2022 Chesapeake Windsurfing Festival

The 2022 Chesapeake Windsurfing Festival will focus on fun and competition at all levels to celebrate the growing sport on the Chesapeake Bay. Competitors will launch and sail off Gibson Island’s beautiful beaches at the Point! Two separate racing circles will be run but everyone will celebrate together ashore! While the serious racers have their competition, windsurfing demos will be on shore and off the beach to help beginners and novices. Sign up here!

Windsurfing Festival Recap   The first annual Chesapeake Windsurfing Festival was held this past weekend at the Gibson Island Point Beach! The foiling windsurfers enjoyed champagne conditions as GIYS hosted a fun event for this enthusiastic group of 40-60-year-olds. I mention age because I think most of us think windsurfing, foiling, and the like are younger endeavors. Not true! The weather and conditions were perfect for the festival. On the water, we saw 13-15 knots out of the west/southwest each day on the Magothy River. On shore, the group warmed up by the fire pit and enjoyed some burgers and hotdogs on the beach. It was wonderful to see residents come down to see the action off the beach and talk with sailors on shore each day. Congratulations to all sailors! Click here to see the full results online. Thank you Charlie Wright, Geoff Searle, Jean Russell, Tom Sargent, and Tim Farrell for the help managing eight well-run races for this group. Event Background and Looking Ahead to 2023... The Chesapeake Windsurfing Festival was born from the Annapolis Windsurfing Festival, which started at Severn Sailing Association in 2019. After the last one in 2021, I started working to move the event to the Mountain Point Beaches which are ideal for windsurfing. Junior Fleet started a windsurfing program two summers ago and the hope is to see our sailors participate in next year’s CWF. At the moment, we are working to schedule the next one for the last weekend of June 2023. Stay tuned!  In the meantime, click here to enjoy the pictures and short videos of the fun from last weekend. Regards, Scott Williamson Jr. Fleet Sailing Director Gibson Island Yacht Squadron