Announcement: 2001 Canadians ResultsSeptember 15, 2001 Warm and windy conditions assured the success for 2001 Canadian Windsurfing Championships held on the Magdalen Islands, Quebec, from August 27 to Sept. Two of Canada's top professional sailors won the major trophies: Sam Ireland (from B.C.) won the Men's Overall Championship and Quebec native Martin Van Geenhoven won the Freestyle Championship for the third year straight (and winning 2nd Overall). Sam is making a name for himself at present in Formula competition largely in Europe, while Martin is making a big impact as a newcomer on the world Freestyle circuit in Europe and around the world. Quebec's talented "Air Force" also fnished high in Overall (Formula, Slalom and Freestyle): Eric Girard 3rd; and with 4th Overall going to Nicolas Boucher. Likewise, Quebec's Swanie Grégoire won the Women's Overall Trophy away from 2nd place finisher Nikola Girke of B.C., last year's trophy winner. Anick Violette placed 3rd Overall in Women's Pro fleet. Medal winners in the large Gold Amateur fleet were: Barrie ON native Geoff Mitchinson, 1st Place Overall (1st Formula, 3rd in slalom and Freestyle); Quebec's Daniel Lefebvre, 2nd Overall (1st in Slalom, 2nd in Formula, 8th in Freestyle); Nova Scotia's Shane Hawkins, 3rd Overall (4th in Formula and Freestyle, 12th in Slalom); Ottawa resident Rick Collins, 4th Overall; and Quebec's Mario Cornellier, 5th Overall. A standout was Gold Amateur Master (45 & over) Jan Wroblewski of Mississauga ON who won 1st place with a stunning 3rd Overall in Formula among 8 Pros and 13 Gold Amateurs (outpaced only by Ireland and Van Geenhoven). Jan also won 4th in Masters Freestyle and 4th in Masters Slalom. Warm and low winds were the norm for the first two days of Formula and Elimination Slalom, but the wind picked up for the next round of both Formula and Round Robin Slalom, the last being held in prime conditions with 3 sets of 7 downwind heats. Pros and Amateurs alike got a great chance to test their speed and skill, as is possible "sans pareil" on the Magdalen Islands! FREESTYLE: A great day in SW 12-18 knots provided quite a show for the crowd on the beach at Gaspard's on Havre Maison -- 4 rounds of 7 heats! Sam Ireland followed up Martin Van Geenhoven's dazzling Spocks and Willyskippers, with his own amazing variety of 360s, duck tacks, loops and other tricks to take 2nd place in Pros, with Olivier Matte pulling off a 3rd. Swanie Grégoire won the Pro Women's Freestyle. Many of the Gold Amateurs entertained the crowd as well: Guy Trudeau taking 1st in Mens, Louis-Philippe Généreux 2nd, Geoff Mitchinson 3rd and Shane Hawkins 4th. SLALOM: A challenging 5-gybe course was set in both marginal North then strong South winds -- the first time for the "Canadians" in many, many years. In this popular Amateur discipline, board shaper Daniel Lefebvre proved over 11 heats in 4 races to be Number One, with Guy Trudeau 2nd, Geoff Mitchinson 3rd and Louis-Philippe Généreux 4th. First Madelinot was Léon Boudreau in 5th. Pierre Tremblay was first Silver Amateur Man. Top Masters Amateur was Mark Munro, and Michel Rioux was 2nd. Kim Martin and Jocelyn Talbot competed alone as Women Adult and Masters in their respective categories. Van Geenhoven (Senior - Jacques) won the Gold Grandmasters fleet, with Yvon Lefebvre 2nd and Antoine Ciociola in 3rd. Among the Pros, Sam Ireland was first, with Eric Girard 2nd, and Nicolas Boucher 3rd. The Pro Womens' fleet was won by Nikola Girke. FORMULA: The first day's 4 races skirted the 7-knot minimum (8-11 knots) but the second day's saw the whole fleet happy in 5 more races of 12-18 knots, with Ireland taking it easily continuing his recent victories in Europe. Several Gold Amateurs followed Martin Van Geenhoven's 2nd: Jan Wroblewski and Geoff Mitchinson followed by Yvon Lefebvre, 5th and Daniel Lefebvre, 6th. Pierre Tremblay took first place in Silver Amateur. Windsurfing Canada, which sanctioned the event as the "Canadian Windsurfing Championships," thanks the organizers of "La Coupe des Iles" for the magnificent organizational job, not to mention the unparalleled Pro purse of $20,000 and the rich giveaway of over $10,000 of prizes to top place Amateur winners (and many more draw prizes). Results for the "Canadians", as well as for the following "The King of the Islands" international Freestyle and Kitesurfing events will soon be available at www.coupedesiles.com . Results also of the "King of the Islands" 25 km long-distance race featuring over 90 competitors across the ocean Baie de Pleasance in up to 20 knots SW, a highlight of the second week, will also be available. Windsurfing Canada was proud to be involved with "La Coupe des Iles," proven again to be one of Canada's very best windsurfing competition sites (and one of the best in North America). Thanks go to the all people of the Magdalen Islands, whose hospitality and devotion and skills made our "Canadians" possible. WC also thanks senior CYA judge Mel Preston and his wife Helen for their indispensable help with documentation, judging, scoring and more during the event. The date and place of the 2002 "Canadians" will be announced soon -- keep
your summer free for this event! Information: 416-928-3086 |