Author: William

Here are photos of sailboats that were racing one of our Tuesday nights.

On June 5, Windjammers Sailing Club had a “Start Sailing” party with Live Music By Fool’s Errand, along with a Brat Plate Lunch.

Thanks to all who made it.

On the South East horizon a wind line could be seen creeping up the bay. By the time all boats sailed out to the start area a respectable 8 mph breeze was available to push the boats around the 4 leg Windward leeward course. Jamison Gagnon mastered the boat favored start and led the fleet around the course. Next week more fun will be had. 

Cheers from the RC.

Too Klos, a 19-foot Lightning class sailboat skippered by Pete Orlebeke of Fond du Lac, rounds the windward mark and sets off downwind with wife Kimberly and daughter Kayley setting the spinnaker during the fifth of six races of the annual Evans Regatta hosted last weekend at Windjammers Sailing Club in Suamico. Two dozen sailors from around the Midwest competed in the two-day event, which also served as the Midwest District Regatta for the International Lightning Class Association. The top three finishers–Todd Wake of Sheboygan, Bill Faude of Chicago and Craig Pomeroy of Sturgeon Bay–qualified for the weeklong North American Championship scheduled for August 8-14 on Lake Erie.

Berm reshaping and seeding has been accomplished!  While the drought and downward trend of Bay water levels provide hope that water levels will not exceed the top of harbor walls, the modified berm will provide insurance when we face rising water levels again. 

A HUGE THANK YOU is extended to all of the members (many listed below) that helped get the berm around the clubhouse reshaped and seeded.  This project required a lot of effort to tame the clay (and rock) berm into a gentle slope that has been topped with soil, seeded and covered with straw mats just in time for a cool rainy week.  
Another opportuity to earn points will occur on Sat June 26th starting at 9am to finish raking and seeding around the perimeter of the house and to bury drain pipes from the sump pumps to the harbor.

Special thanks to Dave Jolly for donating wider stepping stone that will make the walkway to the clubhouse more stable and wheel chair friendly.

Friday workers:  Dave Quimby, Dave Gay, Dan Ensley, Dan Wassenberg, Rick Jensen, Randy Vanden Branden, Marcelo Graziotin, Chris ShawSaturday workers: Dave Quimby, Dave Gay, Dan Ensley, Dan Wassenberg, Rick Jensen, Craig Pomeroy, Randy Vanden Branden, Marcelo Graziotin, John Taylor, Chris Robinson, Frank Arios, Tom Knaus and Chris ShawSunday workers:  Marcelo Graziotin, Dave Jolly, Dave Gay, Dan Ensley and Chris ShawMonday workers: Greg Kriebiel, Dave Quimby and Chris Shaw

27th Biennial Trans Superior

Audacity, a modern production style forty-foot boat, is entered for the doubled handed 2021 Trans Superior Race.  Owned by two brothers, Christopher and Michael Laing, from Green Bay, Wisconsin. Audacity was previously under the British flag until 2016 when she was purchased and transported over from Southampton, United Kingdom.

The Laing brothers’ passion for the water started at Windjammers Sailing Club, a small family centered organization in Green Bay. Here, they grew up participating in club races, sail training programs, and of course family cruises around Green Bay and Lake Michigan. The brothers sailed anything from Lasers, Lightnings, mid-size keelboats, and eventually crewed aboard a high performance Taylor 49, an “Experience” which sparked a desire to enter the world of offshore racing.

The Laing’s first double-handed race was the 2015 Hook, commandeering their parents’ Hunter 28.5 for the 189 nautical mile race starting in Racine, Wisconsin and finishing in Menominee Michigan. It was there they understood the importance of watch systems and what living consecutive days on the lake were really about. When given conditions ranging from a perfect thumb line reach, to glassy waters with lake flies eating other dead lake flies, to clear starry nights under spinnaker working your way off Lake Michigan through the fleet ahead of a storm, it’s really hard not to want to return to the scene.

The Trans-Superior Yacht Race offers a unique platform. Sailing across a vast, yet secluded and sometimes treacherous lake provides an immersive opportunity to apply and grow skills in an “off grid” sailing environment. For three or four days, nothing else matters except for you and your boat.

2021 marks Audacity’s 3rd consecutive Trans-Superior, we look forward to seeing everyone at the start line in August! 

– Christopher & Michael Laing