Reporting that there is MoFun in MoWind!

Hats off to Woody and the crew up North for a very successful Canadian Masters Regatta – 55 Racers! Now that there has been some time to breathe since the big regatta, we were able to get the scores, stories, and even a full page newspaper article posted here at MOWIND.org.

RACE RESULTS

A Fleet            Sport Fleet

FULL PAGE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

CMWA full page spread - Dryden Observer (Click for larger image)

Finally, Woody has a writeup at his blog: http://windsurfwoody.ca/2010-canadian-masters/2010-cmwa-canadian-windsurfing-championships/

Looks like the regatta was a blast! I wish I could have made it up there. Next year, next year.

– Arden, EL-11

Five hearty sailors showed up to race in the 3rd annual Tour da Croix,  a long distance challenge from Point Douglas in Prescott, WI sailing approximately 5 miles upriver/upwind to the Kinnickinnic and then another 5 miles back. Total distance covered by the sailors due to tacking upwind was about 14 miles.

Arnie Cleveland presented the course and then had us off to start at 11:00 am on the button. Wind conditions were about 5 mph out of the north and temperature was in the mid 80’s.

The course was basically a race up to the Kinnickinnic and back, but there were two mark rounding that we needed to complete early in the race ; one on the Minnesota side of the river and one on the Wisconsin side of the river. Adam Anderson jumped out to an early lead and led to the first mark on the Minnesota side, followed closely by the rest of the fleet. The sailors spread out some as they worked there way upwind back and forth across the river. Sailing in the lead, Adam Anderson needed to spot the Wisconsin mark and had a hard time finding it on such a big body of water. Meanwhile Arden Anderson made a tactical decision to tack up the Wisconsin shore in order to spot the mark, and was able to quickly find it and make a clean rounding to continue upwind while Adam and Peter had each overstood the mark. Arden hailed the other sailors to tell them where the mark was and Peter quickly changed course to get back to the mark, but Adam was far enough ahead that he didn’t hear the hail. Adam sailed on for another 10 or more minutes before turning back to go find the correct mark. More on that later…(Update after reviewing gps tracks: Adam took a 35 minute detour – 15 minutes to get back down to the mark once he realized his mistake, and another 20 minutes to get upwind to where he had been).

Peter was still  able to round right with Wayne Anderson, with Tom Stokes in hot pursuit, and the race was on the rest of the way to the Kinney. The next several miles saw Arden and Peter dueling it out on the imco’s with the distance between them varying as they played the shifts. Eventually Peter was able to get into striking distance and make a pass as the river necked down and winds got lighter and shiftier. He worked through the narrow and over to the Minnesota side and opened up a 300-400 yard lead as Arden made slower progress up the Wisconsin side.

Peter maintained his lead up to the turnaround point. Here are the rounding times (remember we started at 11:00 am so a 1:00 pm rounding took 2 hours of elapsed time):

1. Peter Hartwhich PJ1 – 1:09 pm
2. Arden Anderson EL11 – 1:13 pm
3. Adam Anderson EL111 – 1:17 pm
4. Wayne Anderson EL – 1:21 pm
5. Tom Stokes USA099 – 1:32 pm

The times show Adam Anderson working his way back towards the leaders after his detour early in the race. He showed a lot of determination sticking with the race after the big setback early. Realizing it was a long race though he stuck with it to grind his way back into site of the leaders.

On the way downwind Arden was able to close the gap on Peter and Adam continued to whittle away at the leaders After working through the narrow part of the river Peter, Arden, and Adam were virtually tied. As they reached the wider part of the river and could see the finish a few miles ahead, Arden and Adam pulled away from Peter as they stayed towards the Wisconsin side of the river. The rest of the way to the finish Adam was able to finally put some distance on Arden and complete his comeback, winning the 3 1/2 challenge.

Final Finish Times (start at 11:00 am)

1. Adam Anderson EL111 – 2:28:28 pm
2. Arden Anderson EL11 – 2:29:56 pm
3. Peter Hartwhich PJ1 – 2:33:33 pm
4. Wayne Anderson EL – 2:50:44 pm
5. Tom Stokes USA099 – 3:40:44 pm

An interesting note is that this race featured all three of the official Olympic Windsurfing boards. Adam Anderson sailed on the Div2 Lechner board featured in ’88 and ’92, Arden and Peter each sailed the IMCO board and sail that were used in the ’96, ’00, and ’04 games, and Tom Stokes sailed the Neil Pryde RSX that was used in the ’08 games. Wayne Anderson was the only sailor on a non-Olympic board, but he was on the unofficial MOWIND one design board, the Equipe II.

Tom Stokes won the Sport Fleet and is congratulated for completing the distance race on his first attempt. He also won the “Long Distance Traveler” award for driving about 500 miles from Indiana. He said that he will be driving back to Indiana Sunday and will return to Minnesota again next weekend for the Waconia Wind and Wave event. Hats off to Tom for his dedication.

The racing was followed by All-You-Can-Eat PRIME RIB at The Point in Hastings, MN. A great way to recharge after a long race. Many thanks the The Point for their hospitality and especially to Arnie Cleveland for all of his Race Committee efforts.

We will post pictures when we get back to a computer. 

As promised, pictures have been loaded to a Picasa Album.

– Arden & Adam via smart phone at The Point

The ferry ride over to Middle Bass Island for the Bay Week Regatta  started with a good omen as a Miller Beer delivery truck was parked in the ferry line also.

Good Omen in the Ferry Line

The 2010 new Bay Week (Fri - Sat – Sun weekend ) regatta had great winds each day,  unfortunately the wind came late afternoon on Friday and Saturday after racing had been postponed for the day.    However being full of energy us windsurfers got in several hours of  great fun sailing until dark both those days.   Just in case you are wondering … let me say the wind wasn’t little puffs either …   it was great powered up full on shore 7.5 conditions that blew hard even after sunset.        There were 150 entries total in the regatta  eight of them being windsurfers.   That’s a heck of a big fleet and the Put-In-Bay harbor was jammed with sailboats boats stacked five deep at the docks.  In the centerboard fleet that us windsurfers were part of, the big class was a group of 25 Hobie 13’s.    Those Hobies 13 really know how to flip!    

On day one and two USA-136  Eric Rahnenfueher  set up  practice marks so we could perfect our mark roundings during our fun sessions.  Novice lady windsurfer Denise Roznovsky got in some good wave sailing practice on an RS:X.    Early Saturday afternoon a gang of five of us SUP paddled our windsurfers over to the west point of Middle Bass where JJ graciously gave us some refreshments for our efforts.   However while drinking those refreshments a breeze started kicking up so we had to get back and as it did late afternoon the day before the wind magically returned.          When we woke up on Sunday morning  the wind was still blowing strong and it seemed to be building a bit.    

On day three we established what I believe is likely a new MOWIND record for windsurfers.   Because the centerboard fleet had not raced on day one or two the RC wanted an extra earlier start time to make sure we got at least three races in on Sunday morning.      The windsurfer class was start three in a fleet that had four starts and the course that day was a  triangle with an extra sausage leg around the windward and leeward marks.      The RC the evening before moved the first warning gun up to 7:55 am  meaning we might need to leave shore at 7:30 am if winds were light.       Fortunately for  us windsurfers that were staying at Middle Bass Island state campground it was an quick easy ten minute reach to the start line.    The reason it was so easy was the winds were building quickly and three guys even returned to shore to get their 7.5’s on.       As far as the MOWIND record …   I believe an 8:10 am start with three races completed by 10:15 am  for windsurfers has to be some kind of record.      

Below USA 064 Rod Clevenger accepts his 1st place flag and cup from the I-LYA Commodore.    Rod also won the daily award (first finisher in the first race) a nice I-LYA logo fleece vest and hat.  In the background in the straw hat,  JDX  Jim Donahue pours a beer at the beer wagon.

Rod Clevenger - 1st in Windsurfer Class

Fleets results for windsurfer class.
1.  USA 64  – Hybrid -  Rod Clevenger
2.  USA 136  – Unlimited – Eric Rahnenfueher
3.  H – Hybrid – Scott Haas
4.   JDX – Hybrid – Jim Donahue
5.   W -  Hybrid – Gary Smith
6.  12 – Hybrid – Philip Dufresne
7.   D  -   Women Sport – Denise Roznovsky
8.   S1 – Hybrid – Scott Foley

Hopefully more windsurfers will come out to Middle Bass Island in August 2011 for the next I-LYA Bay Week event and enjoy a few days windsurfing.    Yes there is a race but you can also elect to just race a couple races if that’s all you want.    2010 was an epic year  as we had several  days in a row of beautiful 85 degree temperatures, wind and no rain!     The islands offer something for everyone and for photographers there are lots of beautiful views of boats sailing by .. click image for larger view!   

Two sail boats pass by windsurfer launch beach at Middle Bass State Park Campground.

The 2010 Door County Breeze hosted 23 racers, several recreational sailors, along with family and friends over the 4th of July weekend. Steve and Jan Vande Corput once again did an excellent job with the regatta. Along with their suport team they ran 9 course races plus a fantastic distance race, provided a delicious meal Saturday night, gathered local support that included numerous raffle prizes, and made sure everyone had a great time.

RESULTS

2010 A Fleet Scores

2010 Sport Fleet Scores

A Fleet Winners (L-R) Mike Reed-3rd, Andy Gratton-2nd, Arden Anderson-1st, with Race Director Steve Vande Corput

8.5 Limited Division Winners (L-R) Alex Monroe-1st and Magnus Zaunmueller-2nd, (not pictured) Roman Kaplan-3rd

Sport Fleet Winners (L-R) Race Director Steve Vande Corput with Gatis Makstenieks-2nd, Niels Zaunmueller-1st, and Jim Magnuson-3rd

Race Committee Jan and Steve Vande Corput

 

Arden tacking to the finish line. Video from Steve Vande Corput. Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGtuqVEGhr8