CRAM’s 2020 Manistee event went from a sailing regatta where you camp with friends to a camping weekend with some great sailing friends. In short, all racing was cancelled due to scattered storms in the area and waves large enough for a small craft advisory. However, in typical CRAM fashion, COVID and weather didn’t keep us from making some great memories.
Manistee 2020 saw our largest number of registered boats at the venue in the four years that we’ve visited this great location. A protected launch area makes leaving the beach a breeze in almost all conditions. The hill to get to the protected launch area is easily conquered by teams of people who are always eager to help one another. The clear blue water, the magnificent views, and the great support from the local community significantly contribute to the growing popularity of this event. And since it is CRAM’s only scheduled event on Lake Michigan for the season, it was a must attend for many sailors. We saw a VERY strong Hobie 16 fleet which made up a majority of the boats at 14. We also had seven F18’s and one A-Class catamaran (mine) for a total of 22 boats.
Although racing on Saturday was cancelled, the breeze and waves laid down enough at about 5:00 PM for a few of us to get out and sail. Quite a few sailors enjoyed a relatively short but very thrilling sail that afternoon. All sailors kept the pointy side up in sporty conditions, which was great to see.
For dinner you saw many small groups coming together for various cookouts with a lot of cross contamination between parties. It was great to have such a large outdoor space which allowed us to social distance as necessary. More good times were had, laughs shared, stronger relationships built, and memories created.
Sunday was quite a bit of standing around in the rain and thunder followed by racing... Racing to see who could get their boat on the trailer and out of town before the sun came out (opposite of the forecast) and we started to wish that we were sailing instead of heading home to go back to work on Monday.
This last weekend was a great example to many of us that even though sailing is what brings us together, there is a lot more that keeps us together than sailing. As Vice Commodore, and on behalf of our Commodore (Alex Hart), we thank everyone for your support over the weekend and this season entirely. It has been great to see strong numbers at regattas and seeing the comradery carry on through times of uncertainly. Sail on, family over everything!
- Cesar Santana
Photo credit: Bradley Davis
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