This racing year started with a bang at the Walleye Wagatta last weekend. Â Despite the forecast for little to no wind, Saturday started with good winds. Â In all the 6 races were run on Saturday. Â Arden Anderson, the race director, always likes to get as many races in as possible. Â The 3 races in the morning were the classic M course with a windward-leeward second lap for the A-Fleet. Â The moderate winds kept the racing fun. Â I was consistently mid fleet in the morning races with one 4th and two 5ths.
By the afternoon the wind had died to roughly 5 mph.  Fortunately it was fairly consistent.  This made it easy to navigate the course.  However, it favored those who like to pump.  I tend to do well in lighter winds and this gave me an easy opportunity to test out my new start timing watch.  Overall the watch served me well as I tried to hit the start at speed.  By the second race of the afternoon, I was dialed and got a fantastic start.  This kept me in front, and despite Adam’s best efforts I was able to hold onto the lead and finish with a bullet.
At the start of the final race on Saturday it was clear the wind was shifting left. Â This meant the port start was favored. Â Don and I decided to go to the pin end and try to port tack the fleet. Â In fact this start was caught on camera.
My trusty watch said it was time to go, so I took off. Â The only problem was that I was off on my timing, and I ended up being over early. Â Way early. Â I was able to duck back under the line at the boat end and give chase to the race leaders. Â Since I needed to make up ground I pumped like there was no tomorrow. Â In the end I was able to work back up to a second place for that race. I ended up in the 3rd position on the day.
Sunday was a much nicer day, but there was much less wind. Â However, again it was better than was forecast with a gentle and steady breeze. Â This made for fun windsurfing because we could glide around on glassy smooth water. Â After the race course was set for a windward leeward the wind shifted to the right. Â The made the course a tight reach to the windward end and a deep reach to the leeward pin. Â Although the course was not perfect everyone had fun with the new course layout. Â Magnus borrowed a Severne 9.5 from Arden and showed us all how light wind racing is done. Â He finished the day taking first in 3 of the four races.
The light conditions were also great for new sailors. Â As some of you know my wife has been trying to learn to windsurf. Â She got a great session practicing different points of sail in the light winds. Â MOWIND races are a great place to practice and improve your windsurfing skills. Â When there are a lot of newer windsurfers we always run a workshop fleet. Â The workshop fleet is intended for newer sailors to hone their skills and have fun learning to sail in every direction. Â Of course if you are nervous to get out racing, even in a workshop environment, you can always just come and sail. Â We are always excited to meet new windsurfers.
As always the racing was a blast.  Everyone had a good time getting out and sailing and  racing.
Now it is time to look forward the the Dam Jam this weekend. Â This has become a legendary event in the MOWIND series. Â Every year the wind has filled. Â In fact every year this race has had slalom racing which is rare here in the midwest. Â Longterm forecasts indicate this year will be no different with a good warm breeze out of the south. Â The water is down this year, so we should have one of the best launches ever for this event. Â There is plenty of room for everyone so come on down and enjoy a warm and windy weekend in Iowa.