Sunday had nicer weather for the spectators and we completed 4 more races in 5-10 mph wind. Adam Anderson had a nose for the wind and great speed around the course to win all 4 races and take the regatta crown. Alex Monroe kept his streak of 2nd’s going to hold onto second place and push Arden Anderson back to 3rd place. Andy Gratton overcame the flu to race on Sunday taking several 3rd place finishes. Mike Fox showed great skill in the conditions as well to win all 4 Kona races while Jeff Adamski made him work for it while grabbing all the 2nd’s. Despite their efforts, Randy Howell was able to maintain his position in 1st for the victory and Randy Moon held onto 2nd while Mike Fox worked his way into 3rd place. Andrea Gratton continued to lead the Sport Fleet.

Results:  A Fleet  |  Kona  |  Sport

Photos of the event are also online at the Worthington Daily Globe: LINK

Thank you to Jeff Hegwer, Ann Gratton, and the rest of the RC, as well as all of the event organizers, and the welcoming city of Worthington. We are all looking forward to the big event next year!

Missing this year were any novices whose registration fee is waived.  What is so hard about sailing in a circle?   That’s what one of the event hosts below “Frank Murray” wants to know.  Come on beginners get out on the course, we would love to see you!

From the course you have a great view of the mansions along lake St. Clair, rumor is that Kid Rock lives just down the shore a bit.    Patterson Park has a magical calming effect on people, it’s  the summer spot for local Grosse Pointers to hang out at and kayak, SUP or windsurf from.

The Grosse Pointe Windsurfing Club managed to come up with a nice set of raffle prizes again this year.   Everyone walked away with something.   Below  Nat tries out a raffle chair.   Other prizes included a wetsuit, Dakine mast bag,  Chinook Rig Winch, Aerotech rack pads, and much more.

We hope to see a few beginner novice level racers in 2014.    Usually the set up is the A fleet will do two laps and the Novice Fleet just one lap.   There is nothing hard about sailing in a circle.

Reporting: #H  Scott Haas

RESULTS:    A Fleet  |  Sport Fleet

Picasa Photo Album, click thumbnail to view album. All pictures by Steve Callaway.

Dam Jam 2013

YouTube video of Adam Anderson warming up Sunday morning:

- Arden, EL11

The Columbus Ohio Alum Creek gathering was great this year with 10 sails on the water.  This first campground based gathering was successful and plans are to do it better next year.  We did find the next circle over (row K) has much better launch area and plans are to camp there in 2014.  The camp ground boat launch worked well also.   Boat traffic in the course area was very minimal .. way far less than down by the marina and beach area.  FOUR original Mistral Superlights showed up and Gordon Bittle from Columbus using a Superlight with a 8.5 Prodigy One design sail took 1st place honors.   Eric Rahnenfueher from Cleveland using his hydrofoil monster board took second and Scott Haas from Toledo took home 3rd using a Superlight the first 3 races switching to his Prodigy for the last four races.  Scott used his Ezzy Lion 8.5 sail.

Results and more details can be found at   http://www.mowind.org/wp/?page_id=24

After the three course races we took about an hour break until 2pm and then did a distance race (counts two times, so R4 and R5 in the scoring) to the sailing launch at Deadwood Point. The wind started out about as strong as we had all day, but as it shifted more easterly we had several big lulls, shifts, and swirls. Kevin, Tim, and I ran a path closer to shore while Don, Alex, Peter, and Wayne took a route further from shore. As we approached the finish Don played the shifts the best and got to shore in 1st place, followed by Tim Cleary as he snaked along the shoreline. Alex made it next from the outside group then Kevin and I followed. Peter and Wayne finished up the mix of inside path vs outside path.

The finish of the race was at the cooler of beverages that Larry and Esther drove up up to Deadwood. Everybody had a drink or two (or three) as we discussed the next race. We thought of racing all the way to the lighthouse at the south end of the lake but because of the unstable wind we decided the next race (again, distance races count twice, so R5 and R6 in the scores) would be back to Windpower.

The Sport Fleet of Andrea Gratton and Mark Schmitz took off a few minutes ahead of A Fleet and finished ahead of the A Fleet leaders. Way to go! In A Fleet, Alex Monroe jumped out to an early lead with the rest of the fleet mixing it up. We got close to Alex around midway, but then he stomped the gas and took off for a clear victory. Don Altmyer and Peter Hartwich sailed a tight race to finish 2nd and 3rd.

After racing we hung around Windpower sharing stories and watching Kevin clean some pan fish some local kids caught from the river and left for him. Mike Reed made it up from IL to join us, and the Koeberls and Deusters also stopped by to join the fun. Several of us went to dinner at Schwarz’s Supper Club and had a great time.

Sunday morning we got bright skies and great 10 mph NNE wind, so we went right into course racing. We ran four consecutive course races and every race saw hotly contested racing, especially on the first upwind leg. The A Fleet was very close throughout the day with all finishers typically completing the two lap course within a minute of each other.

Thank you to all the racers for coming, Esther and Larry for RC, and the entire Windpower crew for the prep work, equipment, and fantastic location. Thank you Mike Reed for assisting Kevin with the rebuild effort on the pontoon engine. Thank you to my Dad, Wayne Anderson, for all the help preparing for the event and with buoys and boat work over the weekend.

Results:    A Fleet    Sport Fleet

Next up on the MOWIND calendar is the Saylorville Dam Jam in Des Moines May 18-19. I’ll see you there!

- Arden

Click HERE to view the Notice of Race.

For pre-registration or more information contact:
Barry Tofteland: bt@webmcavoy.com , 515-491-4916
Larry Reed at Reedlj2000@aol.com , 515-371 2435

I’ll see you there!

Arden

Paul Sandstrom posted on Cownet there would be some changes this time around in 2013.    Instead of launching at the marina the group will be using an area in the campground itself.    Did I mention that Chris and Paul got a nice RV last year?      See the details  on the Mowind Alum Creek page.     This will be a fun start to the new summer season in Ohio!

The Windsurfing Classic regatta is scheduled for Feb 23-24, 2013 in Sarasota hosted by the SSS.   For information see the following sites:

http://www.mswindsurfing.com/
http://www.sarasotasailingsquadron.org

The week afterwards the famous Calema Midwinters runs 4 days  Feb 28 – March 3 with Thursday being check in day with a welcome party in the evening.    See the Calema web site for details:

http://calema.com/calema-midwinters-2013/

The 2013 MOWIND Race Series kicked off with the Windpower Championships this weekend in Fond du Lac, WI. The annual Winnebago Super Crossing took place Friday afternoon as a prelude of things to come. Click HERE for some details on this year’s Super Crossing.

The official racing started at noon on Saturday with southwest winds at about 10-15 mph. The race committee set the (in)famous Windpower “M” course. The first race was a pretty standard MOWIND affair with the start and upwind tactics playing a large part in the finishing order. The second race was a different story. The wind increased substantially to well over 20 or 25 mph and sail handling became the most important factor. Plenty of crashes were seen through the jibes and several wipeouts also on the downwind leg.

After racers scrapped there way around the course, a quick break was called for lunch as a figure-8 slalom course was set (3 laps per race). The wind stayed in the 20+ range and a few guys on slalom boards took advantage for the top few places in Race3. But in R4 the winds backed down to 15-20 mph with a a southerly shift making it a much tighter reach on starboard tack and quite broad on port tack. The slalom boards struggled with the high angles so the longboards took the top spots again. With diminishing winds and plenty of sore sailors, racing was called for the day after R4.

Wind chart for the weekend

Saturday night we were treated to an excellent meal at Schmitty’s Oar House, just up the road from Windpower Windsurfing. Awards were also presented to the winners of the 2012 MOWIND Race Series (results here). After dinner and the awards, Windpower hosted their annual bonfire. NASA reported that the flames could be seen from space.

The Sunday forecast was for more wind in the 10-20 mph range, but the early risers saw no indication of it as they got to the race site. The race committee had warned us of an “Uknown Race” during the skipper’s meeting Saturday and finally gave details – we needed to complete a series of reaches and jibes (easy enough), while performing tricks like sail 360′s and sailing backwards between the marks (a bit harder), while wearing RC-issues costumes (getting weird), collecting a pumpkin before the final leg (even weirder), and finishing once the pumpkin was delivered to shore (at least we didn’t have to carve a jack-o-lantern). Sounds like fun, and it was. Hopefully we can get some pictures posted soon. The costumes were quite odd. For now, here’s a picture of the diagram the RC drew of the course.

Pumpkin Race

The wind started filling in during the pumpkin race, so we went directly into more racing on the same “M” course from Saturday. Winds were in the 8-15 mph range. We got in three races back-to-back-to-back and then were up to our 2:00 limit for our last start. Racers derigged and had subs and other treats ready for them at Windpower. We’ll get results and pictures posted as soon as they are available.

RESULTS:  A Fleet  |  Kona Fleet  |  Sport Fleet

LINK to photo album in the Fond du Lac Reporter

Thanks to all the volunteers that helped organize the event and do Race Committee.

- Arden, EL-11