Good Morning,

Thinking of heading up north on Sunday. Winds look potentially ok for Lake Springfield or Clinton on Sunday. Will keep a watch out. If anyone has advice for the conditions let me know. I don't need much wind to make the drive the 11.8 or 12.0 and the 74 cm fin work in just about anything down to an average of 10 for around here. Thinking of picking up a race board for next season, anyone ride those monsters in IL anymore? I gave my Mistral Superlight II away when I moved to CA back in 2000 and I miss that giant.

thanks, dk

I'm Iowa. The smallest board I ride is an 1135L 8'3" AHD SeaLion. What I ride most is a Kona One Design, 220 L, 350 cm long, 70 cm wide. When I can I'm racing one of those at a MOWIND event (most if not all cancelled for 2020). I also ride a '93 Fanatic MegaCat raceboard. So far I have 34 sailing days in 2020; but I also count days when the sailing was on ice, or hard packed snow, & on a parking lot with a 59" longboard skateboard or on a sit-down trike.

If the wind is reliably around or above 7 mph and I have the time I'm likely to be sailing something on an available surface. Sometimes I'm sailing on a parking lot instead of water because my available time window was only 2 hours. One of the best parts of parking lot sailing is being able to sail at night. Most of the lots that are large enough, 100' x 200' minimum, are lighted at night. The largest one I have available can hold 940 cars. Parking lot sailing on a mountain board or longboard skateboard improved my on-water jibes. Hard surface sailing is the place where my old rigs get used.

Del, where are you located in Iowa? I’m in the QC and have been going to Lake Mac Bride to sail, or paddle board on my inflatable wind sup when no wind. Would be great to know some other Iowa sailors.

Clinton Lake Forecast



Looks like a good day for the Marina. Wind SW to WSW in the 5.8 to 6.9 range. One thing I've noticed out there is the 9:00 am blow. Looking at the gust forecast I might be able to 5.8 if I get out there early enough with the initial heating. Don't leave your big stuff at home.


Sylvain, I talked to Rich and if your wife and kids are going he said he would bring out his Starboard Start. It's wide with lots of volume and padded deck. He is also looking to set it up so your family could use it anytime they come out.. Let us know if you're going.


Starboard Start

If wind holds, we will be coming
I will be waiting for an update On wind though. It does not look great.
The board would be awesome
My wife on the 63 cm board = ZERO
My wife on Jim’s 83 cm board = HERO

Update: Slight downgrade. Morning gusts still there. I'm thinking about getting there at sunrise. Good direction for the beginner cove.

Update #2: Upgrade. Can sleep in a little longer. Wind extended to 2:00 pm.

Hi Ed: I'm in Cedar Falls. There are also several windsurfers in the Cedar Rapids area: Randy Maring, Robin Shaw & Steve Stolte. I think Coralvilled Lake is where they go most. I think there are others there, but I do not remember their names. For a while the most active sailor in that area was Steve Callaway who lived within a mile of Lake McBridge, was also connected to U of IA Sailing Club, but moved to FL about 3-4 years ago. I'm currently helping a guy in Cedar Falls who has a 1981 original Windsurfer and an early 2000's Starboard formula board get back into windsurfing.

I'm making some plans for having a future event on Clear Lake, hopefully next year with some help from the Clear Lake Yacht Club or from the chamber of commerce.

My cell is 319-504-4866. My given & FaceBook name is Delburn Carpenter.

What are you sailing? Ever done any form of land sailing?

Del:

Thanks for getting back to me. I’m located in the QC (Bettendorf) and have been here since December 2018. Before that we lived in Hood River, so I sailed a lot while there (2005-2018). I started going to Sabula last year, but the Middle Lake isn’t sailable anymore, so started to going to Lake Mac Bride this Spring. Do you know where everybody launches from on Coralville Lake? I’d like to come up and try it out and it would be great to connect with some folks around here.

I have a Starboard inflatable WindSup for light / no wind days. And I have a Goya Volar 130 which is a great light-air shortboard. Also have a RRD Freestyle Wave 96. Sails, I have a 7.5 Retro down to a 4.8 Hucker.

What do you use for wind forecasts?

I’ll look you up on Facebook, Best, Ed

As I remember the launch on Coralville Lake most used by Cedar Rapids windsurfers is the Sandy Beach Public Use Area on the north shore a little east of Sandy Beach Campground, Both are reached on Sandy Beach Road.

Ed & I thank Windsurf Illinois for being useable by Iowans. We don't have anything like this site in Iowa.

Estimated arrival time: 10 am

Sylvain - I left the board and fin next to Reid’s car. Use it as you want. I’ll be back soon