2009 Strapless Open

Lake McConaughy in Nebraska, USA

Post race report from James Brown:

The Strapless Open event is unique and has a colorful past. The object of the race is to ride a strapless board across the lake and back.

Depending on the angle of the wind, the shortest tack possible is about 6 miles round trip. The first year of the event we had a mass start from the beach as the wind quickly picked up in the afternoon. Everyone headed out to the water and the wind died as quickly as it had arrived.

It left a handful of riders floating helplessly on the water. We had given up when a light drizzle started and most riders were hiding out in their tents and campers. Meanwhile, Patrick Nedele (Ozone) sat in the rain on the beach and took the first opportunity to make the trek— unbeknownst to the rest of the competitors. He was awarded the coveted ‘Flying Corncob’ belt for his persistence.

During the second year of the event, Patrick made it clear across the lake only to have the wind die off, leaving him stranded on the other side of the lake for hours until he flagged down a fisherman to bring him back. The next morning, I got up early and made it over and back while Patrick and the crew slept in after a long night of partying. Patrick awarded me with the belt and swore to win it back the following year.

For the 2009 event, we had planned on having a mass start again, but didn’t see any wind until late in the day on Saturday. We disbanded our volleyball game and hurried to get on the water. I was the first one out on my 17m Zephyr prototype and was almost to the other side with no other kites in sight. Unfortunately there was an impenetrable wind-shadow from the cliffs and offshore wind and I couldn't get to the beach. I started making tacks back and forth to see if I could get upwind, but was so overpowered that I wasn’t making very good progress. After a few tacks, my friend Daniel came out on a JetSki to see if I was alright since they couldn’t see my kite that far away. I followed him back to camp and the wind got light so we packed up for the night. After another long night of partying, I woke up early and tried to go out. Unfortunately the wind was too light so I had to turn back. After getting an earful that this format wasn’t fair, we decided to have a traditional mass start. The wind built up nicely all morning and we gathered for the start at high noon. When the race began I was downwind of everyone and fumbled to get on my board in the shore break. When I looked back, everyone else was fumbling around and avoiding tangled kites, so I a got bit of a head start. I was ahead for most of the trip across where we each agreed to put our initials in the sand before heading back. Paul “Motz” Macaj had gotten upwind of me and was gaining the lead as we neared the halfway point on the return trip. I did my best to catch back up when he lost his board and I thought I had him. I was concentrating on staying on my board in the knee to waist high chop when he lost his board again. All I had to do was keep my board on, but the fatigue, adrenaline and goofy foot tack got the best of me, and I lost my board twice too. So in the end, I got the‘Cow Bell’ for second place, Motz took the first place ‘Corncob’ belt and Lance Graham took the ‘Nebraska Snow Globe’ for third place. After a round of high fives, we gave our rubbery legs a break and went back out to enjoy the great wind and building swell.

The growing number of strapless riders is sure to make for some stiff competition in coming years. Ditch the straps and bring it on!

James Brown is sponsored by Ozone Kiteboarding, Dakine, Zeal Optics, Decosse Customs and O’Neill.

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