All Contents of this Page Copyright(2010) of Randolph Kashino, except as indicated by other copyright notices
Pistol River Wave Bash 2010
"West Coast Wave Sailing Event Returns"
June 16, 2010
Getting to Pistol River is a little bit of a journey from Victoria on Vancouver Island. This morning I got up at 6 o'clock so I could get in line to catch the Coho Ferry. The Ferry left at 10:30 and arrived in Port Angeles at Noon. Then it was an 11 hour, 535 mile (861 km) non stop drive to Gold Beach. My only real obstacle was travelling through Portland during Rush hour. Otherwise it was pretty easy driving down the I-5 and then the 101 highways to Gold Beach. I rolled into the Curry County Fairgrounds at dark, picked a camp spot and quickly fell asleep.
After taking the Ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles it was an 11 hour drive to Gold Beach
My worst obstacle was Portland Traffic
June 17, 2010
I woke up at about 8 o'clock and made some coffee and then bacon and egges with pan fried potatoes. It was a quiet campsite and the weather looked pretty good. A little bit of wind and some fog offshore. I had missed the registration last night and was informed there would be early morning registration at the beach.
Morning Campsite at Curry County Fairgrounds in Gold Beach
The Pistol River beach is a short drive south of Gold Beach and it was a scenic drive with spectacular islets off the beach. A drive down the highway I found the beach by spotting the Wave Bash Posture on the sign. Another sure sign was all the other vehicles there with Windsurf gear.
Mystic Islets off the beach
I found the beach as indicated by the modified sign
Another sure sign was all the other vehicles with windsurf gear.
I parked and head down toward the beach. I found the event organizer, Samantha Bittner, right away at the Kiosk set up just down the first slope. She gave me the schedule, wave bash stickers for the sails, and a rash guard. I then headed down to the beach to check out the layout and conditions. This was going to my first sail at Pistol River. I found the 10 foot high rock right down on the beach that was going to mark our sailing site. It was low tide and the actual water was quite far out. A number of Kiosks were being set up by the rock and the Judges podium was being set up further inshore.
Down at the Rock things were getting organized. First Skippers Meeting Bill, Matt and Samantha. Our event organizers.
At 10:30 we got our first skippers meeting with Matt Pritchard residing. The wind was picking up nicely and it looked like it was going to blow hard. When the first heats started it blowing solid 4.0 conditons. The swell was also picking up with 6 to 10 foot faces. First heats were the Juniors followed by the Women and then I was up in the Masters. A lot of the Juniors were from Maui and they looked pretty comfortable out there. When the women's heat came up it was looking big outside and I was impressed at how well they handled the conditions. In the meantime I was rigging like crazy. I finally decided on my 4.0 Sailworks with my 85 litre Quatro. The tide was rising, so it looked like we might get a bit time to setup on the inside before getting into the breakers. Then it was my turn for the Masters Heat. I my first few feet were hindered by the fact my fin was hitting the sand, but I was soon blasting off the beach. I pushed over the first couple of mushed out breakers then hit a wall of a ramp and went straight up. I wasn't expecting that much altitude and my timing was way off when I land tail first. I spent what felt like an eternity rearranging my rig and getting going again. I got planing fast and then hit another ramp that was even bigger and got what felt like even bigger air. Probably should have tried for a Back Loop. I crash landed again and spent another minute rearranging the rig then tried to catch a wave. The best I could do for a wave is catch some white water. Then the heat was over and I was down the beach and had to walk the gear back up. After this I went and got my camera to get some pictures of the event. Things went really well and the event got through all the days heats. Later, back in Gold Beach we had a get together for some drinks and food at the Spinner's Restaurant next to the Curry County Fairground in Gold Beach.
The Womens' heat get started
Young Fiona Wylde heads out into blasting winds and surf
Ingrid Larouche sets up for a wave
The Girls keep battling it out
and the Men continued to battle it out
It was a good day of battling
Here is Kevin Pritchards' Video from the days events
When I woke up, today was looking as windy as yesterday. I had slept late and had to make a quick breakfast before heading to the Pistol River beach. Everything was primed and ready to go for the days events. I got my turn just after lunch with another round of Masters division sailors. I had rigged a 4.4 Sailworks and put it on my 95 litre Quatro. In retrospect I should have rigged the 5.0. When I sailed off the beach the 4.4 was fine, but when I got to the outside it was way too small. I ended up sailing quite far out. I was trying to get some distance to get the board planing before I got into the waves. However, There was not enough wind and I ended up slogging and the waves went right under me. I ended up slogging on some foam on the inside. I also ended up way down wind, into what the locals call "Bossland" and trying to punch out with light wind was difficult. That was the end of my heat, so I went back to watching the pros and taking more photos. The highlight of the day was the Experts going for it at the end of the day.
The photographers were ready
The judges were ready
Time for some Wave Sailing!
There was some intense scrutiny by the judges
The competition was intense
Sailors were giving it everything they had
The crowd of watchers was into it
The waves were perfect for jumping and looping
Experts heat gets ready
Kevin Pritchard blasts off the beach to start his heat
Sam Neil makes a loop
Zane Schweitzer rides a small one in
After days competition a beer with freinds tastes great
Here is Kevin Pritchards' Video from the days events
This morning the winds were a lot lighter than the last 2 days. We met at the beach at noon and the wind was still not happening so there was an indefinite postponement for the heats. In the meantime the SUP boards came out and the junior sailors took advantage of them and rigged there sails on them and played in the surf. A couple of them just went SUP surfing. Later in the day Francisco Goya headed out and put on a awesome display of what wave sailing is about in marginal wind conditions. When it finally came to get the Experts heat going, it was Francisco Goya against Kai Katchadourian. Francisco was having way to much fun out on the waves and had to be coaxed in by the crowd on the beach. Then it was a Goya against Katchadourian to determine who would meet Kevin Pritchard in the final. The light winds favoured Francisco Goya and came out on top. Then the Masters final went into action with yesterdays winner MacRae Wylde against Atilla Tivadar. Atilla was able to beat MacRae which meant another heat was going to be necessary. Then it was Francisco Goya against Kevin Pritchard and again the light winds favoured Francisco and which meant another heat was going to be necessary to determine the Experts Champion. The last heat of the day was MacRae Wylde against Atilla Tivadar for the Masters title. Both sailors worked real hard, and it was California sailor Atilla Tivadar who won it. After the days sailing a big dinner party was planned. There was a great buffet dinner put on by local caterers. There were great draw prizes from the sponsors and then it was time to give out the trophies. Before the trophies got handed out Robby Naish gave a great speech that gave us a bit of history on how the Wave Bash came into being thanks to the determination of Samantha Bitnes.
Light winds brought out the Stand Up Paddle Surf Boards
The Juniors rigged some sails on the SUP's
Francisco rides the waves in light winds
Francisco definitely was having fun
Francisco Goya and Kai Katchadourian have a pre-heat conference
Francisco making the best of light winds
Kai answers Cisco's wave
Francisco answers back to Kai
And Again!
Kai could only watch as Francisco made it work
Then Masters sailor, MacRae Wylde battled it out
Against Attila Tivadar
Then Francisco Goya and Kevin Pritchard head out
Kevin Pritchard goes for it
and Francisco goes for it
and Francisco had the better day, but lost to Kevin the next day
Then the Masters had to compete for the championship
Then it was time to party!
With lots of great prizes from the Sponsors
And trophies for the winners
Here is Kevin Pritchards' Video from the days events
I had to leave early in order to catch the last ferry to Victoria from Port Angeles, Washington. In the meantime Kevin Pritchard and Francisco Goya had there definitive heat at Pistol River. Kevin came out the winner and I'm sure it would have been a difficult task for the judges.
Thanks to Bill Morrisey for keeping us organized on the beach
Thanks to Matt Pritchard for keeping the event focused
Thanks to Josh Sampiero for keeping us entertained as MC
Thanks to Sam Bittner for making it happen
I really had a lot of fun showing up to this event, not just to compete, but to get together with the rest of the Windsurfing community. This sort of event is something the Windsurfing Tribe really needs more often. I'd like to personally thank everyone who made this possible. Matt Pritchard and Bill Morrisey from Dakine kept us organized on the beach. Josh Sampiero from Windsurfing Magazine kept us entertained day and night as Master of Ceremonies, Kevin Pritchard, at the same time as being a competitor, worked hard get the word out with is videos before and during the event. Robby Naish's endorsement of the Pistol River Wave Bash, I am sure, really legitimized it as Real Event. And the Biggest thanks goes to Samantha Bittner for her enthusiasm and determination and hard work with getting the event to happen. Let's do this again!
I made it in time for the last ferry to Victoria
See You At The Beach!,
Randy
Here is Kevin Pritchards' Video from the last day events
