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.

Ramping up for the Kiter Winterfest at Green Lake!

Kiters Winterfest at Green Lake is the weekend of January 24-25. And snow conditions look great! We will have all the extras of last year; fireworks, ice castles, wine tasting, waffle feeds, bon fires, etc. Yes, we have been invited to a festival as a guest of honor and all we have to do is show up. Kiters of all levels are invited. For those in the competitive frame of mind, we will have various competitions including a long distance enduro with a $500 purse. What, not only train for the Kite Crossing, but get paid for it? There will be a $20 registration fee for those with the competitive itch.

Once again, Melvin’s on the Lake is our host. With the popularity of the Festival, parking on land may be limited. You can access the lake by a ramp just north (left) of the Ice Castle, then drive around the snowfence to the right and park on the shoreline in front of Melvin’s. There is a Frozen 5K Run/Walk starting at 9:00 Saturday morning, so we will have an event meeting at 10:30 on the deck at Melvin’s.

We have procured a special kiter rate of $39.95 per room at the Super 8 in nearby Wilmar. The phone # is 320-235-4444. Easiest directions coming from the Cities are west on Hwy 12 to Kandiyohi and take a left on Co.Rd. 8. It will come to a ‘T’ at Green Lake and Melvin’s is less than a mile to the left. We have included a social agenda below. For more info, contact us at fleet-8@juno.com.

Social Agenda courtesy of Winterfest:

Friday, Jan. 23
All You Can Eat Fish Fry @ Westwood Cafe 4:00-8:00 pm
Melvin’s 4th annual Art Exhibit & Wine Tasting 6:00-9:00 pm

Saturday, Jan. 24
Dad’s Waffle Feed @ Melvin’s on the Lake 8:00-12 noon
Bon Fire & Buggy Rides 3:00-6:00 pm
Lighting Ceremony & Fireworks 7:00 pm
Live entertainment @ Melvin’s 9:00-1:00 am

2009 Kite Crossing March 6-8, 2009

The 2009 Kite Crossing on lake Mille Lacs will be March 6-8, 2009. A full event schedule to follow.

Mother Nature defines the Challenge for The Crossing

Anticipation was high even though forecasts were mixed as 39 windsurfers and 22 kiters gathered in Garrison for the second edition of The Crossing. Friday proved to be prophetic, forecasted as the windiest day of the weekend, yet never really developing. Saturday morning looked very promising with early readings of 15-17 kts. Two hours later, it had eased to 12-13. Still doable, the race was on. Malmo had looked good originally, but Garrison was the final choice for the start/finish.

The sun cleared the skies as support craft gathered and kiters and windsurfers rigged. Meanwhile, the wind became more unstable. Within twenty minutes of setting the upwind and start marks, a wind shift required them to be adjusted. Few kites were in the air as the windsurfers went through their starting ritual. When it came time for the kiter start, only six managed to make it across the line. It certainly wasn’t for any lack of effort as anyone who could get their kite in the air, certainly worked it to the extreme. It was reminiscent of the final round at the first Kite Freeze in ’03 when Alex, Chasta and his fellow Frenchmen amazed the crowd with their ability to just keep their kites in the air, let alone completing their freestyle maneuvers.

Four kiters that started actually made it well out onto the lake, although somewhat downwind of the required course. Bryce Johnson covered the most distance, followed closely by Roland Rioux, then Jeff Wieber and Steve Albright. Meanwhile, windsurfer Arden Anderson was finishing his first lap. With no windsurfer close behind him, winds slightly over 5 kts at the outside mark and nearly a dozen kiters in possible need of rescue, the windsurfer race was terminated after one lap. As the balance of the windsurfers crossed the finish line and headed to the beach, the support craft picked up the remaining kiters who hadn’t made it back to shore.

If the conditions of the day provided for disappointment and frustration, it wasn’t evident at the banquet that evening at the Y-Club. Equally frustrated, the race committee assured the kiters that they had a standing rain-check for Sunday to do the distance. One special event of the evening was recognition of the return of Vojta to the competitive arena after a three year hiatus to enjoy being a dad. In addition to his multiple contributions to the windsurfing program, he helped introduce kiting to the area as well as establishing Minnesota as a leader in World-class kiting events.

Unbelievably, Sunday morning was a replay of the day before. By 9:00, several kiters and a few windsurfers were already on the water enjoying the best winds of the three days. But by the racers meeting at 10:30, it had once again become marginal for the kiters. The windsurfers managed to pull off three races despite the wind shifts and fluctuating velocity. The Awards Party was moved up to accommodate those a long distance from home.

While it may have been a refresher course in how Mother Nature can play hide and seek with the wind, it also displayed the many assets gained over the years. The real success of The Crossing relies on the experience of the volunteer staff, both on the water and off, the warm hospitality of the Y-Club and the generous support of our sponsors: everGreene Jewelers, The House, Midwest Mountaineering, Extreme Action Sports, Hoigaards, Scuba Center, Slingshot and Best Kiteboarding, Lakawa and the Garrison Commercial Club.

Official windsurfing finishers, one lap, 8.3 miles were:

Unlimited Longboard
Arden Anderson Fond du Lac WI 0:46:10
Adam Anderson St. Paul MN 0:52:58
Don Altmeyer Fond du Lac WI 0:55:23

Longboard Limited
Vojta Cervenka Hanover MN 0:55:30
Josh Woodworth Dryden ONT 0:59:46
Peter Hartwich Excelsior MN 1:02:41

Formula
Rob Evans Orono MN 1:07:30
Jeff Cole Orono MN 1:07:48
Jeff Hotvet Minnetonka MN 1:07:50

Sport – Men
Ben Clemence Minneapolis MN 1:10:11
Nathan Anderson Blaine MN 1:16:42
Peter Gisvold Lake City MN 1:17:34

Sport – Women
Kelly Johnson Shoreview MN 1:10:01
Margot Woodworth Dryden ONT 1:11:43
Shannon Stratford Dryden ONT 1:29:56

Masters
Larry Miller E Gull Lake MN 0:55:23
Don Specht Bloomington MN 0:58:21
Wayne Anderson Elkhart Lake WI 1:02:08

Youngest – Finisher
Daniel Muller Thunder Bay ONT 1:26:27

Oldest – Finisher
Roger Mondale Plymouth MN 1:22:13

Crossing adds biathlon or ‘Windathlon’!

The Crossing keeps moving forward! The Crossing of 2008 seems readily prepared to maintain the epic status of it’s predecessors. With a course of 18-24 miles, it readily outdistances any other comparable events. And for a little frosting on the cake, we have added the category of biathlon, or Windathlon. It will involve windsurfing the first lap, then kiting the second lap. It had been discussed 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 a year ago. Incredibly, the concept lay dormant until Randy Johnson enlightened us once again.

We have added the Notice of Race and lodging info to our Fleet 8 web site as well as a PayPal button. Since we put the Notice of Race in a PDF to make it easier to print and mail, just provide the information in your e-mail registration. If you have registered for Fleet 8 events before, there should be no need to duplicate information that hasn’t changed, just name, category, shirt size and type, and include any guest. The PayPal button is a Donate button and has a fixed amount of $75 until midnite Tuesday, then the $120 late fee goes into effect. Guest fees will have to be paid at check-in time. You can find all this by scrolling down the page at http://fleet8.com/news/.

With over three dozen windsurfers registered, we are even or a little ahead of last year at this time. The kiters are lagging well behind. The good news is that we have 16 registered kiters that weren’t even on the invite list last year. But less than half of the elite group on the water a year ago have registered which leads us to believe that the challenge was tougher than anyone wanted to admit. Understandable when you consider that only half of the windsurfers even started and only 16 completed the two laps.

Currently, adequate lodging still remains available. We will provide up to date lodging info and a final preregistered count Wednesday.