Another Lakefest is in the history books!!

2011 marked the Silver Anniversary of the Texoma Lakefest Regatta, and with it another challenging set of races with a wide variety of wind conditions.

Friday April 15, saw sustained 37 mph winds, gusting to 47 out of the west.  Too much of a good thing!  We managed to take the signal boat and all the chase boats out, but we were never able to get the signal boat anchored and have enough room behind us (lee shore) to have a starting box.  So, no racing on Friday.  But, we made up for it with an awesome happy hour at the clubhouse and a great party at The Point.

Saturday started out with 15 knot winds, out of the West-Northwest.  As the winds died, they clocked to the Northest...  about a 100 degree change in three hours.  We managed to get in one good race, followed by another that ended in very light conditions.  While waiting to see if we'd get any wind building, we saw a 180 degree shift to the southwest, but it did not sustain any raceable winds.

Saturday also saw the first start of the Lakefest Flotilla.  Nine boats registered for the flotilla and in all cases, these were boats that would not have raced in the buoy race, if the flotilla was not available.  These folks had a blast, and it's assured that The Flotilla will be a fixture in future Lakefests.

After the racing, everyone made for happy hour and then the party at The Pavilion, with a good time had by all.

Sunday we finally saw good racing wind, starting at 18 knots and building to the mid-20's by the time we ended for the day.  We managed to get in three races and ended the regatta on a high note.  We handed out some great looking silver trophies and all was done with this chapter of Lakefest history.

So, Heavy air, Moderate air and Light air racing.  It was quite a challenge for racers and race committee alike.  But, most importantly, we did well on our fund raising for Make A Wish.  Checks are still coming in (as well as bills) and we will know the final tally in a couple of weeks.

There are many people to thank and you can see their names in the "rolling credits" that we have posted on the TexomaLakefest.com website.

We are in the process of planning Lakefest 2012 now and will have our first planning meeting on the morning of May 14th at the TSC clubhouse.  Let me know if you'd like to join us.

Capt. Dave