Cruising Lake Harriet - A Sailing Resource

Many long time Lake Harriet sailors know that I had a boat burned and destroyed by vandals almost 3 years ago. You can read the post about the crime HERE Minneapolis police never gave up on the case, and now it seems that their determination may result in the case being solved. This week I received a letter in the mail saying someone had been charged. I have to say that I am very happy to see this move to a possible resolution. The destruction of two sailboats and the damage of another rattled the twin cities sailing community. More tellingly, many people including non-sailors, looked upon the sailboats on the chain of lakes as a community asset. The vandalism was taken as an affront to the community as a whole. Holding the responsible parties accountable for their actions will go a long way toward healing this wound. I'll update more here as it develops.

Many people I see ask the blog, lack of activity, and about the new boat I have mentioned. Here's the story. Last fall we started plans to bring Jackdaw to the Wayzata Yacht Club on Lake Minnetonka. Kept in a slip there, we would race her in the twice-weekly races. And that was the plan. Until BlueJ crossed our transom again. BlueJ is a very rare 1996 Beneteau First 260; in fact she is the only example in the USA. The bigger boat with inboard diesel would be great on Lake Minnetonka, and I have done all the updates to Jackdaw that I could think of. We had looked at her once before while looking into the boat that would become Kestrel. The timing seemed too good to be true. 26 feet long and all waterline, she looks like a mini Volvo Ocean Race boat. I think she the best looking sailboat under 30 feet. She has her own blog as well, HERE . Here Pia and I race a few Sundays ago. The blue hull and dual rudders make her really stand out. Designed by renowned designer Jean-Marie

I'd like to wish everyone a very happy holiday season. With the lakes frozen, sometimes its hard to remember the feel of a warm breeze on your cheek. So here is a short video to keep your sailing spirits up. See you all in the spring!

Jackdaw, a beautiful example of the Beneteau First 235 family, has been sold. This boat is one of the best known First 235s in the country. Up to date and full of well thought out modifications that have improved her sailing and livability. Take a look at the extensive list of modifications, and review the pictures and videos in detail. Details can be found by clicking  HERE

Maybe it's just me, but it seems there are a LOT more people free-swimming across the lakes. I'm sure it is people training for the triathlons, and I didn't give it much thought until last night, when we almost ran over one. We were reaching at about 5 knots, sitting on the low side to induce some heel when we quickly slipped by a swimmer. We didn't see him, and he didn't hear us. I don't know who was more surprised, but I DO know who was in more danger. There was over 20 boats on the lake last evening. Under these conditions, swimming in the open water is just dangerous. I knew the MPRB was thinking about setting up open swim areas, but was pretty sure they had not done so. I called them, and they confirmed that open swimming was illegal, and pointed me to THIS page on their site. In addition, that told me I should call 911 to report swimmers. I'm not sure that I'll do that, but I would really hate to hit one, or even come close. I don't know

Wow, it's mid-August already. The blistering hot days are being replaced by cool mornings and the sun setting before 8PM. And I have not posted since launch day. Sorry about that, lots of stuff (sailing) going on, and my job has me on the road quite a bit. Still, it has been a great summer. I've got a bunch of topics I'm going to catch up on over the next week or so, so get ready. Talking up Spinnakers. To start up off, lets talk about spinnakers. When ever I mention to people that we fly one on Lake Harriet, I normally get the 'are you crazy' look. Well that's another topic but the real point is you can have lots of fun with spinnakers on small lakes if you plan ahead. Use a snuffer . A snuffer (or sock) is key to use on small lakes. With it, you can get the sail up fast, and down faster. This is important because you only have a mile or so to work with, and if you take too long setting, it's time for it to come down right away. It's also much saf