May 31, 2018 @ 06:15:55 EDT
Today Lake Mendota supported sailing even with a minimal breeze forecast. We started the day in postponement but got 9 races in with a steady SW breeze until a lunch break at 2pm. After lunch, the breeze diminished and no more races were completed. Congratulations to the Michigan Wolverines on winning all of their races. Tomorrow we have scheduled an earlier start (9:30am warning) and intend to complete the round robin and complete two final fours. The wind forecast is much better tomorrow. A special thank you to the 7 professional umpires and the 5 professional race committee volunteers for their assistance.
As teams began to arrive at the lakefront around 8 on Sunday, there was some concern that the glassy waters would prevent the round robin from being completed. Thankfully, the wind filled in and the last 6 races of the first round robin were started just after the intended 9:30 start time. Teams came in for lunch around 11, and afterwards the top 4 teams went back out to complete a final four round robin. Light conditions and a few abandoned races prevented us from completing the originally intended two final fours. Thankfully we were able to complete one full final four. Congratulations to Michigan and Wisconsin for qualifying for Team Race Nationals. We would like to give a huge thanks to our PRO Mark Prange and Chief Umpire Geoff Pedrick, along with the many other officials who were on the water running races, for making an excellent regatta this weekend.
