W  indsurf sailors, sailboaters, dogs, motorboaters, geese, bank fishermen, seagulls, Navy ROTC, jetskiers, bratwurst and beer -- Marina Sail Park: the most popular spot at Clinton Lake Illinois.  The big reason that it is the most launched-from site on Clinton Lake for windsurfing is Marina Sail Park's orientation to a SSW wind, the most common direction for warm windy days.

RIG & LAUNCH
» There’s plenty of parking on either side of the gravel road, and plenty of grass to rig on with limited shade.  Frequent gusts can come though the rigging area, so watch your gear.  Access to the water is a gap between the riprap and the trees that leads you out into Beginner’s Cove. Please don’t block the entrance with gear.   This launch is also used to sail westerlies in the main pool.

WIND
» The wind shadow at the launch makes how hard it’s blowing deceptive.  Many sailboaters have found this out the hard way once they were out beyond the breakwalls.  Windsurfing at The Narrows (up wind) can mean more down-haul to a half-size smaller sail.  Sailing there you can handle a wind angle of 180° all the way to 250°.  In mid to late spring stick around for the 4:00 pm blow to kick in.

WATER
» Beginner’s Cove is shallow and protected with a hard-pack clay/sand bottom.  The lake is almost 3/4 mile wide straight across.  Watch out for the wind shadow on the far side and the cross chop in front of the break walls.  Sail up to The Narrows for steeper-faced waves in this 1/4 mile gap.  Safety is a must everywhere on the water when sailing with motorboats.   Always assume nobody can see you.