UPDATE: The 2020 US Nationals are cancelled. The events below are still proceeding as planned, as regional events, but they will not award US Nationals titles. Please support them and attend if you can!
In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic situation, the 2020 US Windsurfing Nationals have been rescheduled as follows:
- Oct 24-31: FREESTYLE and SLALOM in Hatteras (NC) during the OBX-WIND event
- Nov 6-8: COURSE RACING (kona, LT, open, techno, windfoil) in Clearwater (FL) during the Gulf Championships event
For registration and updates, please check out 2020nationals.uswindsurfing.org
We’re very grateful to the teams at Severn Sailing Association and Hi-Tech for all the work they put into planning for the original events in Annapolis and Maui respectively. It takes a lot of hard work to organize a regatta, let alone one with national titles at stake. We share in their disappointment that the national championships had to be cancelled in Maryland and Hawaii this year, but those teams are incredibly strong and passionate about the sport and have already confirmed that they’ll host us again in the near future. We’re chuffed to have such generous partners and are already looking forward to returning!
Rather than giving up on our national championships this year, we made the decision to reschedule them at different venues in the Fall, at a time when, hopefully, getting together for a few days on the water won’t be quite as dangerous.
The OBX-WIND week will now take place at the end of October, and the team at Ocean Sports will take on this year’s Slalom Nationals on top of the Freestyle Nationals. If you’ve raced slalom in Hatteras these past few years, you already know how much fun it is! For those who will make the trip for the first time, three words: flat, fast, shallow! And the finish mark is 100 feet from the shore!
For course racing, the event will now take place in Clearwater, Florida at the Clearwater Community Sailing Center (CCSC). If you’ve been to the midwinters regatta these past few years, you know the venue and its incredible location on the Gulf of Mexico. While midwinters takes place in March, the club has run a great Fall event too in recent years, typically for one discipline like Konas or Windfoils. In early November this year, the event will include all course racing classes and award national course racing titles. Don’t miss it!
We’re lucky to have had the option to reschedule those events and are extremely grateful to the teams at Ocean Sports and CCSC for helping us make it happen. Naturally, while we’re all hoping that the pandemic will recede enough in the coming months for us to cautiously resume normal activities before the end of the year, we’ll stay abreast of the conditions and update you on the situation.
Every year, the US Windsurfing National regattas are an opportunity for sailors from coast to coast to come together and celebrate our beautiful sport. The first time, you come for the races, sure. But then you realize that the experience is much more that the sum of your mark roundings. What draws all of us to the event year after year is the joy of spending time with good friends – catching up on each others’ lives and adventures, talking about gear, sharing a drink. We miss you guys and hope to see you in the Fall!
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