7th annual Kite Crossing, March 4-6

The seventh annual Mille Lacs Kite Crossing will be held the weekend of March 4-6. With many of the fastest snowkiters in the world being from our local community, the challenge continues to draw from across the country. Riders of all levels are encouraged to attend. Come out, meet riders from around the area, share the stoke, check out some new gear and learn some new moves.

We are sad to announce that we have lost our home in Garrison. After two decades of gracious hospitality, the Y-Club was sold and closed in December. We are still adjusting to the change, but we have arranged for Harbor Inn to host the welcome party on Friday night and the VFW to host the banquet Saturday evening. Harbor Inn is a quarter-mile north of the Y-Club and the VFW is a block west. We would like to once again, thank Bucky and his staff for making it so much easier staging events at a remote site. First Carlsona, and now the Y-Club, both great losses.

As always, volunteer help is appreciated. Additional snowmobiles may be needed, so if you are not ready for the challenge and/or have friends with machines, contact us. We would also appreciate help with site setup as well as terrain park development. Even if you want to participate, or have a guest that would like to contribute, contact us at Fleet-8@juno.com. Let us know of your projected arrival and your interest of contribution.

Registration You can download the Notice of Challenge in a PDF format CLICK HERE. It should provide all the necessary information. We will be accepting electronic registration by e-mail. If you have registered for a Fleet 8 event in the past two years and nothing has changed, just provide your name, category, shirt size and preferred e-mail address for receiving Updates. You can pay by Paypal with the Donate button below. It has a fixed amount of $30 until midnite Wednesday, February 23rd, then the $35 fee goes into effect. Guest banquet fees and hooded sweatshirt upcharges can be paid at the site.

The Mille Lacs Challenge, Sept 17-19

Special thanks to our Sponsors!

Last September ended the incredible, 28-year run of the Crossing. The focus switched from one BIG race to a full weekend of racing for both windsurfers and kiters. Racing provided the foundation that helped make windsurfing the fastest growing sport in the world. By 1982, over 100 metro-area windsurfers had participated in the Fleet 8 racing program, inspiring the inception of the Mille Lacs Crossing. While the Crossing soon attracted many non-racers, it’s stability always came from a racing background, but most recently from across the border. We needed to reestablish the local racing program that gave us our iconic event, the Crossing. Accordingly, we present the Mille Lacs Challenge.

Mille Lacs must always be synonymous with the word Challenge. Anyone who tests the winds and big water of Mille Lacs can relate to that word. Now we offer the chance to test and really develop skills by just trying to reach a mark before friends. Kiters and windsurfers alike, will share the waters on integrated courses, designed for those of all levels. And to keep the spirit of the Crossing present and relevant, a long-distance race is on the agenda, utilizing the double out’n’back format of the last four years.

Contact us at Fleet-8@juno.com to receive a Notice of Race in a PDF format as well as lodging info. It should provide all the necessary information. We will be accepting electronic registration by e-mail. If you have registered for a Fleet 8 event in the past two years, just provide your name, category, shirt size and preferred e-mail address for receiving Updates. You can pay by Paypal by going to the Fleet 8 web site. We have two PayPal Donate buttons, one for full participation and one for racer only or non-racer social. Guest fees can be paid at check-in time, so you only have to make one payment.

Full Participant

Race Only/Non-racer Social

Waconia Wind & Wave Review

Might be the strongest winds we have ever had for both days of the Wind & Wave. And the forecast of 20kt-plus winds probably hindered our entry-level attendance that has become the event focus. But it didn’t keep the Johnson kids from showing us all, the kind of determination and resolve that most of us needed just to first get started on a board. Kylan, 11 years old, missed the first race, but finished the next ten, eventually finishing within a minute of Larry Reed, a very established racer.

But Kale, only eight years old, wrote his own story. In most of the early races, he just worked hard to get up to the starting line. Surrounded by recreational windsurfers and kiters shooting by, he told his dad to just go race, and kept heading for his goal. Totally exhausted, after the break on Sunday, he told his dad that he might just go out and sail around near the beach. Somehow, he just showed up at the start line for the second race of the afternoon. And in the strongest winds and biggest waves of the weekend, he sailed the half-mile out’n’back workshop course with total determination. Now, more than ever, we recognize why we need to rebuild our racing program, at the very least, to provide an opportunity for any kid to experience the love for our sport that most all of us have shared.

As for the old guys, the competition was tight with seven points after 11 races separating the top three. Steve Johnson had five bullets to edge out Ray Muller and Larry Miller. Larry Reed from Iowa held off Kylan to take top spot in sport fleet, with Glenn Kramer of Worthington in third. The furthest travelled award goes to Tom Stokes who drove all the way from Michigan City, Indiana.

A Festival for Champions

Kudos to Woody!!! As part of it’s centennial celebration, Dryden was chosen to host the Canadian Masters and Woody and his team made sure it would be THE showcase event. They had daily live music, food venders, magic shows and shore-side bleachers for spectators as well as PA coverage of the racing. The Can-Am Challenge helped draw over twenty competitors from south of the border, even though most would have been there just to race and because it was Woody’s big event.

Mother Nature provided sunny skies, but just enough wind to complete seven races and a long distance race around the island over the three days. Friday, the wind came in spurts, oscillating over 90 degrees, pushing the race committee to reset marks most of the day, just to complete four races. Saturday was even weaker with only one race being completed, but with the festival atmosphere, no one seemed to mind. A truckload of windsurfing gear, donated by Neil Pryde, was given out after the banquet, just before the band started to rock the dance floor with surfer music.

Sunday brought the most consistent wind of the weekend, but not by much. Pushing 8 knots as they set up for the start of the long-distance race, it of course shifted, then faded as the start sequence wound down. Fortunately, it built again and held long enough for most to make it past the halfway point. Then pumping techniques took over. Despite the conditions, the onshore finish line provided excitement and great cheering. Two more races were completed after lunch.

The competition couldn’t have been tighter. Andy Gratton of Oshkosh, WI and Nick Cox of Ottowa, ON tied for first overall. Nick was the most consistent in the fluctuating conditions finishing in the top seven in races counted. But Andy had four firsts including the long-distance race which gave him the tie breaker and first overall. Jeff Adamski returned from his nearly two-year sabbatical from racing to help the Americans take the Can-Am Challenge and extra cash for the ride home. John Darling of Toronto was first in sport fleet.

Less than two weeks to THE CROSSING!

It is less than two weeks to The Crossing and the stoke is building. The reputation built over 28 years still reaches both coasts and at Kite Worlds last month in San Francisco, it was surprising how many knew of at least one of the Crossings and certainly interested in learning more. Of course, The Crossing two years ago set the bar for long-distance kiting and competing side-by-side with windsurfers followed by the ’08 Kite Crossing being first kiting competition to surpass 100 registrants.

Once again, we offer the category of biathlon, or windathlon. It will involve windsurfing the first lap, then kiting the second lap. It had been discussed several years ago as a possible event during the planning of an expedition to Madeline Island. It seemed only logical since the vast majority of kiters in the earlier years came out of the windsurfing community. Of course, that was a contributing factor to combining windsurfers and kiters in the redesigning of The Crossing two years ago. Registrants will designate that choice during the racers meeting.