The May 22-23 Alum event had some nice 5 to 10 winds on Saturday. A fleet of eleven loyal Alum Creek racers had some great battles for the top positions at the finish line. We did five races before lunch break and another five afterwards. Myself and a couple others were truly spent as we were not in shape for the racing marathon we did that day.  Below the gang  jokes around at the skippers meeting.Â
Alum Creek skippers meeting
Early Saturday evening some of the skippers met at a near by restaurant for drinks and food.    Sunday the wind didn’t show up.  I hope to post results here soon, I’m still waiting for Paul to send them.
Below Ted Schweitzer prepares his  thirty year old equipment for racing. Ted is a formidable competitor and was finishing in the top three near every race.    So I’d like to say to all of you windsurfers out there with older equipment (like 1980’s Superlights) that you think can’t compete with newer gear .. believe me it’s not the board ..  dust that old gear off and come on out to the next Mowind event in your area!   In lighter winds (like under 12) which we often have at events that old gear still rules. I used a 1985 Mistral Superlight at Alum,  it really cooks going upwind and downwind the speed ain’t bad either.   I purchased my Superlight with a rig on EBAY for $110.   So if you windsurf but don’t have a longboard to race with please note that you don’t need to spend much to be able to get out there and join in on some MOFUN.
Ted Schweitzer rigs up his original Windsurfer sail
The 2010 Dam Jam took place this weekend, May 22-23, 2010 on Saylorville Lake just north of Des Moines, IA. 28 sailors from Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Nebraska, and Canada raced in great conditions from 15-30 mph both Saturday and Sunday. A big thanks goes out to “Low Boom” Larry Reed, Barry Tofteland, Chad Hutson, Jeff Hegwer, Jason Swanson, and the rest of the crew that made this event happen. This was the first year without Uffe the Swede and we all missed his big personality and sailing skills.
Here is a quick summary, more to come later:
Saturday had great winds. 12-20 in the morning for 3 races on a modified box course. Winds increased to 20-30 by lunch and we resumed racing on a Figure 8 slalom course. Four races were run on the Figure 8 in fantastic winds. Seven races in and competition was tight in A Fleet between Arden Anderson and Robin Shaw.
Sunday had good winds as well and was even warmer out. We got off four more races on a modified box course in 15-20 mph winds, for a total of 11 races on the weekend. Arden was able to extend his lead to win the event. Robin Shaw, Don Altmyer, Larry Miller, and Peter Hartwich rounded out the top 5.
The 2010 Walleye Wagatta took place this weekend, May 15-16, 2010 at the Windpower Windsurfing Center on the shores of Lake Winnebago. There was strong attendance for a spring regatta with 27 competitors from Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, and of course Wisconsin. We were also blessed with the appearance of Tara and Ted Schweitzer, the children of Hoyle Schweitzer (co-inventor of windsurfing). Ted was ripping the course up on a vintage Original Windsurfer. Check out his cool website for some really nice pictures and stories about the birth and growth of our great sport.
Three course races were held in ~5 mph winds on Saturday morning, followed by a break. Winds diminshed to nothing during the break but came back enough in the late afternoon to run three more races on a short 2-lap figure8 course. Lots of tight racing during those roundings!
Three “live” updates were posted from the committee boat during the Saturday races:
Kevin and the gang had a raging bonfire to excite the winds on Saturday night, and we were lucky to have 10-15 mph winds for the races on Sunday – a substantial improvement over the forecast of “calm to light and variable.” Four course races were run in one session Sunday morning. The first two were the outer loop course, and the last two were a modified box course in which the downwind leg included a jibe around the pin of the Start line.
We only managed one “live” update during the Sunday racing ( https://mowind.org/wp/?p=852Â ), but did get lots of pictures and even some video. Here are links to some videos from Sunday that I posted on youtube:
I’ll try to post more videos as well as pictures as I have time. And here we go…my first try at posting a Picasa web album.CLICK HERE to view pictures from the event.
I would like to thank all of the racers for coming out making this a fun and competitive event. It was great seeing so many people on the water early in the season. I would also like to thank the RC mates (Jim, Leah, my Dad Wayne, and brother Adam), Mary and Andy at Windpower for their help, and especially Kevin for supporting the event with his equipment, venue, and sage advice. I swear that every time I asked him what to do about the course or the conditions he always replied, “I would run another race…”
Kevin has a nice writeup ready for his website as well. A link will appear in this space once it is posted.
The raffle raised $61 for MOWIND that will go directly into our funds. Craig Bergh is doing a great job as our MOWIND treasurer and provides absolute transparancey about the account. The raffle is a year-long fund raiser where each event draws a ticket that is then entered into the final drawing at the end of the year to determine the prize winners. The winner of the 2010 Walleye Wagatta raffle was Tom Stokes. He is the first finalist for the year end drawing.
Alum organizer Paul Sandstrom has announced that the Alum Creek regatta will be a “FREE GATTA” this year.  Bring your own lunches.  Event takes place place at the usual location the marina area at Alum Creek State Park -  Alum Creek Marina
4000 Hollenback Road, Lewis Center, OH 43035. Â
Saturday Skippers Meeting 10am – Sunday racing 10am and Recognitions at 1pm
The weather forecast is calling for warm temperatures in the 80’s and even some sunshine with scattered storms which means some wind should be moving through the region.
====================================
JRSC Cattail Regatta – June 5
The Cattail event  is not a MOWIND points event … at least not this year but could be next season if response is good.  To help keep windsurf racing alive and active in the Toledo locale some of the TABA crew have organized a start at the Toledo based Jolly Roger Sailing Club regatta.  This is racing on Maumee Bay in Lake Erie.  Meet up at the JRSC Saturday morning to register and find out where to launch from.  For NOR and additional information see the JSRC Web site. JRSC located at 5961 Edgewater Drive, Toledo, OH 43611.
Comments Off on Alum Creek – May 22 23 / Cattail info.
We have nice east winds and one race completed. Second race (R8 overall) underway. A Fleet is doing outside loop course and Sport is doing a one lap box.
It is a great day with sunny skies and 10-15 mph breeze.
