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.
 
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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.
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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.