Another great day on Lake Winnebago (Sunday, December 16) for the Western Region DNs. Sailors from Pewaukee, Chicago, Madison, and Oshkosh got in numerous races before the ice turned slushy mid-afternoon. Back at it next weekend, hopefully, for the ice sailing hat trick!
Newbie Jonathon Thickens patching his hull back together at the Spaight Street Syndicate. Damage suffered at the Great Western Challenge in Battle Lake, Minnesota. Is that all you’ve got Mother Nature? See you next time.
Sailors from Lake Geneva, Chicago, Madison and Oshkosh met in Fond du Lac for a weekend of scrub racing on Lake Winnebago. Lighter breeze Saturday and good breeze Sunday. Lost count of the number of races. Nice dinner Saturday night in Ripon with some of the Green Lake contingent. Let’s do it again next weekend if we avoid snow in the area!
DN Runners Missing since Battle Lake.
3/16 carbon runners with wings. Built by Ron Sherry. In black Harken runner bag with a Colorado College luggage tag that says 3/16 w/wing. May also have regatta stickers on them.
I sailed them on Sunday at the Great Western Challenge but they never made it home. I had to have taken them off in the pits.
Contact Mike (Six one two) 598-38 zero zero
4LIYC sailors Dave Elsmo, Doug Kolner, Hugh Sugar, and Tim Sugar are probably a bit tired and sore after sailing at the DN Western Challenge regatta over the weekend in Battle Lake, MN. Following are some photos and reports.
Resourcefulness at its finest.
Doug’s report lifted from his Facebook page:
4987 still looks great. New tenderized plank performed beautifully. Tough racing in 20-25 mph.
1st race tangled with an old friend at the leeward mark when he luffed up in front of me after dropping his main sheet. Had to go in and realign my runners. My next race, I was rounding the weather mark in a good hike when my port runner blew up. (No stiffeners. Would have helped. Longer chocks and big air overloaded them. 21st century DNers have carbon bodied 440c stainless. Rest if the platform is pretty deluxe though.) Did a 360 and parked with a boat heading right at me goin’ a million mph. Missed me. End of a great weekend of sailing with world champs and sailors from Germany, Hungary, Sweden, Canada, Switzerland and old friends from when I used to race these boats many years ago.
Battle Lake, MN full of Minnesota nice!!! Special thanks to Lars Barber for comin’ to play.
DN sailors from around the world have gathered on Battle Lake in Battle Lake, Minnesota for the Western Challenge fun-regatta. I counted about 30 masts at noon and there were more arriving. The ice is hard with a bit of snow. A couple of marks were set up and DNers scrub raced all day in the lightish air. As you can see in the photos, the visibility was low and sailors took care to sail safely.