Kites and Sails Rules the Windbag Regatta 2000

  The Windbaggers were anxious to start, but at 9:15 AM there were only Steve Harris, Alan Calhoun, Lois Miyashiro and myself. There was a lot of wind at the meeting on Tuesday night, "Could we use two kites?"or "Is paddling allowed while racing?" and the answer was YES! But now where were those Windbaggers? The conditions were nearly ideal, with the winds 12 to 25 mph and steady. The tide was rising to over 1 foot and Steve had to make a sail boat regatta at 10:00 AM. " I really have to go!" He put up his unique Polynesian Crab Claw Sail and immediately took off, taking a course outside the reef.

  The rest of the sailors were waiting to car pool as John Enomoto and his family joined us. Soon John's partner drove up, new member Joe Koehl, aka "Joe Cool." They were going to use a Cabo double kayak and one of the new windboarding kites that Joe makes on Maui. We decided to car pool soon after and drove down to Kahala beach (Waialae Beach Park). When we arrived, we were greeted by Steve, who had just landed, a short 51 minutes from when he had started. That became the time to beat for the rest of the sailors.

  By the time we returned, Gary Budlong and friend Mike Epstein, Norm & Bobbie Offstein, and Wayne & Ellen Dorschu had all arrived to join Andy, Lois and Alan. Now THIS was turning into a real regatta! This time, the Offsteins' umbrella sail (See "Sails Rule") would be challenged by six kites and two V sails. Since everyone was timing themselves, the honor system prevailed, and Norm and Bobbie took off first in a double Malibu. Gary and Mike were only paddling (not competing) and were already off in the distance as well. Watching them getting smaller and smaller, I took off, with Alan right behind. Soon everyone was in the water. The wind was exceptionally steady, and we immediately passed Gary and Mike. Later, as I passed Norm and Bobbie in their Malibu II with the inimitable umbrella sail, Norm started to pick up his paddling cadence, but was unable to keep up. By Kawaikui, I was beginning to feel comfortable with my lead over Norm and Bobbie, and at the pace I was going, I knew I was going to beat Steve's time. All of a sudden, I see a kite over my left shoulder, and it's loop-de-looping! Then Team Cabo appears with "Joe Cool" doing kite stunts as John was paddling hard, directing the Cabo though the impact zone like a jet ski on steroids. Soon, Team Cabo was only a speck on the distant reef.

  The wind was picking up and we all accelerated towards the finish line, with Team Cabo already landed and their kayak high on the beach. I landed at Kahala, practically sailing onto the beach, followed shortly by Norm and Bobbie, who declared themselves the third place finishers, irregardless of the times given by the other Windbaggers. Then, in keeping with the Windbag spirit, Norm declared, "Considering the total cost of our rig relative to the other competitors, I'm pretty proud of our finish!" But before he could finish, the others were on the way in, first Andy, then Alan, Ellen, Wayne and Lois. Andy had initially flown a 1.5 sq. meter parafoil, until he "hulied" (flipped) and then went back to a .75 sq. meter kite.

  With the new champions already rested, I declared John Enomoto and "Joe Cool" the Winbags of the year.

(c) 2003 Hui Waa Kaukahi

 Official times and finishes: