Spring into Summer!
By Ally Latham
At a little known lake in the mountains of New Jersey, the first event of the New Jersey Windsurfer LT tour is a wrap! The two day Spring Into Summer Regatta boasted big winds, a challenging range of conditions, strategic racing, and great fun! Sailors from NJ, NY, PA, & FL traveled to experience windsurfing in beautiful Highland Lakes, NJ.
Day one consisted of two very close races in a building southerly blowing down the lake at 10-15mph with gusts 20+. Following a nice lunch break, the wind continued to build so racing was halted for the day. A barbeque ended the day in great company with raffles from our sponsors. Day two came through with perfect lake sailing conditions, allowing for 3 races in 5-15mph with gusts to 18. The wind veered with time making conditions tricky with swirling pockets of wind, mentally and physically challenging our competitors!
Final Results: Heavy Weight Division- 1st Steve Gottlieb, 2nd Justin Murphy, 3rd Bill Lelbach. Middle Weight Division- 1st Cody Steward, 2nd Kevin Gaston, 3rd Tom Latham. Light Weight Division- 1st Mark Powell, 2nd Ken Tiu, 3rd Ally Latham. Novice Division- 1st Zach Koberlein, 2nd Patrick Detwiler. Overall Winner- Mark Powell.
Many thanks to Highland Lakes Country Club & Community Association for hosting, Kevin Gaston & Tom Latham for organizing this awesome event, the many volunteers of our dock committee, lifeguard rescue boats, the US Windsurfer Class Association, and the amazing Steve & Cody of Sandy Point Progressive for providing our charters.
A lot of fun had by all and a successful Spring Into Summer Windsurfer LT Regatta! Next stop on the NJ tour, the Extreme Windsurfing Windsurfer LT Challenge in West Atlantic City, NJ July 6th & 7th! In addition to an LT Fleet, we will have a Kona Fleet and an Open Fleet, so bring what you’ve got (including foils, wings, etc.) and we still have a few charters available so contact us.
Full photo album (@allykellyphoto): here
Next week’s Extreme Windsurfing Windsurfer LT Challenge on Lakes Bay: here
