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Winds were inconsistent earlier in the day, so that info, along with a forecast for strong and steady winds tomorrow, helped Fleet 8 decide to hold off on running the Mille Lacs Crossing until tomorrow. But, I’m at the Garrison Inn by Lake Mille Lacs right now (Saturday afternoon), and people are planing on large slalom and formula gear. This is a sign of good things to come. The forecast is for 20-30mph winds, so come over and race in one of the longest running events in the country.

If you are more interested in speed sailing, try out the Midwest Speed Quest in southwest Minnesota (Worthington). They also have a great event and a forecast for big winds. Let’s hope we get more of this all fall.

– Arden Anderson

2009 Higgins Lake NOR  .pdf  file

Well it’s hard to believe the 2009 summer season is nearly over.  The good news is that means it is time to get out the tent or ready the camper if you have one.    Higgins Lake South State campground in Michigan is a beautiful spot to do some late summer racing and windsurfing at.  If you are not into the camping thing there are hotels, cottages, B and B’s in the area and of course brand name hotels along I/75 and US 127.  Below windsurfers gather for a community camp pancake breakfast on Sunday morning during  2008’s event. 

 

Please note the last few years there has been a couple dozen non-racers and locals attending the event and Saturday evening party.  As noted in the Notice Of Race file there also is a single day event registration fee option available.   So if you have a place on or close by Higgins Lake there is no “I could only make it one day excuse”.     Usually there is some demo equipment to be tried and even a few used boards for sale.  So even if you don’t come to race we’d love to see you there!   

 For more details with notes on where to reserve a camp spot see this 2008 MOWIND post at

https://mowind.org/wp/?p=149

There is always a good showing of the Ohio/Michigan Mistral Prodigy One Design racing group at this event.  So if you are interested in finding out more about the Mistral Prodigy  get yourself to Higgins Lake to check them out.  There will be at least one demo Prodigy board there.

The 2009 Menominee Water Front Festival Regatta took place this past weekend, August 7th through the 9th.  There was a total of 30 registered racers along with their families at the event.

Sprinkling and light showers made appearances throughout the day on Friday, but they didn’t stop the Russian folksong-campfire from happening Friday night.  Heavier rains showed up during the night, causing Andy Gratton & co. to set up another tent inside of their first tent which had an inch of water in it.

Racers milled in to the Yacht Club Saturday morning for registration, speculating about the wind for the day.  Conditions were decent in the morning but declined around noon to almost no wind.  After watching some patches of wind approaching, a race was called around 3 pm.  The wind held up for the beginning of the race; Tim Cleary, Peter Hartwich and Blaise Gratton were dueling to keep ahead of Roman Kaplan and Andy Gratton on the tandem Wayler longboard.  Blaise Gratton crossed the finish line first, planing in the last puff of wind, after which the wind promptly shut off for the rest of the day.

Saturday evening brought the festivities typical of the Menominee Regatta: food at the Yacht Club, followed by fireworks, and then another Russian campfire.  Rains were predicted, but nobody ended up floating away in their tents. Sunday brought stronger winds and overall yielded three races.  Tim Cleary and Kevin Gratton showed up on another tandem board, continually harassing each other to “take it up!”  With a windward mark close to shore, the upwind legs were very shifty, followed by downwind drag racing through the gybe marks.

All in all, fun was had by everyone. There were some youth sailors in the new O’pen Bic boats, and Gary Loivine even dragged along a Hobie catamaran. There was plenty of windsurfing done by non-racers, and several people tried windsurfing for the first time this weekend.

Many thanks to Bill Caley and the Marinette-Menominee Yacht Club for running another successful regatta for MOWIND.

The next event on theMOWIND Race Series is the Tour da Croix on August 22.

Blaise Gratton reporting