Entries Tagged 'Michigan' ↓

Great side shore winds held true all day long  making the windward leeward legs a true upwind and downwind workout.   The first race and last race of the day had nice 10 mph winds but the rest of races the wind was maxing out the 8.5 Prodigy Comp sails in the gusts.    Four Formula guys were completing the course in good time along with several longboards.    Ted S. showed up with a brand new Original Windsurfer and 6.0 sail  and schooled the fleet in more than one race.   Below the fleet gathers at afternoon break for pizza and pop while Nat S. decorates his sail with more tape. 

Lunch break in Patterson Park

In summary it was a perfect summer day for windsurfing,  lots of sunshine, high 80’s temps, a good south breeze and great competitors.   Plan to join the fun there next time in 2011. 

The buzz is growing for the July 17-18 Reservoir Rendezvous regatta held in New London Ohio which is located about 75 miles east of Toledo.   The reservoir is very popular with Cleveland area windsurfers.   A NOR has been posted.   If you plan to camp it’s good to call the campground now and get your name on the list to help them plan.   There will be some band music on Sat evening so bring dancing shoes.

Also coming up in Ohio on  Aug 6-7-8 with check-in parties the evening of the 5th is the Put-In-Bay I-LYA Bay Week regatta.  This three day regatta takes place out on the South Bass Island in Lake Erie though most windsurfers will be staying and launching from Middle Bass.     Please note you need to register using the online system ahead of time,  also you can make Miller Ferry reservations up to two weeks in advance.   I would advise going over Thursday and spending a long weekend there returning late Sunday afternoon or Monday morning.    If you can’t get off work early that week you could still sail the two weekend days of the regatta and have a great time.   The state ran campground on Middle Bass is right on the water with launch beach.   Also consider taking a bike and (lock chain) as riding is a fun way to get around the islands.    Into FaceBook?  Visit  Bay Week on Facebook.

Scott #H

A streak of sunny warm weather kept the waters warm for some 19 competitors at the 9th Annual Higgins Lake windsurfing regatta held Sept 12-13, 2009.   Sometimes upper central Michigan waters can be a bit cool by mid-September but this year just plain bathing trunks is all you still needed.   A hand full of regatta goers arrived Thursday to take advantage of sunny dry conditions and get some light air sailing in.   You might think the picture below is from the Caribbean but no .. that’s Higgins Lake!   The beach at Higgins Lake State Park South has lots of sandy bottom close to the shore just perfect for raw beginners and kids.

 

 

Saturday 4 races were ran in light wind conditions.   The lead and top spots changed frequently in each race due to shifting wind puffs.  Sunday we awoke to a nice north onshore breeze of about 5 knots.  Another 4 races were ran in light winds.   We will publish the official results here as soon as we get them.   It’s great to see a campground littered with windsurf gear.

 

After 9 years Nat and Carol have the routine down managing to keep the regatta operations rolling along smoothly.    They pretty much work non-stop for 48 hours so many thanks to them for their organizer work.   The Great Lakes Windsurfing Demo crew also was there all weekend giving free lessons and making some great deals on demo and used equipment.    Congrats to Steve Grody who won a new Ezzy sail in the raffle.   Dakine, Ezzy, HPL and Chinook donated some nice prizes.   We hope to see more new faces next time in 2010, plan on that first weekend after Labor Day.   Advance reservations are not need that time of year and there are many lots open near the water.

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 GPWC (Grosse Pointe Windsurfing Club) held it’s 10th annual regatta Saturday June 20th 2009 at Patterson Park which is on Lake St. Clair just north of the mouth of the Detroit River.    The Grosse Pointe News ran a nice article about the club’s event.    I believe there were 16 registrations which was a bit light but during a recession one has to expect a bit of a down turn in attendance.   The competition was tough with 10 Prodigy racers and the remaining being longboard racers.    This is a one day event and racing got started about 11:15 in very gusty conditions.   An 8.5 downhauled and outhauled to the max was still prone to being back winded in the gusts.  Shortly after the start of the 3rd race a huge long lasting super gust hit that leveled the fleet.      After lunch the first two races were ran in winds that had lightened up with smaller gusts.     However right before the last race of the day the winds picked up considerably again.   In the final race of the day Scott Haas sailing a Sailworks Retro 6.5 on his Prodigy bested the rest of the Prodigy division that had all stuck with the 8.5 Comp one design sail.     

Don Wolanchuk from the Detroit metro area sailing a Sailworks Retro 8.5 and a Mistral Equipe took overall in A-Fleet.   Complete results will be found here pending their arrival from GPWC.   Though we were all spent and tired we also were all pumped up with adrenaline from a day of high wind sailing. Some very nice trophies were presented and I believe everyone got at least one raffle prize.  In the raffle Nat Sidall won a hair-do and ear rings.   So he should be looking good at his Higgins Lake Michigan regatta held the first weekend after Labor Day weekend in September.    Thanks much to the GPWC crew for hosting another great day of windsurf racing and camaraderie.

 

Scott  – #H

Higgins Lake Michigan 2008 was a great weekend of fellowship and camping where a regatta broke out.   Thanks to Nat Sidall and members from the Grosse Point Windsurfing Club that run this MOWIND point series event.   The weather was great with partly cloudy skies and nice cooler temps in the mid seventies both days.   I believe seven races were ran on Saturday and three on Sunday morning in  5 to 15 mph breezes.  Below Steve Grody mixes batter while daughter Shalom instructs Andy Gratton and Rod Clevenger on how one cooks a pancake.    Steve runs  Branch Adventures and thus knows how to cook for a whole camp.   

Sport fleet ran course A while A Fleet ran course B and also did two races using course AB.   Shifting winds on Saturday made for some exciting and close competition with several racers finishing within a few seconds of each other.   

The Saturday evening party was perhaps one of the largest the event has seen with near 40 in attendance.   The Timbers restaurant just a mile away served up some great food.  Besides the Great Lakes Windsurfing demo crew there were several windsurfers in camp that were not competing in the regatta.    We hope to see more of those people in the future.   You can come and have a great time no matter what your skill level is or what type of equipment you have.    This event is usually held the first weekend after Labor Day.   Andy Gratton won the cash prize for the furthest distance traveled coming from Oshkosh WI.

The nine Prodigy (Hybrid class) racers really battled it out and after 10 races with 2 throw outs only 3 points separated 1st and 3rd places.