This is an email that I got from John a while back, he tried to send it to you Paul but was unable so I'll just post it to the whole list.

Regards
Terry Graham  CAN84
Prairie Director - Windsurfing Canada

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	Prairie events
Date:	Fri, 28 Mar 2003 15:43:51 -0500
From:	John Darling <fwdsail@...>
To:	terry.graham@...

Terry & Paul: (Terry: can you forward this to Paul? His address does not
work from this end.)

Terry you are right, the "Canadians" are due for another Prairie stand
sometime soon. How about 2005? (2004 is tentatively back at the Magdalens,
but nothing is inscribed on stone, and 2004 makes a decade yet!) Not
rushing anyone though...

Terry, you mention some SKS events -- you guys are the best organized in
Central Canada ("Central" Canada; I thought Ontario was "central" and you
were definitely West. (We're holding our "Central Canadians" this year in
Kingston!) But, you are partly right -- Winnipeg is dead centre on the
continent. Let's say AB, SK and MB is the "Prairies" -- sounds good to us,
anyway.

I think a way to build up the Prairie fleet is to work up the Wind &
Water to be a Prairie event, and graduate your Provincial Championships to
being an inter-Prairie championships of the 3 flat provinces. (Okay,
flatter provinces, not counting the eastern slope of the Rockies.) Sask.
is central, has the biggest (and best) Club and has at least as good
wind (well maybe not southern Alberta) as anywhere else.

Paul: your idea of linking up with Ontario events hits the wall of the
barrier of the Great Lakes, and Great big ones they are, with Winnipeg
being a 2-1/2 hour flight from Toronto. We've had young folks pile into a
truck and drive up to 'Peg for a regatta -- it can be done -- but the
majority will want to fly out for a big event. When they do, it would be
nice to have another event the week before, or the week after, to make it a
slam-bang 10-day vacation (while the rest of the family goes off
exploring). I go to Florida every Feb.-Mar. but I get 2 events over 2
weekends, which makes the 5 days of road travel (just) worth it. So the
Canadians could be Labor Day weekend (or whenever) with another Prairie
Championship at Elbow last week of August, something like that. Windsurfing
Canada would be happy to sanction both events; by then we will have a
national ranking system in place and both events would count, giving your 3
flatter provinces a boost .

David Lewis would come from AB, and some others from MB; the course racing
could be combined Formula and "Giant Slalom" (big wide slalom boards, there
are a lot around, and they could race course racing no problem at all
(don't even need big fins), we would give them a separate fleet anyway (as
recently as 1998 half the "Formula" fleet at WIRED was ordinary slalom
boards, but boy could those guys tack 'em). You have the talent out there
for a fleet right now, and if Ontario is any indication, the kids 12 years
and up whose first love is freestyle are attracted to "Formula Experience"
-- the cheap poly boards now coming onto the market -- we will launch our
first small junior/youth fleet in ON and BC this season.

Anyway, some thoughts; glad to hear the interest is there...

John Darling WC

PS: Sorry, Woody, I forgot about Lake of the Woods: but you are a little
West of the Great lakes too if I'm not mistaken.
Then, there's the "international" aspect of Prairie events too (you may
have noticed that 3 events in Canada this year are included in the USW
series.)



--
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terry.graham@...
<http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/grahter>
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Photography on the North American prairies & plains:
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