Photos: Star of the North Regatta on Lake Minnetonka

by Mark Puariea

Bert Foster and the crew of the boat Sesame Street took the gun, placing first in the Sonar fleet during this year’s “Star Of The North Regatta”—an amateur racing event sailed over the weekend on Lake Minnetonka.

For three days—Friday Saturday and Sunday—these intrepid racers took to the lake competing for coveted trophies. Their mission: to race eight events with the total number of recorded times for each boat, in each race, then calculated to determine the winners overall. Scoring for the races is done by following US Sailing Rules.

“Everything was great, sailing with my son Terry and winning, it just doesn’t get any better than that," Foster said after his boat Sesame Street placed first in the Sonar fleet in this year's regatta.

The Star of the North sailing regatta on Lake Minnetonka is hosted by the Wayzata Yacht Club and is now in its third year. This year's races saw good weather and fair winds.

The Star was conceived to accommodate three different boat designs, Capri 25s, Sonars and S2-79s. Each sailboat design has its own fleet, and the boats compete with boats of their same design. Each fleet has a start time, and the boats sail in upwind starts in sequence. Through skillful navigation, they race along doing what might appear to nearly strike each other in fierce competition.

The day's events on the water are followed by good friends reliving the races onshore—enjoying beautiful sunsets at the clubhouse by the water's edge.

The Wayzata Yacht Club, first founded in 1965, began with 16 Ensigns and 15 Oday day sailors. On a Thursday evening in 2012, one can look at the lake and see a hundred boats racing across the main lake of the lower part of Lake Minnetonka.

The Wayzata Yacht Club also gives back to the community.

Many members volunteer their time working with those of the Wayzata Community Sailing Center—a separate, but well deserved entity, which is a part of the lives of many of the sailors from WYC.

Wayzata Community Sailing Center officiates University of Minnesota racing, and all levels of young peoples racing, last year hosting the 2011 Midwest Junior Olympics. The center also provides day camps and sailing lessons for those young and old.

Often times Regattas such as the Star of the North are also used as vehicles to raise money for charities including the Multiple Sclerosis Society and the American Diabetes Association.

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