Alex Morales receives the 2024 Rick Randall Trophy!
By Jerome Samson
Every year, US Windsurfing awards the Rick Randall Trophy for Contributions to the Sport of Windsurfing to a race organizer who’s pushing the envelope, and we’re thrilled to announce that the 2024 recipient is Alex Morales!
Ever since landing in Florida from his native Cuba on a Bic longboard 30 years ago (you know the story, right? If you don’t, here are a few refreshers from Tim Venn in 2014, Bill Keitel in 2016, and Maciek Rutkowski in 2024), Alex has been a fixture of the Miami windsurfing scene, first as a racer, then as a custom shaper, and now as a successful independent equipment manufacturer (Tillo International) and indefatigable race organizer.
In a world where everything is getting incredibly expensive and budding windsurfers (and their parents) don’t always know where to start, Alex has developed top-quality gear for kids of all ages and teamed up with half a dozen local yacht clubs to make it all accessible to their young sailors. The youth programs that Alex and his team are running in Miami are attracting hundreds of kids, and you can spot their bobbing and smooth-gliding blue sails on Biscayne Bay just about every day of the week — rain or shine.
Alex organizes regular events to test his students’ fast-growing skills, and those events have put South Florida back on the international windsurfing map. Just in the past three months, he’s run a foil challenge introductory event with 30+ young riders and a youth slalom event sanctioned by the PWA with over 50 young participants from as far away as France, Turkey and Bonaire. When was the last time you attended a windsurfing event here in the U.S. with dedicated U17, U15, U13, U11, and U9 fleets?
Alex was presented with the Rick Randall Trophy at the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club last week by none other than Rick’s mother, Carey. Rick and Alex were kindred spirits, and we can’t help but think that Rick, from his current perch high above Virginia Key, was pretty stoked to see his mom and old friend together one more time. Not simply to reminisce, but to pave the way forward for the sport.
Alex is joining Justin Ahearn (2021), Mike & Chrissy Burns (2022), and Michael Fox (2023) in this exclusive club honoring Rick’s memory and continuing his legacy. Please join us in congratulating him on this well-deserved recognition!
