DN North Americans – Today is the first day

Good morning from Minnesota,

About twelve of us from New England are here and ready for the DN North Americans. We always seem to have great representation and I am sure the results will be strong for our group. Lake Waconia is the chosen spot, but T and Dave Frost, commodore of the IDNIYRA, spent the last two days driving between two locations in search of the best plate taking into consideration the upcoming weather. Two days ago Waconia had very hard "pancakes" or 2" raised bumps all over it and they made for significant challenges in big breeze. Warmer temperatures the last two afternoons have softened everything quite a bit which is fantastic.

With the wind predicted today, the more northern lake would have been just too hard on boats and bodies as no melting occurred. So, the final determination was to stay on Lake Waconia. What’s really weird is that the temperatures today are forecast to reach 60 F. That’s not a typo. And then by Tuesday night, the temperatures will drop to 6 F. Again, not a typo. We have no idea what the extreme fluctuations will cause.

With T scouting I have been sailing the last three days. Given how little sailing I have done this winter, it was great to scratch race with several others. Unfortunately, in the morning the hard bump caused my brake on one of my favorite front runners to flip over and got stuck beneath the runner while I was on a fast downwind leg. I stopped as soon as I could, but it was enough to cause a very significant gouge in the edge of the blade. No way to fix it before the regatta.

One of the challenges at the big regattas is equipment choice. You receive two stickers for your sail choice. Meaning, if you have three sails in your van you are only allowed to use two of them during the regatta. For runners, you receive nine stickers. With conditions being so variable it will make for important decisions each morning.

More to come as it all unfolds, melts, and then refreezes.

Karen Binder
DN 5630