Intro | In Memory | Central Bay | Peninsula | North Bay | Eastbay | Rio Vista
Local Color | Calendar

In Memory of Brad Beitel

 Last December, my father Brad Beitel passed away of a heart-attack while skiing on the backside of Northstar.  This came as a great shock, since he was only 52 years young, in excellent physical condition, and had no prior history of heart failure in his family.

My Dad started windsurfing at the mighty Foster City Lagoon in 1985. Soon after that, he was seen carting a kicking and screaming 14 year old kid to the then emerging Shoreline Park.  Together, we progressed until we both ventured into the uncharted waters of the San Francisco Bay. Candlestick became the launch site of choice for my father in the early 90’s.  Here he could do battle with the other slalom freaks, priding himself on being one of the fastest sailors on year old Waddell Race Sails.  (Fortunately enough, I was able to subsidize my own addiction to the sport by selling my ASD race equipment to him at the end of each season).  After jibes were dialed in solid, Dad moved down the bay to Coyote Point and 3rd Ave., where he’s been sailing regularly for five years.

As we grow closer to another season of sailing, I can’t help but remember some of the fine memories of my father and the sport of windsurfing.  Whether it be the fact that my Dad had arguably the most impractical windsurfing mobile around (a Red 300ZX, this by the way carried over to myself as well since I had a ’71 240Z; the only difference is I didn’t seem to mind the inside of the car being as rusty as the outside).  Perhaps it was his constant search for the last rideof the day.  In one instance a broken boom in the middle of the channel, forced him to have a lighted escort by Coast Guard helicopter back to 3rd Ave. at  9:30 pm.  Finishing a close 3rd to the likes of Rob Hartman and Matt Schwartz at Candlestick Speedchecks, he of course was a good 6 knots off the winning pace.  Could it be his late night dancing with my Mom to the sounds of Rad Brad Wilson on the microphone at one foggy ASD shin-dig.  Or his love for two eggs over-easy at Peter’s Café.  These
memories will live on with me forever.
 
After his passing, it soon dawned on us that in lieu of more flowers we should have people donate to something that was close to his heart.  My father was always very supportive of the great work the SFBA has done in the past for local peninsula windsurfers.  Getting the new launch site at 3rd, and the Windtalker at the ‘Stick were two of his personal favorites.  Keep up the great work, knowing that your contributions to the sport are keeping the spirit of windsurfing alive in all of us; including my Dad.

Thanks,

Chris Beitel   

 
Over the winter our tight-knit windsurfing community lost Brad Beitel. The family generously requested contributions be made to the SFBA on behalf of Brad. The donations will be used to support the SFBA's missin to improve the sport of windsurfing in the San Francisco Bay Area. The SFBA would like to thank the Beitel family and friends for their generous donations that have contributed in the memory of Brad Beitel.