What's it like?

Are there wide boat launches into Lakes Mendota and Monona?

Are there clouds of voracious mosquitos as in Maine?

Is it crowded on the lakes?

Is there enough wind to have fun on a multihull?

How long is the sailing season?

What is the water temp in August and September?

Are there a lot of sailors mad about Madison?

I'm not a local, but I was at Lake Monona a few weeks ago for a CRAW regatta. Nice lake. Not enormously crowded. Not much wind the weekend we were there. There is a decent ramp, though the cats were just wheeled down a fairly steep slope from the grassy area shown in the photo onto a small sandy beach and launched from there.



You can get some info on wind here.

Mark.

I'll try to answer your questions in order

Lake Monona has a small group of Cats that sail as part of the Monona Sailing club on Wednesday nights and Saturday afternoons. They do have some reserved spots on the lake but you have to be a member and I don't know if there is a wait list. Most of the Cat racers live on the water and have their boats on lifts. Lake Mendota is a great lake for sailing but there a limited number of Cat’s on the water. The Mendota Yacht Club has asked CRAW to participate in a number of events this year and they are very interested in seeing CATS participate in their events.

Both Lakes have a number of boat launches but limited beach areas that you can pull the boat on.

Mosquitoes are not a problem on the water. When the are bad is usually 3 days after a lot of rain and in the grass areas. This year we have been lucky and not much at all.

Lake Monona is the most crowded lake but usually only on the weekend and if there is no wind. If there is wind the power boaters seem to disappear.

Winds are usually lighter in the summer but I have been double trapped and fully depowered in August. Just depends.

Sailing season is usually from the middle of May to middle of October. The early and late regattas can have cold weather but if you have the right gear its great sailing

Water temps for both the local lakes will be in the upper 70's to low 80's for that time of year.

There are a lot of sailors in Madison. You just need to find them and get to know them. CRAW holds 4 regattas with in 30 miles of Madison over the sailing season.

IF you need more information on Cat sailing in Wisconsin check out craw sailing.org

Capt Chaos
CRAW Secretary

Thanks for the super pic. The wind site is a really informative tool.

Thanks, Mark.


Captain Chaos,

Super info. I hope to make it up there before long. My work will determine the date. My wife's family is from Wisconsin and I really like it.

Just went to your home page. Now I understand why you may need a wide boat ramp.

Yeah, 19 feet wide from tip of foil to tip of foil. I've tried a custom Catrax but it's like a gooney bird and at 400 lbs. it's heavy for me to push the thing up a slope. A beach launch from the trailer would be perfect.

My work may make me transfer from Orlando to Madison.