Ch 5: A Whale, a Pack of Sharks and a Pod of Dolphins

Ch 6: A Gold Medal and Sponsorship

Ch 7: Island Politics

Ch 8: H.A.W.A.I.I. Makes Waves

Ch 9: Fast Racers, Slow Boat

Ch 10: More Racing, Less Boat

Ch 11: Maui No Ka Oi

Ch 12: Honors I'll Always Appreciate

Chapter 11: Maui No Ka Oi

September, 1992: Oahu's housing market was still fairly strong but Maui had entered recession and house prices were dropping. I saw an opportunity to sell my Oahu condo with its outside parking and for the same money, buy a 4-bedroom home with two car garage on Maui. I listed my condo on a Thursday night with Connie Carvill (Gaastra Team Rider Scott Carvill's mother [by the way, Scott is now on the Naish Sails International team]). She showed it on Friday and sold it on Saturday! I was on my way to Maui and a home in beautiful Makawao town in UpCountry on the slopes of Mt. Haleakala. However, it was a bittersweet ending to an exciting chapter of my life ... leaving beautiful Windward Oahu ... leaving fantastic Kailua Bay (which Robby Naish says and I agree, is "the premiere windsurfing site in the world ... when the wind blows") ... and leaving my many windsurfing friends. I'll never forget the going away party at the home of Rick and Carol Naish and the neat airbrushed cake and the cool trophy from H.A.W.A.I.I. While I love living on Maui, I really miss Oahu and its windsurfing community, even to this day. I think I may even miss the Race Committee boat :-)

During 1992 I wrote three handbooks:

Gaastra Hawaii Team Rider Handbook
Gaastra Hawaii Race Management Manual, 275 pages
U.S.W.A. Scoring Systems Handbook

The first is out of print now. You can obtain a copy of the Race Management Manual from me for $6 USA/$12 Elsewhere to cover the cost of shipping/handling. You can obtain the Scoring Systems Handbook from U.S. Windsurfing.

Makawao, Maui: 1993-1996: After I moved to Maui, I continued working with the local Gaastra Team. Laurie Pottish, one of the top racers on Maui, became Gaastra Rep to the retail stores. When Robby Naish started his own company, all of us but Lorrie switched over to Naish Sails Hawaii. I started working with the local Naish Team and the following year took on representing Naish Sails Hawaii to the retail shops. I also devoted a lot of my energy completing RaceManPro Windsurfing Race Management Program software and working with the U.S.W.A., holding several offices (Secretary, Treasurer, 2nd Vice President and Events Committee Chair), chairing several Task Forces and Committees, including another committee to revise the 1993-96 U.S.W.A. Event Guidelines with the specific task of increasing user friendliness.

It was during this time that I decided something had to be done about the drastic decrease in racing participation in the United States. Using input from the rec.windsurfing newsgroup as well as several questionnaires, the Events Committee thoroughly investigated all possible causes for this decline and concluded that the widespread use of unlimited pumping was a major factor in racing dropouts and a barrier to attracting new competitors. The Events Committee determined to take immediate steps to bring the "fun factor" back into competition. We were very pleased when the Board of Directors unanimously approved with but one abstention, our recommendation to give racers a choice: Olympic racing (pumping) or Classic racing (non-pumping). The Events Committee also recommended a simplified competition format for Classes and Divisions consistent with the Olympic and Classic Fleets; and the active promotion of the Cooperative Competition concept.

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