Black Friday…sails

Photo by Sue Alexander

Blue skies, lots of sun and warm temperatures hovering around 39 degrees welcomed our sailors at this years annual Black Friday Regatta.  This event was rescheduled for Sunday after Friday’s weather conditions were not favorable and safety was a concern.  A last minute email and posting on the Michigan Laser District website (www.d19laser.com) and we were ready to go.

Haithco Lake was the location again this year.  Haithco Lake is a 40 acre man made lake.  It is located in the area around the I-675 and Tittabawasee Rd. intersection.  convenient to Saginaw Townships shopping districts for those who wanted to drop their loved ones off to shop while they sailed.  Haithco Lake is also the unofficial home to the Mid Michigan Laser Fleet which played host for this event and through out the summer sail here on Tuesday evenings.

Photo by Jon Banner

As in years past we had sailors from different corners of our great state.  We had representation from Metro Detroit, Frankenmuth, Tawas, Kawkawlin and of course Saginaw.  Friday we had a few more who wanted to sail from Grand Rapids and Gull Lake.  Haithco Lake has a certain appeal in late November, it’s not too big and it’s conveniently located for an event like this.

The conditions were picture perfect.  Sunny with a light breeze blowing from the south.  The water temperature was chilly but everyone stayed on their boats this year.

Photo by Matt Princing

We had an actual committee boat this year.  They were responsible for setting the courses and manning the starting signals.  The little row boat worked out well, thanks to Tom Hernick and Jon Banner for handling this duty.  They are members of the local fleet who normally participate in this event.

The first race started a little after 1pm and we were off the water around 3:30pm.  6 races were completed and a windward/leeward race course was used with 4 legs each.  The top three boats were always in the hunt and traded wins between them.  In the end it was Tom LaBelle  from Crescent Yacht Club( www.crescentsail.com)  who took the top spot, followed by  Ken Swetka  from Crescent Yacht Club  and third was Bill Coberly from Tawas Bay Yacht Club(www.tbyc.net).

Photo by Matt Princing

After sailing it was time to wrap the boats back up.  Most were going to be put in the garage for a long winters nap, a few might be heading south for some winter sailing.

After the awards and the see you laters we hooked up our trailers to go home.  The picture on the left is the start of a beautiful sunset we were blessed with.  Black Friday 2011 is on the schedule.