Thanks to Sean Hendrickson for this report: The U GOTTA Regatta/Great Lakes Championship took place October 6-8 at Wayzata Yacht Club in Minnesota. Saturday morning started out as most fall days in Minnesota—grey, overcast and drizzly with light winds from the east around 6-7, but enough to race. Eventually the sun broke out, and breeze increased to 10-12. Five great races were sailed with W/L courses. Of course, Lake Minnetonka offered up some very shifty conditions with the breeze going from the south to the north as the day moved along. It was a battle to race to your side of the course and work the small shifts getting there. Oz had a tremendous day with four bullets and a third. Bill Allen and team sure knew where to hit the shifts and always has great speed. Saturday night’s Bernie Famous Shrimp Boil was phenomenal as he poured 80 gallons of New Orleans style shrimp boil across outstretched picnic tables as people elbowed for room. The Whistling Dixie’s played their Zydeco music until late in the night. The bonfire made the evening wonderful with the famous E Scow Bar in full effect. Sunday brought very light air again, however it was a perfect Minnesota fall day…not a cloud in the sky, the leaves changing color on the shores and big shifts! Teams waited about 1/2 hour between races waiting for the predicted Northerly to come in. Race 7 was sailed in less the ideal conditions, but race 7 was needed to get a throw out. Ultimately after starting in decent conditions, Lake Minnetonka delivered a 90 degree shift after the first downwind. If you were lucky to be on the right side of the course as the Northerly came in, you crushed the pack. Bill Allen once again showed why he is the master of the J/24 and Lake Minnetonka, with an impressive five bullets over the weekend. The fact that Bill is a recent Grandpa, sailing this regatta with his daughter Amanda, boat owner Rolf Turnquist and long-time rock star crew Nick Anderson showed speed and smarts all weekend with his Granddaughter in tow! For complete results, visit http://www.wyc.org/Racing/Results/RaceSeries.aspx.