I write to not only the CRAM membership, but to the greater catamaran sailing community. It’s hard to believe we have closed the books on the 2024 season, but, as many of you know, significant planning has already been underway for what comes next. 2025 represents a monumental year for the Catamaran Racing Association of Michigan as we celebrate 60 years of incredible sailing, and it is my distinct privilege to serve as CRAM Commodore in this anniversary year. 2025 has additional personal significance for me as it is my own 10th anniversary in catamaran racing and being a CRAM member. In 2015 I showed up to Caseville with my Hobie 16 and no expectations of having a Hobie fleet to race with. CRAM was dominated by formula boats at the time. As fortunate had it the Schwark family showed up with 3 Hobies of their own and thus began the Hobie resurgence in CRAM that is still alive and strong today. My de-facto Hobie 16 Fleet captain title eventually became official until I moved to the Formula 18 class, and in that time I’ve also held the Communications, Marketing, and Vice Commodore positions. Obvious to anyone who knows me, I am deeply passionate about CRAM and this sport. CRAM’s success is my own personal success, which makes it all the more significant to me that I get to lead this incredible organization through such a milestone year. For those of you beyond the normal reach of CRAM I invite you all to join us for a very special year of racing.
While traditionally the first communication from my predecessors has come closer to the beginning of race season, I want to share the excitement I have, for what is to come, with all of you:
2025 Tentative Schedule
May 3/4 - Grand Lake
Last year we made our first trip “South of the border” to Grand Lake St. Marys State Park in Northwest Ohio, and it was an instant success! The beautiful campground on a large open lake was the perfect option for us to start a little earlier where it’s a little warmer. Add on the incredible support we received from the St. Marys Boat Club and there was really no question on whether we were coming back. For this iteration we are working with the Formula Wave Class to classify it as a tier 3 regional event on their schedule. We know there is growing interest in the class within CRAM territory, and we hope to build relations with the Formula Wave class. HCANA Division 10 is also designating this as Hobie Points event. Hospitality for the event will be a dinner catered by the boat club which is next door to the campground. Campground reservations are currently open.
May 17/18 - Higgins Lake
A perennial classic at South Higgins Lake State Park that will again feature the CRAM Chili Cookoff as I know all of you expect. Campground reservations are currently open.
May 31 / June 1 – North Cape YC
North Cape brings us to Lake Erie for racing and the great hospitality of the yacht club. Many of our members own Hobie 14s so each year we pick a regatta for them to all bring their boats out to. The CRAM H14 event has grown a lot since we started this a few years ago. We invite nearby Hobie Fleet 58 all other Hobie 14 sailors to join us here as you get ready for Hobie 14 NACs in Burlington, Ontario and expect our own bid from NCYC in 2027.
June 20/21/22 – Caseville
Caseville… The Summer Solstice Regatta… The Big One!
Last year as Vice Commodore it was my goal to make the 2024 Caseville regattas as big as I could. Not just to make that year big, but to lay the groundwork to make our 60th anniversary party even bigger. We have a number of things in the works, but from a racing standpoint this event will be the Formula 18 Northern Championship (an event we rotate with CRAW), as well as being our other Hobie Points regattas as deemed by HCANA Division 10. My goal for this event is 60+ boats and I think it’s a very real possibility. Camping fills up fast after it opens to the general public on December 1st so, please reach out to me or others in CRAM immediately for the early access link to reserve a site now.
July 19/20 – Muskegon
While Muskegon Lake had its perks it wasn’t ideal as a long-term West Michigan staple on our schedule. Working with the city we’re going back to our roots of sailing out of Pere Marquette Park for the first time since 2019. That’s right! We’re going back to sailing on Lake Michigan! The camping and staging areas will be a little different than past iterations, but in many ways, I believe it will be even better than it was before.
August 8/9/10 – St. Martins Bay
2025 marks our 5th trip north of the bridge and for every trip I’ve made SMB has delivered. This unique location of protected water in a region known for good winds has made for an excellent sailing venue set in some incredible scenery. 3 days of racing and traditionally good participation from our friends in CRAW always makes this a memorable adventure to what feels like the edge of the world. Campground reservations are currently open.
August 23/24 – Manistee
Manistee marks our second trip to Lake Michigan next season. To quote a former CRAM commodore John Nekus: “This is an awesome awesome venue! Where else can you have the beach right there, and the lighthouse, camping right there, and RVs right here.” Manistee is a beautiful little town that’s very worth exploring.
September 13/14 – Tawas
It’s back! After a year of upgrades to the state park the campground is back open! In the last 10 years I’ve seen this location change more than any other. The high waters of recent history completely removed the beach we used to sail from and have given us a new one on what used to be the edge of an inland pond. We’ve gone from questioning whether we can keep this venue to having a better launch than ever. As is tradition with Tawas expect a distance race through Tawas Bay on Saturday so bring your GPS or compass units.
September 27/28 – Grand Traverse YC
I’m really excited about this one, and I want to thank CRAM Rear Commodore and GTYC member James Hulderman for proposing this. I view sailing on West Bay as a real way to revitalize interest in sailing in this region of the mitten as we’ve seen subsiding interest in Boyne. I can’t think of a better time of the year to go here either. Sailing on the bay should give us all the wind with fairly tame waters, and who knows, maybe a potential venue for a big event in the future. This should be a great way to close out the 2025 race season! Admittedly this venue has the most work we need to do to make it happen over the off season, but we feel we have the right interest from the yacht club and city to move forward on it. Unfortunately, like Tawas was last year, Traverse City State Park, the closest campground to sailing, will be closed for renovations next year, but there are many other camping options in the area including private campgrounds and Interlochen State Park. Alternatively, given the location and time of year, I anticipate many may go for AirBnB or similar options. Stay tuned for details, our intent is to have things finalized by the spring officers meeting.
Officially this schedule is only tentative, but that has different meanings for different events. The campground venues that are already booking are in safe territory. As we navigate all the necessary paperwork for all the different venues, we work towards dropping “Tentative” at the spring officers meeting. Assuming nothing comes up to force a change there would be no reason to move anything around in the schedule. Through the offseason follow the CRAM website and Facebook page for updates. Don’t delay on booking Caseville, St Martins Bay, Higgins, and Tawas! Don’t let early May sneak up on you as we noticed with some on our first trip to Grand Lake! For event information the CRAM NOR pages on the website have been updated to reflect the 2025 dates and details for returning venues. If you have any questions, please reach out.
Lastly, I want to thank my fellow officers and the other volunteers of CRAM. I have always thought CRAM to be ambitions in its very nature. We are significantly self-supported, and I think we do a really good job of it. Other clubs in other sports may focus on one venue or around one city, but I have always compared the CRAM season to threading 9 needles in a single shot. This could not happen without the dedication of those behind the scenes.
Fair winds and sail fast my friends,
James Derck
CRAM Commodore
2022 is going to be a great year! We have eight fantastic events planned this year beginning with Higgins Lake in May followed by events at beautiful venues on Lake Erie, Lake Michigan, Lake Charlevoix and Lake Huron concluding with Tawas Bay in September.
2021 CRAM Sailing Season Commodore Kick-off Letter
Written by Cesar Santana
CRAM Sailors,
It’s that time again! 2020 was another great season for CRAM. Even with the extra COVID-19 precautions that we had to follow last year. It was great to gather with friends (in distance). Getting out on the water and trying to put as much distance as possible between us and our competition was a nice escape from everything else going on back on land. I want to start the 2021 season by thanking all of those involved in making the 2020 season one for the books.In a good way!
The 2020 season, CRAM’s 55th summer of catamaran racing, drew to an end at Caseville over the weekend. A beautiful, warm fall weekend greeted us with perfect set-up conditions on Friday night followed by the classic fireside chat back at the campground.
Bob, Bill Kast, Warren Mitchell, and myself joined John Harper and Cesar Santana up in the thumb of Michigan for a great weekend of racing and good times. This event was a little smaller than usual, but still had 30+ cats of all kinds launching off a beautiful beach to race in a variety of conditions. The Hobie group up there is a little more laid back, with single-handed 16s, non-comptips, and even a Getaway and a Prindle 16 racing along with the A cats and the spinnaker boats. I think this is working for them; lots of young people, husband and wife teams, and a few kids as well.
To fill the now-empty time slot, the CRAM officers are working on hosting a regatta in Port Sanilac, Michigan. More details will come at a later date, please keep checking the schedule for changes to NORs. There will not be a social event for this regatta.
Stay safe,
Alex
From the South Higgins Lake Campground manager, all campsite reservation fees will be fully refunded.
As of today, CRAM’s first regatta will be held at North Cape Yacht Club in LaSalle, MI on June 6th and 7th.
I hope this update finds each and every one of you healthy and making the most of current situation. It is almost inevitable that the COVID-19 virus has affected someone we know, however that may be. Please know that your CRAM officers are working towards providing some sort of glimmer of light at the end of this long tunnel.
As of Monday, April 20th, CRAM is keeping the schedule as posted with the exception that the social events for the Higgins Lake and North Cape regattas are cancelled. This is the only update at this time; any regatta may still be affected as we continue to monitor the situation. We believe that we can still promote the sport of sailing and while acting safely and responsibly in these unprecedented times.
In case we need to cancel a regatta, a notice will be made at least one week prior to the event. You are still encouraged to pre-register and to please not worry about registration fees, as those will be fully refunded.
Take care,
Alex
Both Hannah and I are new to sailing. I started as crew on a monohull in 2016, and Hannah joined as crew in 2018. We both really enjoy it and our friends pointed us to CRAM as a place to improve our sailing skills, and have a more exhilarating experience.
Dear CRAM Members,
The 2019 CRAM sailing season starts this weekend at Higgins Lake, MI! I hope everyone will join us this weekend for our season opening regatta. Let the 2019 CRAM Season of fun begin!
At the Spring Officers meeting CRAM Officers agreed on three organizational goals that we’d like all members to collectively focus on during 2019.
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Welcome to the 2019 CRAM sailing season!
New members and returning members alike, I want to sincerely welcome you to our 2019 CRAM Season. First off, I’d like to thank Uli Gollwitzer for his leadership, enthusiasm and commitment to CRAM as Commodore the past two seasons. Additionally, I’d like to thank each CRAM officer and member who has worked hard over the years to make our organization the success it is today. Your commitment to CRAM, to our members and to catamaran sailing is inspiring and truly appreciated.
CRAM racers,
Welcome to the sailing season 2018! Some of our members have already been sailing, be it in Florida, or - the more crazy amongst us, here in really cold water in Michigan! Our first regatta at Crescent Sail Yacht Club is less than two weeks away. I hope to see many of you at the Kickoff in the “D”.
It is true, we are less than two weeks away from our first CRAM regatta! Some of us couldn’t wait and were able to train or race in Florida before. Let’s hope the mild weather continues and we’ll all have a nice weekend to “Kickoff in the D” at CSYC May 13th/14th. You can register here.
With 9 CRAM regattas we have a packed season ahead (Details here), including two new venues: Manistee and Boyne City!
