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Mille Lacs Crossing Report

Here's a bit of a breakdown of my regatta:

I rigged my largest sail, a 9.8m Neil Pryde V8 and had my trusty ol' Mistral Prodigy under my feet. By the time I had made my way on the water, the wind had aready started to build. I sailed out a couple of miles to get a feel for the conditions and felt very comfortable in my choice of gear. I rigged my sail very fat without too much downhaul. This was the right choice prior to getting on the water, but with about 5 minutes before the start sequence, the wind filled in HEAVY! I was thinking to add some more downhaul, but decided to sail in to shore quickly to check on my 'Woodette' as she seemed to having some difficulties getting to the start line. I reminded her that we sail in these winds all the time back home and to have a fun crossing, just HURRY UP to the line!! I then sailed back to the group to position myself for a good start. I had my ipod nano with me and with the song 'Barracuda' by Heart playing in my earphones, I was getting ramped for a good crossing! I've only tried sailing with tunes once before and really enjoyed it, so I thought I'd try it again for the crossing seeing as it can be such a long time on the water some years. If you've never tried listening to tunes while sailing before, do it, it's really cool! So, with the blast of the horn we were off! The wind did slack off a bit during the upwind leg portion, so I had to tack to clear the mark. I rounded the mark in the lead group and felt really good about my chances at a top ten finish! The wind decided to crank back up during the next 10-15 minutes or so of the race and I was really struggling to keep myself on the board, trying to manage the gusts with my 'fat' sail. I thought a couple of times to stop and add some downhaul, but kept on going telling myself out loud "KEEP GOING WOODY", so with stretched arms, I held it together for the most part. One big gust lifted my board as I come off a wave and I quickly went into survival mode hopping out of my straps as the board quickly rounded to wind. I was back-winded by my sail and hit the drink...no more tunes too!! If there was any good thing about my crash, it was that my sail was in a perfect position to uphaul, so with a quick jerk up I was back sailing on course. The wind seemed to let up a bit after the crash and I was really dialed and in good form until we hit the big hole of no wind at the turnaround point. With everyone slogging except for Arden and Kevin it seemed, we headed back to Malmo. It wasn't too long though before we we're all back on a plane racing for the finish. I Yahoo'd to everyone that I knew on the way back and was just taking in the 'moment'. I even found myself talking to the wind and getting little puffs which where just enough to get me through some of the holes on the way back and also being thankful for these little 'gifts'. A couple of formula guys passed me on the way back, but I was really trying to reel my buddy and Team World member Randy Howell (IA) also on a Prodigy with a 10.8m sail. No way though, he was fast on Saturday! So being fully powered for the last 5 or so miles I just enjoyed the ride to the finish.

I was sad to hear on my return that my Woodette never made it, along with a couple more of the Canadian contingent. We've always had the ability to say "wait until next year", and I hope that continues with a 26th Crossing.

Here is the list of finishers from the 25th Annual Mille Lacs Crossing: I'm stoked to finally break the top ten of this regatta. I can't wait for next year to try it on my new (to me) formula board!! I would have loaded up some pics, but we lost our camera bag (AGAIN!) and it has our USB cable in it for downloading the images off our camera. I'll make a photo album when I get some time and another cable!!

Pos Name Fleet City State Time

1 Arden Anderson F Fond du Lac WI 0:45:49
2 Kevin Gratton F Fond du Lac WI 0:46:49
3 Don Altmeyer U Fond du Lac WI 0:49:45
4 Jeff Adamski F Ostego MN 0:50:47
5 Steven Cool F Wayzata MN 0:51:15
6 Randy Howell U Dallas Center IA 0:52:04
7 Adam McCuskey F Minnetonka MN 0:52:44
8 Brad Woodworth U Dryden ONT 0:53:50
9 Steve Johnson U Shoreview MN 0:55:34
10 Herve Deve S Minneapolis MN 0:56:23
11 Randy Johnson F Forest Lake MN 0:56:36
12 Larry Miller U East Gull Lake MN 0:57:11
13 Roland Rioux L Winnipeg MB 0:58:10
14 Roger Mondale F Plymouth MN 0:58:29
15 Ulf Jentler F Des Moines IA 0:59:43
16 Jay Corbett F Richfield MN 1:00:01
17 Ray Muller L Thunder Bay ONT 1:03:01
18 Peter Hill I Minneapolis MN 1:03:10
19 Dave Hopkins P Edina MN 1:03:35
20 Peter Hartwich I Excelsior MN 1:03:45
21 Kelly Johnson L Shoreview MN 1:04:59
22 Robert Christensen L St Louis Park MN 1:05:59
23 Bruce Stratford U Dryden ONT 1:06:25
24 Dave Chizek L Excelsior MN 1:12:22
25 John E. Kust Jr. U Minnetrista MN 1:13:09
26 Wayne Anderson F Elkhart Lake WI 1:20:09
27 Chuck Nelson C Lake Elmo MN Classic-18:22
28 Randy Rutledge F Deephaven MN DNF
29 Rob Evans F Orono MN DNF
30 Jeff Cole F Orono MN DNF
31 Arnie Cleveland I Prescott WI DNF
32 Stuart Vandervaart L Dryden ONT DNF
33 Kris Diller L Mound MN DNF
34 Bonnie Koeberl L Muskego WI DNF
35 Mark Felton S Chanhassen MN DNF
36 Gregg Anshus S Chatfield MN DNF
37 Shannon Stratford S Dryden ONT DNF
38 Jack Gleason S St Louis Park MN DNF
39 Don Specht U Bloomington MN DNF
40 Michael Reed U Cary IL DNF
41 Margot Woodworth U Dryden ONT DNF
42 Jeff Koeberl U Muskego WI DNF
43 Paul Matousek U Sioux Lookout ONT DNF
44 Larry Reed F Dallas Center IA DNS

Stay Cool

Posted by Brad at October 2, 2006 10:01 PM

Comments

Nice post Woody. It was nice seeing Team World in all their glory again. Great job on the race, and tell Margot to keep her head up. She is making great progress being out in those conditions...with intention to race and go fast, no less.

- arden

Posted by: arden at October 3, 2006 1:51 AM

There is a lot to say about competing, trying your hardest, accomplishing your goal for that day. But this time, it wasn't quiete my day. And that's all learning too. You only get one shot at this race within a 3 min. window and it doesn't leave too much room for making the wrong choices or being not on the right spot. The conditions were perfect for a fast exciting race and the free riding on Sunday was a blast. Congratulations to all of you again. Great job!
Kelly, if anyone deserved to get the name on the trophy, it was you!!!
To all of us, walking back for an hour with all our gear in tow, thanks for the laughs, pats on the shoulders and cold beers back on Malmo. Needless to say, our times on and off the water, the fun time driving the Moose to the Goose, dancing with Footloose, is the great memory from an awesome weekend. Looking forward to another great season already!

Posted by: Woodette :) at October 3, 2006 8:00 AM

Congrats!!! I gotta ask- does your iPod still work after the swim it took?

Posted by: Guinevere at October 3, 2006 4:02 PM

Yes! I charged it up and it works great

I'm going to get an 'Otterbox' for it next year!

Posted by: Woody at October 3, 2006 4:41 PM

Nice race to all! Was good to see everyone again. Too bad josh couldn't make it up but it is very understandable. I know homecomming is a big thing for hs, i was there once.. hehe.

Till the Next Event
-Mikey

Posted by: Mikey at October 4, 2006 8:26 AM