Windsurfers and kiteboarders united for the first time in a Canadian national competition event at the Spit last weekend. Sunny skies signaled strong winds on Friday (Aug. 8) for opening day of the 2008 Windsurfing and Kiteboarding Canadian Championships. But after one day of competition, the usually reliable winds calmed and kiteboarding competitions had to be cancelled over the weekend."It's a little bit disappointing but it's the nature of the sport," said local kiteboarder JM Tremblay of the cancelled freestyle and best trick/air/crash events. "There were a lot of good freestylers here so we were looking forward to seeing them do their thing."The windsurfing show continued as planned. Toronto windsurfer Philip Soltysiak impressed the crowd with stellar tricks and won the freestyle event on Friday. Soltysiak, 21, earned 13th and 15th places in World Cup competition in Spain this summer. He said his front loop was one of his biggest crowd-pleasers. "It's not the hardest trick but it impresses people a lot." Martin Goetsch and Dan O'Sullivan placed second and third respectively. On the women's side, Tanya Ferguson and Shannon Collier Goetsch tied for first and Tamsyn Morote placed third.Besides showing off their flare, the windsurfers also reached speeds faster than 70 km/hr in the slalom event, said local Rob Mulder. "Friday was epic. It was Squamish at its best. It's really exciting because everyone's really close and there's lots of spray, too," he said, adding that positioning around corners is vital because the air gets disturbed. While some competitors get propelled by passing gusts others are blocked and stall.Mulder placed second behind winner Andreas Mackie but ahead of Whistler's Chris Prior who took third. Prior went on to win the formula finals on Sunday in front of Mackie and Mulder. In women's action, Collier Goetsch placed first, Morote second and Stacey Bodnaruk came in third. Only 17 windsurfers competed - a "small but quality fleet," said Mulder, considering numbers surpassed 100 in the past.He's been catching gusts at the Spit since the late 1986 and hopes the Spit attracts more competitions in the future."I've seen this thing go from a really small muddy little Spit to what it is today," he said."We just love it up here. It's one of the most consistent winds in North America."Meanwhile, 24 kiteboarders waited for the uncharacteristically light winds to pick up on Saturday and Sunday but settled for Friday's lone boardercross competition. Sam Medisky won the event while Mark Leng and Chris Glazier placed second and third respectively.The event marked the first time Canadian windsurfers and kiteboarders have competed together in the same championships. The relationship between the two sports is at times turbulent with athletes fighting for space and wind. Mulder compares it to snowboarders and skiers sharing a mountain, but said the two windsport sides are learning to ride together."Barriers are getting broken down and it's getting a lot better."
