Many things at the ECWF Cape Cod impressed and amused me - here are a few random ones:
- Caesar Finies skipping his lunch break to demonstrate Ankle Biters and more on the beach to a large crowd of onlookers; some of them later did the move on land
- Mike Burns putting up an amazing show in the pro freestyle heats, making Caesar work very hard for the first place in pro freestyle
- Phil Soltysiak racing on his small freestyle board and 5.x m freestyle sail, and always coming in in the top 1/3rd of the pack, even when winds were light
- Eric Skilbred upping his performance in every heat to eventually steal 1st place from Niko Kley, who had dominated the earlier heats with flawless duck tacks, back-to-back, and jaw breakers
- Caesar pumping like mad to get on a plane in marginal winds, and ending up way ahead of everyone else on the last mark - but being caught by longboard sailors on the final upwind leg in shifty and weak offshore winds
- The crew from Makani Fins who came from Canada to participate in racing and freestyle with big smiles on their faces, and to let everyone interested try out Makani fins
- Pam Levy, who had again come from Michigan to help with running the event, but who also participated in both racing and freestyle - and who kept her smile even when her car had to be towed to a repair shop when she was on her way to the event, towing the rescue jet ski
- Nina whipping everyone into shape on the megaphone, making sure that we stayed close to schedule and earning many remarks for how well organized the event was
- Mike Burns beating Caesar in the second-to-last freestyle heat because he had chosen a larger sail, and had just enough power in the gusts to throw amazing new school tricks
- Caesar fighting back in the last heat in lighter winds - when Mike drew large cheers for seemingly never-ending turns and cool rail rides, Caesar answered with never-ending ankle biters, explosive railride into Matrix combos, and his trademark "Hail Mary" attempts
- Jeff Bull absolutely dominating the first day of racing on his ancient Mistral Superlight, leaving all kinds of slalom boards and longboards in the dust in 4 of 6 races
- Jeanne Baumann, the old and new Queen of the Cape, showing the guys how to race with 4 placings in the overall top 5 - she would have taken 3rd place in the Men's 7.5 division, and 1st place in the Men's Open division
- Seeing the Kalmus parking lot filled up with windsurf vehicles
- Lots of beautiful sails on the water during races
- Nikita putting family first and taken both of his kids out for a sail instead of competing
- Mike Burn's catapult over the finish line when his fin caught the anchor line of the buoy
- Freestyle Fred skillfully taking down Jerry Evans with a sail throw in a freestyle heat
- Having competitors come from Bonaire, Canada, Vermont, Michigan, New York, Connecticut, and lots of other places
- Seeing competitors ranging from 16 to 72 years in age competing in the same races and freestyle heats
Here are a few pictures from the event:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaYimltQVF6DRcBK_033f-PuHCJhYegQ3gQNHvFBKMoDMlFqgLSQVrCNZgeWKu5-CjacoqhELDKIh-0RDoUZYoBNB5azwaAvfvqLH_GOOhkAKM0WlRPHoLVNFf7Pgmj8Hfq2fusxWuheA/s1600/Race+start+IMG_5416.JPG) |
Race start - PWA sailor Phil Soltysiak ahead of the pack |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeu3Ctk6AnBWTrxTXS1lmhokfz3j_B-l1ePN8X5HYX_mY8ESDWnztW7Cy9XBwP74xryafWOp-EdCEKLgQUCOspBaHIQcmm3_KGG-IbumBzh9rMEK98N4aPPYzYzVhK9d9C7mk5PpvHtQw/s1600/Lots+of+racers.jpg) |
Great weather, lots of colorful sails |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0n-odck9CA01KbzCuH57n9NODOzD_8F-p4HLrxKR6NLU6qlAnphbx11uixwyqRL0gHXKUMuUb4RS-4bsKxQfo59HeJKnctPVi2dI1LSEFns2t-L8r_43-BMvDO-J6dhc_fuibR6ECvnE/s1600/Caesar+on+land++IMG_5538.JPG) |
Caesar Finies demonstrating moves on land |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRp5OvyKyooxQ9pBKHjiuh9cvFYbx21UyY98OGN8X5a1H21yqf0sSEZ-C9G5BVTtwRwqCV4Va-N4SDJFQtxyDo0eeV2pYyVYM_BYrU9rv2ME5fTCjfr14YSDaVIWmUcOuqq8zthAYFxpA/s1600/Double+rails.jpg) |
Pro freestyle heat - Caesar and Mike on the rail |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNunPMXooEyCgz85ef4NW5NrIsJh2UTuzjOkzfdZlqiislhLfUOFUaaCEaCMBOQ4xdf93uXveDBnwaDrMcMb1ZwuT26YBpw7pNI_S4S4P3VmRfEEKRyUOphCkbNQJZ6GNWbFnWuwpqyMw/s1600/Caesar+on+boom+1.jpg) |
Caesar on the boom during a Matrix |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijqxO38io09v3C9a_DBKn6si3zg7Un9-QQObMVIx6PwbZzz2I34EtGOmT5joRbuA34HH7bLFAIbtZl-oCy7SgZUUMaWHFs9gAcxJzKY6dEhbc3OHR-s3uUrzhHff0yq5gHbB1Om3qTD1w/s1600/Phil+&+Mike+IMG_5483.JPG) |
Phil and Mike Burns getting ready to race |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxix6WlOxt4qd4edgiUKBsV9nd56WEDZneMJKqs0nR4mLEBv9vE1GwM7HkEMrqXheamA3bfZbSVn3Gb7qbhAquqqiCd773urMRV_pj8u79BVen9Bk-UdkbxrmKsqM5MKsq0G2WPP4xcm8/s1600/Womens+freestyle.jpg) |
Women's freestyle |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggvWtul33GSdsi-PI1IWSjjbJRROq9m3THBlNi5XcLRCi5HNJvhs0QgiZOHvUy3A6P0piaNf3f3EUBfZzM4WYeUsUubuPWrTgpytay9u4lp_q1IUMdBJPqnBf5WgwFBu39WVrQlOpPlRU/s1600/Caesar+and+Jerry+2.jpg) |
Cape Cod sailor Jerry Evans chasing Caesar Finies |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe8Qb2lEswi692HD06iYEUlz7KqeH3I2jpQlZ8VOWx38wgd8GZUqGrOAyB4tzF96tkb05cx6MwuGtyR5bsvNlU8u9jxT5J7zfF8udoEP5PK7-ec_fI8b9q2Otuy5Zami60YOoOPccDhKY/s1600/Hail+Mary+3.jpg) |
Caesar going for a Hail Mary |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltN4fr8IE92a3PYFYFKhh5RJnHx0BF92_nog0f1hOeNbOh6q5xhddnC_a5QD88qZvsVaCL8pIx2ATqMuuQg78rScsakpR6FgPk2ansl-Kn3GwHRMoa6QAp1o4cESVDQGb9_CpwgqbVz8/s1600/Kristen2.jpg) |
Novices competing with PWA pros - all had lots of fun |