C&C 30’s heading downwind fo the MarkSetBot gate in Bayfield, WI.

After just returning from a great weekend in Bayfield, Wisconsin I have a lot going through my head of what just happened. I felt I needed to share with the sailing world what is going on and why everyone needs to be apart of something like this. So many stories inside the weekend so I will share what I know and realize I probably forgot or never even knew every story.
Let’s start with a big thank you to Cindy and Dick Kalow and their Superior Charters sailing program. I definitely want to include their sons Bryce and Alec as well. I got to know them a little during the J/70 DIYC Tuning Regattas in Tampa last winter. I got to know them much more this past weekend. And I am sure there is much, much more. They are about everything that is right about living life and sharing what they have learned and bringing others along to learn and improve with them. They have purchased 4 C&C 30’s over the last 4 years with the goal of creating better sailors in their area. Exposing others in the Minneapolis/Bayfield sailing scene. But also making sure the sailors they know can experience the best parts of sailing a bigger boat. There is no surprise that Geoff Ewenson was involved with the start of this project. His love for sailing and people are all over this.

So let’s try to paint this picture. 4 C&C 30’s racing on Lake Superior with a mix of amateur sailors from the area and Pro Sailors brought in to coach. The boats have Quantum sails which we are now a partner with so good to get some time with some of the guys and see the whole program working as one. The Pros, Collin Kirby is the Project manager and great to work with. He brings in the teams and finds both Pros and some of the amateur sailors and of course gets the boats ready and in the water for the events. Travis Odenbach is the salesman for the sails so manages that side of things and sails when he can. Other Pros this time were Scott Nixon, Marty Kullman, Chris Stocke, Ian Coleman, Wilson Stout and Brian Porter. Alex Kalow is not just one of the family but he is also one of the Project managers and deals with the day to day operations for both the C&C 30’s and the 30+ boat Charter fleet for Superior Charters. Superior Charters is run by owner Cindy Kalow. She runs everything behind the scenes which can be a lot with a 4 boat program. Housing, food, water, schedule and all of the many things that go into these events. And she does it with out most people knowing. Dick and his son Bryce drive two of the boats. Both very hands on with helping get the boats ready to sail and with plans for each day. Their local knowledge is very helpful. Part of the fun of this program is the many amateurs on the teams. Some have lots of experience on scows and other boats and then some don’t have very much. Matt Gerdts was picked up as he owns the local brewery and wanted to see what it was all about. So Collin put him on a boat. His first time sailing was the first race day. He had a ball and dressed like a Pirate for day two. But the experience being all over the place is part of the coolness. It keeps the learning going and pushes the pros to be on their game and share their knowledge. If you have ever coached anything you will know that no two people learn a like. The evenings are not just about getting out on the town, it’s about a debrief of the day lead by Marty Kullman with his Hydra Sailing Solutions. The idea is to give the amateurs more tools to improve and allow the Pros to work on getting the boats performing better. The teams also are responsible for one of the nights meals. Cindy purchases the food but the teams have to do the cooking and clean up. Great for team building and very smart move by Cindy. One night the group was so on top of things they set us a production line to prepare the breakfast burritos for the next two days.

I was brought in as PRO from what they saw me run in Tampa during the J/70 Tuning events using the MarkSetBots. Superior Charters bought 3 MarkSetBot’s to be able to run races more efficiently but also in the best sailing area on the bay which happens to be in water from 100 foot to 400 feet deep. They have always wanted to run racing there but couldn’t pull it off without getting to close to shore. And changing a mark when the wind shifted would take forever. The big worry was cell phone coverage but we spent 4 days without any issues. Sometimes a little slow to turn on and grab a tower, but once on the water they were super smooth. And being on a lake we had to make many course adjustments to keep things square. So 3 days of racing with 1 practice day we had 6 completed races with 2 abandoned after over a lap due to breeze dying and then building again. Not bad for a late breeze the first two and an early breeze on the last day. The teams definitely had a great time. The coolest part of the weekend was the leading boat after 2 days was driven by Chicago YC sailor Leif Sigmond and his wife Laura helped me on RC, well they had to leave and miss the last day due to CYC commitments. So Cindy jumped in to drive that boat. She hadn’t driven a C&C 30 before and really hadn’t sailed a boat like that. She jumped in and had two great races finishing the last race on a comeback to take second in the race by less than a meter and then win the weekend for her team.

So if anyone wants to head up and charter a C&C 30 and join in on the fun there are many ways to do this. You can charter and have Collin set up a team for you, bring part or all of your team, or if you have a C&C 30 bring it up and join in on the fun. There are some good C&C 30’s on the market if you want to go that route too. Coming from the owner of Sail22 in the middle of a cornfield in Indiana, sailing up on Lake Superior is not to be missed. Feel free to contact me about any of this at ed@sail22.com or check us out on FB or IG.

Pirate crew gear. Maybe better at Adventure Brewing.

If You Build It - Working with MarkSetBot & C&C 30's