St. Patrick's Day was BEAUTIFUL in Indianapolis. A perfect Wave day: 73F and sunny, SSW winds at 10-20. I put on my new wetsuit (the water is still very cold) and had the lake pretty much to myself. March 17th is a new record for me.
When did the ice melt on the lake? I have always thought the Wave would be a perfect frostbiting boat. The hard part is finding people willing to get frostbitten.
The ice boat sailors were out in full force late January, but it warmed up for awhile in early February, and apparently cleared the ice pretty quickly. I saw several crushed piers and lifts, and some damaged seawalls, from the ice flowing toward the dam.
I broke my old record this year, March 13th for my first sail in 2011 (in Indiana). Air temperature was only about 50, and the water was... pretty darned cold!
My perfect sailing is 15 kts of wind, 80 deg air and 85 deg water. When I was much younger, 20 kts and 60 deg air was close enough. Now, I realize, if I just wait a couple of weeks, I will at least get temps I like. I guess that makes you younger than me.
Unfortunatly when you race, you don't get to choose. Last night was the first Wed Night race. 2 hours into it , I was wishing I had worn my drysuit.
My club's first races are this weekend: Laser regatta Saturday afternoon & Sunday morning, then a regular club race Sunday afternoon. The water is still cold, so hopefully everyone will be wearing wetsuits and/or protective gear.
Here's a video which should be required for anyone sailing in cold water areas. We have it posted on our club's website. It will scare the hell out of you!
May 14-15. I will finally be able to make it myself. By the way, we have very extensive calendar of events right here on this site. Click on EVENTS in the masthead. Also, you can go to www.waveclass.org and see the events that are Wave National Series Events. email me at rick@catsailor.com and I can give you SKips email address. RIck
I got an email from Skip tonight that the Wave Midwest Championship has been called off, in favor of concentrating on the Wave North American Championship in September.
I'll let Skip or Rick start a new thread with all the details.
Would it be disrespctful to Skip to show up for the regatta anyway? I'm not a member of Eagle Creek Sailing Club, but it's my understanding that their Mayor's Cup Regatta is open to the public anyway, and the NOR does list a Wave start. I mean, I can still drive across town to sail it, if anyone else had their hearts set on coming to Indy. I would think we're still welcome there; and if not, we can go play on Geist Reservoir on the east side of town at the Indianapolis Sailing Club.
