Recap – Green Lake 2022

We had 3 days of sailing on Green Lake this past Friday through Sunday. Being that this was our first time at this event and lifelong Wisconsinites, we were a little surprised to find this nice lake hidden away in this area of the state. We made sure to get set up in time to go for a ride Friday afternoon. The wind was brisk with strong isolated gusts that afternoon and we had a pretty good ride with the winds in the upper teens and a few gusts around twenty. We sailed all the way to the far end of the lake which is 7.5 miles long and up to 1.5 miles wide not too far from the launch site.

Saturday’s breeze was on the light side overall with a prevailing wind of 5-9 kt and occasional isolated gusts of about 12 kt that could come up quickly, so you had to be watching for them in order to take advantage as they could also come with a significant shift. After some delays, the race committee set up the course in the area of the lake near the launch site, east of the cliff that protrudes in from the south. The windward mark was tucked up near the shoreline with a tall bluff and mature trees. This made the wind conditions in the last couple hundred yards to the mark considerably variable and could leave a boat with no wind. Kurt and Tyler ruled for most of the day with a variety of challengers.

On Sunday we made sure to be ready on time for the posted start time, especially since the wind quickly built to an even 12-16 kt breeze shortly before the expected race time. We went for a nice ride while the marks were being set. By the start of the first race, the wind dropped off considerably to 5-8 kt with some gusts up to 12-15 kts, though now the wind had shifted to align more with the length of the lake so tactics approaching the windward mark were less of a factor. As the day progressed, the variability of the wind continued to increase but Kurt and Tyler did not. Congratulations to them on a weekend of consistent sailing!

Thanks to the deFelice family and everyone who volunteered to organize and make this event happen, and everyone who showed up! It was great to see everyone and some more new faces, catch everyone next season!

Ben & Martin Malcheski