Reporting that there is MoFun in MoWind!

Nice breezes and a hot sunny day made for a good afternoon of racing on Saturday June 4th in Toledo Ohio.   Windsurfers were start five in a senior sailing feet of about 30 boats total.    On a separate course a fleet of about thirty junior boats were battling it out.     With only seven entries the windsurfer start turnout was disappointing this year but six of them were Prodigy One Design kits so that made for some  great one design racing with just seconds between finishes.

The course was an I shape with  a start line on the port side of the RC boat and a finish line on the starboard side.     Windsurfers and  Catalina 22  did once around while Interlakes and Hobies did twice around.     Somehow it magically worked out that  we never waited more than about fifthteen minutes to get started again.    The first race saw 10-20 winds and last two saw 5-10 winds which were idea conditions to test both the high and low wind sailing skills of competitors.

The windsurfing winner was Glen Gardner from Grosse Pointe Windsurfing Club with three bullets.   Below Glen accepts his award ( a very nice gear bag).

Cattail Scores

The crew down in Iowa put on another successful year of the Saylorville Dam Jam last weekend, May 20-22. We had warm weather and fantastic winds on both days. It was a bit stormy overnight but that didn’t keep anyone from having a good time.

This event hosted the first full blown Kona Fleet for the MOWIND race series, and was also part of the US Windsurfing 2011 National Race Tour. Brad “Woody” Woodworth ultimately won the KONA event, followed by a close pack of Larry Miller in 2nd, Randy Howell in 3rd, Steve Callaway in 4th, and Pavel Matousek in 5th. Check out the scores to see how competitive the racing was.

A Fleet was won by Arden Anderson, followed by Peter Hartwich in 2nd, edging out Robin Shaw in 3rd on a tie breaker, Don Altmeyer in 4th, and Adam Anderson in 5th. Only two points separated second through fifth place.

Sport Fleet was won by Friedhelm Bruinhuaus, followed by Igor Tereshchenko in 2nd, and Matt Veldey in 3rd.

RESULTS: A Fleet –    KONA Fleet –    SPORT Fleet

We also have photos in two Picasa albums:

2011 Dam Jam

2011 Dam Jam Awards

You can also check out my blog at http://arden-el11.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html for more race details.

Arden, EL-11

The Alum Creek waters on May 21, 2011 saw warm sunny skies.   The light to ultra-light wind conditions made for some delicate sail trimming to find speed.    The first race I believe I counted ten sails on the water.   Organizer Paul Sandstrom manged to get five races in.  With the sun shining strong on white skin most of us were a bit toasted by the end of the afternoon.    A few other guys elected to remain on shore and wait for better winds with their smaller un-long boards.   Official fleet results 

Some racers head in for lunch break.

Brad Petot from the Cleveland area on a Equipe and Gaastra 9.0 took first place.  He was hitting the start line on time and finding speed in those light winds others could not. 

Brad dancing with his sail.

Second place from Columbus area was Mark Drotleff.    Marked sailed and pumped his KONA using his Aerotech VMG 7.5.   I was surprised how well the KONA got around the course.    Mark is good however at making any board go fast.    One other KONA board was there also.   

Gordon Bittle sailing his new Prodigy finished all the races.

Third place went to IMCO sailor Paul Sandstrom from Columbus OH area.  Paul’s lightweight frame let’s that old board and 7.4 IMCO sail climb upwind fast.

This windsurfer smiles for the camera while Paul takes a break on his IMCO.

Scott Haas from Toledo OH area sailing a Prodigy with an Ezzy Infinity 9.5 finish in forth place.      With five races in the group decided to make this a one day event as   wind conditions for early Sunday morning were not looking  promising.   Some of the group went to a local establishment named Piranhas for eats and drinks afterwards.

Twenty hearty sailors competed in big winds and choppy water on Lake Winnebago this weekend at the 2011 Walleye Wagatta. The temperature wasn’t very warm but the winds kept rolling in and the racing action heated up.

Racers were tested with course racing on Saturday- the famous “M” course with upwind legs, multiple reaches and jibes, and a broad downind run to the leeward mark. Winds varied from the lower teens to the mid-twenty mph range throughout the five racers that were completed. Race Five, the last of the day, was particularly challenging as a big gust rolled through during the top reaching leg. Only 15 year-old Magnus Zaunmueller was able to keep it together through that leg, giving him an early lead that he held on to all the way to the finish. Also impressive was a win for Ted Schweitzer in Race 2, sailing on an Original Windsurfer setup – especially since winds were 15-20 mph during the race. It’s one thing to get top notch speed out of a kit like that in a light breeze, but it takes incredible talent to stay competitive in stronger winds like this! Yet another example that it’s the sailor that makes the difference far more than the gear.

The winds came in even stronger on Sunday with gusts over 30 mph and even larger swell. The temps were still cool, mid 50F at best, but the sun was a welcome sight after a cloudy Saturday. A Figure 8 slalom course was set to take advantage of the strong winds, and also give us the ability to run the start/inside jibe/finish line right off the beach and do Race Committee from shore.

The wind was a bit lighter on the inside of the course at the start/finish line, but the wind on the outside was gusting over 30 mph. The key was to stay in control through the outside jibes, and Tim Cleary showed how to do it as he won both SlalomRace 1 and SlalomRace 2. Kevin Gratton used his homecourt advantage (he lives across the street from the race site) to win SlalomRace 3 and also SlalomRace 5. Magnus Zaunmueller again showed that he can keep up with the big boys by winning SlalomRace 4.

Gatis Makstenieks was the top sailor in the Sport Fleet, finishing all five slalom races, no small feat considering the challenging conditions. Other notable performances were Peter Hartwich completing all five slalom races (with three 2nd place finishes) on his IMCO setup, Kathy Leifer’s 2nd place in SlalomRace 4, and Don Altmeyer following up his 2nd place in SlalomRace 3 with the slam of the day during SlalomRace4. Don got slammed so hard that his harness tore apart in 3 or different places on impact. He said the harness was getting old but we’re just glad he didn’t get hurt. I saw him pickup a new harness at Windpower after the races, so he’ll be even faster now – but hopefully won’t crash harder 😉

The A fleet had a lot of competition at the top with four different sailors winning the five course races on Saturday, and three different sailors winning the five slalom races on Sunday. Only Magnus won both a course race and a slalom race (1 each). Adam Anderson won two course races Saturday and both Kevin Gratton and Tim Cleary won two slalom races each on Sunday. After all this racing, Magnus Zaunmueller had the consistency and top finishes to come away with the win. Congratulations to Magnus, I think this his first overall win at a MOWIND event. With the way he his sailing there will probably be many more to come.

Kevin Gratton finished in second place overall (also 2nd in the 8.5 Limited class behind Magnus). Adam Anderson finished 3rd overall, Peter Hartwhich finished 4th, and Don Altmeyer 5th. Gatis Makstenieks finished 1st in Sport Fleet.

COMPLETE RESULTS

2011 Walleye Wagatta A Fleet Scores

2011 Walleye Wagatta SPORT Fleet Scores

Picasa Photo Album (May 14 photos courtesy of Larry Reed)

2011 Walleye Wagatta

Another Picasa Photo Album (May 15 photos of slalom racing courtesy of Del Carpenter)

2011 Walleye Wagatta (Slalom)

I would like to thank Kevin Gratton at Windpower Windsurfing for the use of his equipment and facilities as well as his advice and effort in setting up this event. Thanks also to the rest of his team: Mary, Hook, Andy. A shout out also to “Low Boom” Larry Reed for helping on the committee boat, my family Wayne and Adam for helping throughout the weekend, and Del Carpenter for assisting with follow-up activities. He took pictures during Sunday’s racing and we will get those pictures onto the MOWIND Picasa album as soon as we can.

Most of all, thanks to all of the racers that showed up despite the cold and forecasts of rain. I don’t think we got any rain the whole weekend of racing, but we did get wind. A lot of it.

See you at the Dam Jam next weekend!

Arden, EL-11

The 2011 Walleye Wagatta is all set for May 14-15, 2011 on windy Lake Winnebago in Fond du Lac, WI. The race site is across the street from Windpower Windsurfing center and there is plenty of room for racers to rig, families to hang out, spectators, and anyone else who wants to come check it out. Windpower even has room for people to camp Saturday night, just watch out for the bonfire!

The Walleye Wagatta is a low cost, no-frills event. Only $15 entry for two days of racing and FREE for Junior racers (under 18). Registration on-site Saturday morning beginning at 9:00 am. Skippers meeting to follow at 10:30 am.

Follow the links for the official Notice of Race with registration form, directions, and more information.

Regatta Page on the MOWIND website

Direct link to the Notice of Race

I’ll see you there!

Arden Anderson, EL-11