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Who's Who in CCWA: Alissa Inman
(reprinted from the Jan 2006 newsletter)
Note: The CCWA has quite a few new members and we have been looking for ways to help us get to
know each other. We’re hoping to make “Who’s Who in the CCWA” a regular feature but we need your help.
If you know of someone whose story should be told please pass their
name and contact info along to the
newsletter editor.
by Bill Jones
Alissa Inman is the new editor of the
club’s newsletter, and she was recently
elected to the CCWA Board of Directors.
Most of the local sailors know Alissa
because she sails virtually every launch
site in the Coastal Bend.
Hometown: Yarmouth, Massachusetts
Education: B.A. in journalism from
Northeastern University, certificate from
Universidad Carlos III in Madrid, working
on M.A. in English at TAMUCC.
Occupation: Writer
Windsurfing history: Alissa grew up on Cape Cod in
Massachusetts and became involved in dinghy racing
as a youth. In college Alissa continued to compete as
skipper of a two-man crew. After so many years of
competition, Alissa decided she wanted to try something
new.
In 2003 Alissa packed up her gear and began a
coastal windsurfing safari that landed her in Corpus
Christi. Back then, Alissa was still trying to get into the
straps and jibe, but she was determined to learn
freestyle because “a lot of people do it on light wind
days on Cape Cod, and it rubbed off on me even
though I couldn't do it back then. It fit me perfectly
because I got so burned out on racing from 15 or so
years in sailboats. Freestyle lets me challenge myself
in ways other than speed.” Alissa is now an accomplished
freestyle sailor and has been featured in WindSurfing magazine. One of Alissa’s goals for 2006
is to loop. I wouldn’t bet against her.
Funniest moment windsurfing: “I was walking along
the shoreline at Bird, a fish swam by, and I just picked
it up. It was about a foot and a half long. We got a
picture and I let it go. Meanwhile this guy had apparently
been fishing for hours about 10 yards away and
his wife started yelling at him because he had yet to
get a bite.”
Scariest moment windsurfing: There were two. The
first was as a beginner, when I was drifting toward the
Nantucket ferry and it took me about four tries to uphaul my sail. It would not be a big deal now, but at
the time I was worried. The second happened last
spring at Laguna Shores when a nearly four-footlong
snake started swimming my way.
Something you probably didn’t
know about Alissa: Alissa and Sam
found an injured white dove and
nursed it back to health. Alissa said,
“We rescued him near SPID and he's
become our best friend.”
As a high school student she worked
at anything that would keep her near
the water. That explains how Alissa
stayed in racing shape by stocking
boxes and cleaning grease traps at a
waterfront restaurant.
A Note from the CCWA: The (old) CCWA Board of Directors
enthusiastically welcomes the energy and talent of Alissa Inman and
we thank her for stepping up to support the sport.
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