www.worldwinds.net and keep watching the site.  The windsurfing slide show will also be returning in the top right corner sometime soon. 

Just Short of Famous Again Dept.  The March issue of National Geographic has an interesting article on the protection that Padre Island, Texas (that’s us) provides the mainland US against rising seas and storms. Hey, maybe that’s why they call it a barrier island.   It is an interesting piece about the environmental/development complexities that actually started before condos with cattle grazing in the 1800’s.  Give it a read even if they didn’t mention Worldwinds. Now how could they have possibly missed us? We’re not exactly unknown, you know. 

That’s it from here, Don @ Worldwinds

     The volunteer staff (and there's 15 of us) got together tonight to figure out what long term work we haven't done.And we're actually in pretty good shape.  We have support from Mariner Sails, Sailworks, Starboard and Homebrew Headquarters already lined up, with more one the way.
     We're going to simplify racing for beginners this year, yet allow any one design fleet with at least five sailors to compete.  So we might have IMCO, Formula, Techno or even a START fleet.  It all depends on who pre-registers.  We'll also have 7.5 Limited, Open Fleet and weight breaks in fleets with more than 10 pre-registered sailors.
     For families, the kids events will include windsurfing this year (for the older children), along with their own prizes and trophies. 
     Our Saturday night dinner and party maintains the format you've come to expect:  Texas Bar-B-Q, Beer and Music.  Dog House Homebrewing returns this year, with more selections thanks to the sponsorship of Homebrew HQ.  And DJ Dog will provide the event's tunes and PA system yet again. 
     Finally, the generous support of industry sponsors will pretty much insure that prize giveaways on Sunday will make the trip worth your while. For more info on this event :  http://www.ntwr.org/txstate.html
Please check back often as updates will be made as we sort them out. 
Hope to see you there.  The Dog 

E-mails from curious Racers:
Subject: Fins for Open 
     Elaine, Don't know if you're the right person to be asking, but... Will there be a Formula fin length restrictions for this year's Open/Nationals? If you're not the person to contact, please point me elsewhere. There are quite a few people that would like to know this particular [fin] detail...
Hope all is well,        Barry Ritchey

To:  Greg (Aguera),
      Just wondering about this because 70 max wasn't enforced/regulated at last Nationals in Hood River or US Open. Knowing in advance will help me and others from wasting money on fins that might be considered too long. Keep us posted. Hope to see you at Open/Nationals...    Barry Ritchey, NM-0

From: Greg Aguera Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 12:39 PM
To: Ritchey, M Barry
Subject: fin lengths Nationals
Barry,
      I don't have the notice of race with me at the moment but I am certain there will be the 70cm restriction on fins for both open and formula. I will forward this email to someone who might have the official notice on hand. 
Aloha, Greg Aguera 

Ed’s Note:  We’ll have more on this in next month’s issue of Currents

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‘00 Seatrend 260 ATV Excellent condition, with daybag, straps & fin.  85liter bump & jump w/ carbon layup
$450 
Contact Roy Tansill  email:LooseClu@prodigy.net