I'm graduating college everybody and I have 3 weeks off before I start working to death. Lake Michigan is still too cold to really enjoy it, so I was thinking about taking a trip south to any nice lakes. I live right near the southern tip of lake michigan, but Kentucky Tennessee Ohio southern illinois is where I was thinking about traveling to. Does any one know of any nice lake in these areas. Camping isn't a must but it would certainly be nice. What do you guys think?

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Nacra 6.0 NA
Ogden Dunes, IN
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Travel to Clinton Lake Lawrence KS! May 31-June 1 is our first regatta of the season.. The Frayed Knot which is to serve as the Div 7 Championships happens Sept 6-7th (IIRC)

Camping is free at both events..

www.fleet297.org


I'll admit the lake really isn't anything all that special.. But Lawrence is a cool town.. And our hobie Fleet gets having fun done!

Zach sails down at Eagle Creek Res (NW Indy) a lot. You should check in with him. There's also the ALCA group over by Kalamazoo on Austin Lake. They sail nearly every weekend - you can find their group on Facebook.

I'm partial to Clear Lake over in NE Indiana. Launch area is a concrete ramp on the SE corner, a little challenging for launching, but the lake is nice. You can pit stop on the beach 100yds north of the launch or head over to the island. Wawasee and Maxinkuckee are other big open lakes in the northern half of IN, but don't know about launch sites.

I'd pick the biggest ones you can find, otherwise you run out of lake too quick. Be ready for very puffy, inconsistent wind.

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Jeff R
'88 H18 "Jolly Mon"
'10 C2 USA1193
NE IN / SE MI
cramsailing.com
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Oh -one more thing - I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't recommend you consider Lake St. Clair. We (CRAM) have a regatta there the weekend after Mother's day sailing out of Crescent Sail Yacht Club. Lake warms up much more quickly than the big lakes. Its already about 50° now. Not bathwater, but considering it was still frozen a month ago, that's pretty good.

If a regatta is not your thing, there's public access up at Metro Beach (Lake Saint Clair Metropark). Tons of kite boarders up there too.

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Jeff R
'88 H18 "Jolly Mon"
'10 C2 USA1193
NE IN / SE MI
cramsailing.com
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Try Lake Carlyle IL near 1 1/2 hours east of St. Louis. I raced in their Whale of a Sail Ragatta years ago and it was great, nice yacht club. Wichita KS has Lake Cheney which is a great Sailing Club and the 2nd windiest place in the US, or so I read.

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David
Hobie 14 (Tsunami)
Valdosta, GA
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Stop be Eagle Creek, It's not the best lake in the mid-west for but my boat is there. What it is great for is sailing in a urban setting. If you come during the week you can fly by the people stuck in traffic on the 56 street causeway. Or swing by the tiki bar on hobie beach for good company and a cool beverage if we are there. Indy's a pretty cool city if you have never been.

Thanks for the responses guys! I would love to do a regatta. I've only done one before but I loved it. KS is too far though. Lake Max is probably Indiana's greatest lake. I've sailed it before. Thats a deep lake its probably pretty cold still. My parents have a house on Koontz lake about 30 min from there. Its really too small for a hobie cat. It was up to 58 degrees last weekend though!

Rehmbo I've been meaning to get to one of those CRAM regattas. Let me do some googling on the lakes you've listed. Tiki bar sounds fun!

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Nacra 6.0 NA
Ogden Dunes, IN
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Kevin, I've been meaning to reply to you. I'm a college kid too. I have my 16 out at Eagle Creek in Indianapolis. You are more than welcome to come join us. The public launch ramp is terrible but I can let you in the gate at Hobie Beach and you can use the sandy beach where we sail from.

Yes, come sail with us at CRAM regattas! I'm planning on attending both Caseville regattas, probably NCYC Race for Hope, and then probably quite a bit more later in the summer. It sounds like there will be a handful of racing newbies (including me) there. I expect a good time and to learn a lot.

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-Zach
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kdj, I'm sure we met last summer. I bought a spot at Eagle Creek late summer after I returned from my internship in Florida. This summer I'll be in Indy full time.

I've been kicking around the idea of trying to get the fleet back together too. I don't know all of the history or why the fleet died but I'm willing to put some effort into starting it back up if people are interested. I created a facebook group for us to gather. Please join and send the link on to any friends who have boats out there too. See you out there!https://www.facebook.com/…ps/EagleCreekHobieFleet/

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-Zach
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I think I'm sold on Eagle Creek! Is this the kind of place I could leave my boat on the beach for a few days? I have friends in Indy I might be able to stay with. I just joined the facebook page.

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Nacra 6.0 NA
Ogden Dunes, IN
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