Whitecaps are back!

Lake Winnebago was mostly open yesterday, and the rain overnight and wind has gotten rid of the rest of the ice on the south end.

Fond du Lac weather on SNL

Fond du Lac got some attention in a Saturday Night Live skit this weekend. "Know what guys? You can't tell what the weather's gonna do."

New 2016 Severne Sails

I got a nice shipment from FedEx last night. I'm hoping to rig them this weekend... Too bad it will be in the snow.

9.5 Raceboard - new cut for 2016
7.0 Reflex R7
6.2 Reflex R7
5.7 Gator - this is the first Gator I've bought, so will be interesting to try it

FedEx shipment

Gator colorway

6.2 Reflex R7

A picture from seabreeeze of a rigged Reflex R7

Winter Sailing

It's been a while since I posted. The lake iced over and has snow now, so it's time for winter sailing. Check out the the upcoming Sturgeon Stampede on Lake Winnebago if you have a chance.

Here are some pictures from one of my first days out this season on a snowfer. I think this was January 22 - ice came late this year.

Mostly ice the first day out

Mostly icey

January 23 we got some snow cover on the ice, and another session on the snowfer.

Lots more snow cover this time out

Winter on Lake Winnebago - Aden on an ATV, Zinger on the snowfer, and Alex kiting

Later that day I made a trip to St Vinny's to pickup some sweet skis to use as I try to learn to kite.

K2 190 cm skis that I found at St Vinny's in Fond du Lac. They'll work well enough for me. $20 and even came with poles ;)

Here are some shots from another day (Jan 27) on the snowfer. The team at Windpower Windsurfing dragged the WAK Shack onto the ice, so I sailed to there and back. Lots of wind. 6.0 was a handful on the snowfer.

Ben launching in front of the WAK Shack

snowfer selfie

Jan 28 I also got out on the snowfer, and the wind was a bit more tame (10-15mph). I'm starting to get the hang of it. 6.0 was a good size today. I sailed over towards the WAK Shack, but then saw Ben sailing on the ice that is being kept plowed right off Roosevelt Park. He was on a Hiberna getting some slalom practice before Worlds in Estonia. Snowfer did good on ice now that I am better at edging it, but still tricky to turn at speed. I just slow down before snap jibing it.

Jan 30 I sailed out to the Wak Shack again on the snowfer but the wind was pretty light. So, I towed my brother in law, Zinger, around on a snowboard behind the ATV. Ben's brother in law was also on the lake, and turns out he is a quite good drone pilot. Check out the video he captured.

The wind got a little better later in the day, so Alex joined us to kite. He was gracious enough to let us use his 6m foil Ozonefor practice while he rode his 12m inflatable Naish.

Alex on his Naish 12m with skis

Me on the 6m Ozone and Goodwill skis

Me kiting with skis

Zinger on the 6m Ozone with snowboard

Gear for Sale - Fall 2015

Here is my updated list of gear for sale. Check out the PHOTO ALBUM for pictures of many of the items, and be sure to click the 'info' button in the photo album for descriptions. Please email me or call 920-2five1-8six48 with any questions or for specific pictures, etc.

Be sure to hit the info button for details on each picture

BOARDS

2009 Copello custom slalom. ~90-95L, 61 cm wide. $500

- I won the 2009 Midwest Speed Quest on the Copello with a top speed of 40.8 mph.

~2004 Drops course slalom. 9'6", 122L. $195
- The Drops is all carbon, very light and stiff. Great value for an early planing board. Price includes padded reflective board bag.

~2002 Protech Convertible 289cm/101L. Bump n jump/slalom hybrid board. Great condition full carbon construction. Round rails for fantastic high speed jibing. Tuttle box. Includes padded board bag. $195

* All boards listed above have tuttle or deep tuttle box, except WindSUP has standard fin box.

SAILS
Race/slalom
[NEW LISTING!] Nearly new (2015) 7.8 Severne Reflex6. 484 cm luff, 214 cm clew. $625
- 460 SDM90 mast available below, works perfect for this sail

2013 Severne Raceboard 9.5. Rigs on Severne 530 mast. Very clean sail with only a small amount of wear! Bought in spring 2014 and only used for 8 regattas. $550

Freeride
6.5 Severne Turbo (2012). 456 cm luff, 190 cm clew. The twin cam Turbo is a great all around sail. Excellent condition, the 6.5 is the best of the 3 Turbos listed here. $350
- 430 Redline mast listed below works perfectly on this sail

6.0 Severne Turbo (2011). 435 cm luff, 185 cm clew. The twin cam Turbo is a great all around sail. $300
- 430 Redline mast listed below works perfectly on this sail


6.2 Neil Pryde Hellcat. I think this is from ~2010. No cam slalom sail. It has a small tear near the top of the mast sleeve but still sails fine. Rigs on a 400 or a 430 mast. $125

5.4 Neil Pryde Supersonic (~2003). 432 cm luff, 181 cm clew. Rigs on 400 - 430cm mast. Older, but lots of life left, and handles wind very well. RAF, no cams. $120

4.7 Neil Pryde Sabre. ~2005 model. No cam free ride sail. Good handling and balance. The luff is just under 400cm, so needs like a 370 or 380 mast. I used the North 380 mast that is listed later. Good condition. $150

3.3, 3.8, and 4.3 Gaastra MW5 (~1999). Specs available if needed. Good for learning or still useful for high wind blasting or ice sailing. $40 each, $100 for all 3.

MASTS

[NEW LISTING!] Nearly new (2015) Severne SDM90 460 cm mast. 90% carbon. Ultimate combination of performance and durability. Recommended mast for the 7.8 Reflex6. $550

430 Severne Redline 100% carbon mast. Recommended mast for both the 6.2 and 7.0 Reflex3. Excellent condition. $375

550 Severne Enigma 100% carbon mast. Recommended mast for 11.0 Reflex2. Excellent condition. $600

[BRAND NEW!] 530 Severne Blueline 75% carbon mast. $450

460 Fiberspar Reflex4000 mast. I don't recall what the '4000' means, but the mast is labelled 50% carbon. $140

400 pacific mast. 30% carbon. Good performance and very durable. $70

380 North Spacetech mast. $60

Various 400, 430, and 460 30-80% carbon masts available.

BOOMS
Severne Blueline aluminum boom. 180-230 cm. Very stiff for an aluminum boom. Modern design and great front end clamp. Some grip wear. $90

Neil Pryde aluminum boom. Fits ~5.5-7.5 sails (around 175-225cm). $50

Chinook aluminum boom. ~130cm - 190cm. Fits ~ 4.0 m2 - 6.0 m2 sails. $75

FINS
Maui Fin Company (MFC) SL2, 32 cm. $80
[SOLD!] Maui Fin Company (MFC) SL2, 36 cm. $80
Various formula fins and longboard fins available.

Slalom sailing at Sandy Beach

Got a good session on slalom gear this afternoon. 7.0 Reflex 3 with iSonic97.

I shot some GoPro video using a ClewView for the first time. I need to work on sailing while looking back at the camera though ;) [1:20 in the video]

GPS Results: LINK

2015 Walleye Wagatta

#WalleyeWagatta went great this weekend. Upper 70s air temp Saturday with 10-20 mph wind. Did 3 course races then a long distance on Saturday. On Sunday we were treated to sunny 80 degree air and 15-25+ mph winds. We completed 6 figure-8 slalom races. Some pictures from land Saturday morning are attached.

I raced the Phantom 377 with the Raceboard 9.5 to win 2 of the 3 course races Saturday as well as the long distance race (counts as R4 and R5). I sailed the new Reflex6 7.8 on an iSonic 121L (75cm wide) with a 42 cm Vector Volt2 to win the first four slalom races before the wind started to back off and I had to settle for second place in the last two slalom races. Overall, it was good enough to win the event.
Race Results

Also, we had great photos taken from the committee boat by Dan Seaborn. Here are the first three pics he sent. I'm attempting a 1-handed laydown jibe. But, it looks more like I'm trying to catch flies. Having my eyes closed probably indicates the small chance of this going well.

GPS Results from slalom racing Sunday: LINK