Well, I guess this is better late than never…I'll fill in some
details from the racing action at the Door County Breeze. Friday we
had the annual fun sail between several islands in the bay. With
light winds we didn't cover as much ground as usual, but we still
managed to get out past the Horseshoe Island to Strawberry Island and
back, and even find some decent wind along the way. I think about 10
people made the trek out and back.

The weekend had been forecast for light winds around 5 mph, but the
pressure stacked up a bit Saturday and gave us great racing
conditions most of the day. Winds were at least 10 mph by the time we
went out for the first race. Making it extra exciting for me was the
fact that Steve decided to rejuvenate the IMCO class for this event.
I sailed in that class for a solid decade (1992-2002) and miss it a
lot. It is a lot of fun to skip through the water fully planning on a
formula board in 12mph wind, and it is also nice to get around a
course as fast as possible in light wind by using a jumbo-sized sail.
However, the IMCO class is awfully nice because you rig the same
thing no matter what the conditions are and you know that you will be
competitive across the entire range. I was eager to find out how the
IMCO's would stack up against the newer open class equipment at this
event. Joining me in the IMCO fleet were Andy Gratton, Marlin
Meitzen, and Dennis Lang; all equally experienced sailors that raced
with me during the heyday of the IMCO class.

Race One I got off to a nice start and I think I managed to lead at
the upwind mark but was overtaken in the jibes by Colin Knight on the
dreaded combo of a 10.6 and an EquipeII. Colin held onto the lead
throughout the 2nd lap and I managed to stay close for second place.
Andy Gratton, Marlin, Jeff Koeberl and others were in the mix
swapping spots in the next pack of sailors.

Race Two I managed to grab another good start and played the shifts
up the middle of the course. I saw this pay off very well since the
IMCO tacks quite quickly compared to our upwind speed so I was able
to sail less distance than most of the other sailors. I was also
pleasantly surprised to find that I was able to point as high as most
other sailors except Jeff K when he was on his Div2, and Jack Wiley
who is clearly from the Windpower School of upwind grinding. The good
tactics and tight angles helped me get to the top mark first with
enough margin that I could hold off the big sails through the reaches
and grab a bullet. Hooray for the IMCO class!

In Race Three Jeff K had his open class rig firing on all cylinders
and he led the race start to finish. I managed to hang tight with him
and (hopefully) make him work, but he ran away with the bullet and I
picked up another 2nd place. Colin, Andy, Marlin, and Jack picked up
3rd through 6th.

Race 4 played out very similar to R3 with me taking advantage of the
shifts and building enough lead on the upwind legs to hold off the
other guys during the reaches. Colin and Jeff took 2nd and 3rd with
Jack grabbing a 4th just ahead of Andy in 5th.

We took a break for lunch after R4 and got to enjoy some of the beach
activities for a bit. When we had our afternoon skipper's meeting
Steve told us that we would be shifting from an "M"course to a box
course with an outside loop (windward-reach to R2-downwind to R3-back
up to R2-down again to R3-reach to R4-back up to the start/finish
line).

When we got on the water for Race 5 the wind had built to over 15 mph
on the course and even more wind out towards the open water by the
Horseshoe Island. Andy Gratton had made some runs out there between
the races, and we saw him come flying back towards the racing area
with a vapor trail in his wake. My pre-start plan was to get out to
the stronger wind on the left side of the course as quickly as
possible and try to stay powered up on my rail for the first leg. I
got a clean start near the boat and was absolutely thrilled to be
sailing an IMCO upwind on the rail again (been a few years since I
have been on the board). Even better, I was able to climb on most of
the open class sailors who were now fighting their big sails. When I
turned the corner at the top mark I got to pull my track back and
plane to mark2 in my reaching straps…the thrill of seeing 11-ft of
board hover over the water while reaching on an IMCO helped me
remember what got me hooked on the class in the first place. I can't
thank Steve enough for promoting this class at his event and giving
me reason to dust that board off again. Anyways, I managed to
remember all (ok, most) of the tricks to sailing the IMCO in a breeze
and was able to run away with a bullet. Andy Gratton helped bolster
the IMCO's return by posting a solid 2nd place.

During the sequence for Race 6 the wind clocked substantially to the
right to the point that I was thinking I might be able to lay the
windward mark without tacking if I got a good start right by the
boat. Well, I was lined up for a great start right at the boat and in
the process of making sure I got a good jump I managed to cross the
line early. Steve called out my number and I had to restart. After
sailing clear of the other starters I got below the line but made
sure to carry my port-tack approach far enough back up the line that
I could start again right at the boat- I wanted to be sure I could be
above the dirty air of the sailors that already got started. This
paid off well since the shift turned out to be progressive, meaning I
got an even better line at the mark than the sailors that started 20
seconds earlier. I think I managed to get to the upwind mark with Dr
Jack with Jeff, Andy, and Kathy leading the pack. Aggressive pumping
on the downwind legs helped me catch the leaders and eventually get
into the lead with Andy hot on my tail. Another 1-2 finish for the
IMCO class and we called it a day for racing, but Andy and I still
wanted to sail our IMCO's some more.

We knew that there was still great wind out beyond the course, so we
headed upwind to Horseshoe Island together until we were at an angle
where we could do a nice reach over the windward side of the island.
At that point we continued out into Green Bay on a several mile
reach. When we finally jibed to come back in we sailed upwind some
more so that our return on port would be a nice broad reach. I chased
Andy all the way in as we both were on a full plane working our way
through the waist-high rollers. When we got near shore Andy joked
that he could smell Jan's cooking from out on the water and knew it
was time to come in to eat. He hit it just right, because by the time
we had our gear on shore the food was all laid out and ready to eat.
A great end to a fantastic day of sailing.

Sunday morning we were again greeted with better wind that had been
expected. There were even signs of some whitecaps out on the water.
Had I been sailing Open class I would have been going back and forth
between "Should I sail formula or should I take my longboard?" None
of that this weekend. I had a 12'2" board and a 7.4 sqmeter sail that
I would just sail as fast as I could.

In the mix for Sunday's racing was my Dad, Wayne Anderson, who wasn't
able to make the Saturday races. The 10-15 mph winds out on the
course are usually his sweet spot, so I knew that he would be fast
today, but he apparently has been practicing in secret or something-
more on that later.

At the skipper's meeting Steve announced that we would be doing a
modified "M" course with the upwind mark being a starboard rounding
(right turn) so that the jibes could be set nearer shore for the
spectators. Again, more on this in a second.

The start of Race One (7 overall) was the tightest start we had up to
that point of the weekend, with several sailors getting off to good
starts. Jeff K got away clean and showed great speed upwind, as did
my Dad and Kathy. Kathy and Jeff tacked towards shore earlier than
many of the rest of us, and that ended up paying off nicely. As I
approached the windward mark from the left side of the course, I
could see that they had a nice jump on me, and may even have been
above their layline to the mark. As we converged on the mark Jeff
must have been working extra hard and not been getting oxygen to his
brain (sorry Jeff) because he went over the mark leaving it to port
with Kathy following suit. I managed to get around the mark in the
correct direction with Jack and my Dad in hot pursuit. Jeff and Kathy
had to come back around the mark to round properly and would have to
fight back through the fleet from there. I managed to mishandle my
sail on the second jibe and my Dad took advantage and shot out into
first place. I knew it would be hard to get back in front of him on
the upwind and would have to hope for some luck. Well, the luck (for
me, definitely not for Dad) showed up on the next leg as we headed
back upwind. With a comfortable lead, Dad ended up in a situation
where a ski boat passed in front of him. I think the boat was towing
a jet ski and came in too close to Dad's point of sail. Dad ended up
having to jump off his board in order to avoid the tow rope and I was
able to shoot back into the lead. Dad chased me around the rest of
the course and we managed to finish 1-2 with Jeff K in 3rd and Mike
Reed sailing fast into 4th place.

Diminishing winds led to a 1-lap race for Race Eight, and I managed
to get off the line clean and lead the whole way around. Again, Dad
was in hot pursuit on his 11.0 and EquipeII. Colin got his speed back
and finished 3rd with Kathy at 4th and Andy grabbing the 5th spot
again.

The wind started to fill in again so we went back to a 2-lap race
again. I got a clean start again and managed to run through the first
lap in the lead, but Dad was hot on my tail again. I don't know if he
was more rested that the rest of us since he didn't sail Saturday,
but he was sailing fast and getting through the jibes quickly. Coming
upwind to start the second lap I had about a 50-100 yard lead, but I
wish it had been less. From that distance back Dad wasn't feeling any
dirty air from me and was able to climb over the top of the path I
had taken from the leeward mark. Had he been closer I may have been
able to affect his line by covering him. Still further out than him,
but not as high, I decided to tack about ˝ way up the beat on a wind
shift. However, Dad stayed on his starboard line and just kept
rolling. By the time we met again at the top of the course he had a
clear lead as he approached the mark on port while I was coming from
the right side on starboard. Not only had Dad passed me, but a tribe
of Open sailors were now also caught up to me. Jeff K appeared to be
their leader and as we approached each other I was slightly ahead so
I was hoping to tack quickly and establish a cover on him as we went
towards the mark. Unfortunately I tried to tack to quick and ended up
in the water, so Jeff rolled past, Mike Reed rolled past, Kathy and
Jack rolled past. Uh-oh. I went from covering in 2nd place to trying
to catch up in 6th place in the blink of an eye. Through the downwind
jibing portion of the course I tried to make up some ground but to no
avail. My thoughts of finishing 1-2 with my Dad again were long gone.
He pulled a horizon job on the fleet and got the bullet with Jeff and
Mike Reed leading the next pack in 2nd and 3rd place. Jack held me
off at the finish with some fine upwind sailing (it's that Windpower
heritage) on the last leg, so I had a 5th place dealt to me. Funny as
it may seem, but I worked harder to salvage that 5th than I had to
work for most of the bullets. It is far easier to sail from the front
and control a race than to try to catch up from behind and adapt to
what is happening in front of you.

So, we decide to stay on the water and do another race, and I don't
recall if it is one lap or two. What I do recall is that I wanted to
get some redemption in this race, especially since it was probably
the last race of the regatta. Whether it was the first time through
the jibes or the second, I do know that the last time we had to go
through them Jeff K and I had a nice lead on the rest of the fleet,
with me just in front of him. We got through the first two jibes and
then it happened…the wind just died. It started swirling. It came
from every direction but the one you needed. Jeff and I struggled for
minutes to get around the 2nd last jibe mark. During this time I had
one primary thought, "keep the board moving," and one secondary
thought, "keep an eye on Andy Gratton because he is the ace in our
fleet whenever we have these conditions." I did manage to keep the
board moving most of the time, and I did get separation from Jeff,
but I did see Andy gaining on me- rapidly. By the time I got to the
last jibe mark Andy was right on top of me. Shortly thereafter he
overtook me on the "reach" to the "leeward" (I use those terms
loosely since they imply a consistent wind direction) mark. Andy
decided to take the leeward mark tight and stay inside while I
rounded wide hoping to maintain my momentum and shoot out from under
him. Well, he's the master in these conditions, so guess what? His
decision paid off as he got each puff a bit sooner than me as they
rolled off the shore. I did get out from under him but was unable to
lay the finish without tacking, so Andy came out with the bullet and
I had to settle for second. But at least it was another 1-2 finish
for the IMCO fleet.

In the end we found out just how competitive the fleet was, with 2nd,
3rd, and 4th place each separated by one point. Jeff came out ahead
for second place, with Colin 3rd and Andy Gratton in 4th place. Jack
Wiley lead the next pack with very consistent finishes to grab 5th
place overall.

Again, hats off to Steve and Jan for hosting a wonderful regatta. I
am so glad they decided to have the IMCO class there, which by the
way also had cash prizes (I got $100 for winning, Andy got $50 for
2nd place, and Dennis Lang picked up $25 for his 3rd place finish in
the fleet). I may have to bust out my IMCO more often. If you have
never tried one out, you should. There are plenty of them around.

Up next is the Bradford Beach Jam in Milwaukee the last weekend of
July (27-29). The weekend after that is the Menominee Waterfront
Festival & Regatta August 4-5. Both of these events are excellent are
well worth the trip.

Finally, I need to give a shout out to Uffe Jentler, MOWIND
enthusiast and Team World member, who is on his way to compete in
Sweden at the 2007 Kona Raid in the archipelago of Stockholm. This
appears to me to be like a Nordic version of the HIHO, and is hosted
by the Royal Swedish Yacht Club. Best of luck Uffe! More info can be
found here: http://www.kona-windsurfing.com/konaraid.asp

Arden Anderson
EL-11


--- In mowind@yahoogroups.com, "Jack" <drjacksonwiley@...> wrote:
>
> I posted the scores from this regatta. Thank you to Steve for
letting
> me score it. I found and corrected some more minor issues in the
> scoring spreadsheet.
>
> My wife Carmen took a whole bunch of pictures. I will post a few of
> them. If you are interested in some (full size) of yourself or
others
> just send me an email.
>