Similar situation to you with regards to learning and lakes. So far I like SIlver if SW, Wolf seems pretty similar but I think the acceptable breeze angle is a little wider. Andrea has given me some good times, but it really needs to be NE, as the closer you get to NW the worse it gets, although I had one amazing day there in SE followed by a terrible day in SE so who knows.

As for Lake Michigan, the only really scary day I ever had was launching from Montrose on a E wind, with a TON of leftover chop from the previous couple day's of NE wind, and then it got light after launching to the point where I couldn't balance against the sail so was upright and wobbly. Then my boom clamp had an issue and I ended up towing the board and rig in by hand while the chop really mixed my s%#t up. No fun. Ironically, my first time ever on a windsurfer was there on a really light NE day and I had no problem whatsoever and learned a lot.

I will check out Diamond lake sometime, is it good in NW? That's a rare condition but I always seem to be free on those days. A WS friend says Geneva is really good in that angle if you launch from the middle.

Like Ady says, the light days tend be less productive by far. I personally have gone out about 25 times since getting my new gear and while the light days were great for getting balance and rigging and manouvering down, they are definitely the biggest impediment to my progressing as most days I'm only planing in the big puffs. Still very fun but I've gotten a bit more selective which I think happens to a lot of sailors.

For weather apps I find Iwindsurf and windfinder, and often check the NOAA lake michigan forecast for a general idea. I once had a friend who does weather routing for offshore sailing look at Silver lake when he was in town and he kind of laughed and said "it'll probably be SW and light" as the detail for small lakes just isn't there like he'd offer for offshore.

Incidentally and perhaps ironically, I am planning on going to Wolf on Monday, as work has me in the area and it's been a long time since I got to windsurf.

Has anyone tried Lake Opeka in Des Plaines www.dpparks.org/parks-facilities/lake-park/

I asked the sailing center there, they said windsurfing was not allowed. Looked like it might have been decent.

KM wrote:
That's odd since the marina there has a recent winter boat storage form where you can select "windsurf" as an option.
www.dpparks.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/...ter-Boat-Mooring.pdf

That's some "mid winter" level of internet sleuthing! When I called, I asked the sailing center and got a flat "no." That was mid pandemic so maybe they were just putting me off on principle? If you ever get a yes from them, try and get it in writing. I got permission from the village of Round Lake via email to sail there after the season, and it was always fine, even had a cop chat with us about foiling one day, but another sailor who lives close to there said he was hassled and one of his friends even got a ticket launching from the other park on Round Lake.

If anyone wants to try it I would probably join, as it's quite close to me. VERY small so would be a good day for turns.

What directions is Diamond good for? We have NW with wind showing on a very early forecast for Monday, and I'm actually free for once so was thinking about trying to sail.