March 2022 Papoose Article
Sailors on Lake Mohawk understand the need to be savvy about the local winds. Years ago at a party after an invitational regatta here, the winner commented in cocktail chatter that he always consulted his notebook before sailing here. His home club was Monmouth Boat Club, and he raced sailboats all over the east coast. In his book he made notes of the peculiarities of the wind patterns at different sailing venues, and Lake Mohawk certainly has some peculiarities. He wouldn’t divulge anything, of course, but after sailing here for about 40 years I think I know what he would write about our 2nd most common wind – the Nor’wester.
This wind comes up over the escarpment known as Briar Ridge on the west side of the lake, then curves over and around Manitou Island creating interesting patterns on the lake. To race in this wind, the weather mark will be set about 30 yards east of Echo Island. With a starting mark off the Marina, you want to head out west early. Watch for the wind line on the water to the east of the Island, which is where you want to tack to port (before you get stuck near shore in the wind shadow) and sail smartly up the lake to make a nice mark rounding. But… the wind scatters around Echo Island and we have often tacked multiple times within a few yards of the weather mark just to get around it. Still, this is a much better choice than heading north at the start and sailing up the east side of the lake towards the dreaded MacDonald’s Triangle off Beach 2, which is rather like the Hotel California. Alternately lifted and knocked, you can’t get out of there. But after eventually rounding the weather mark, you generally have a nice and interesting run/reach back to the Marina.
You can see from this description that the Northwest wind rushing down Briar Ridge spreads out into a ‘catspaw’ when it hits the lake, usually several puffs in succession. This happens when we have strong wind from any direction, due to the hills surrounding the lake. It’s even more interesting in winter when there is snow on the ice and you can see the impression of the wind on the snow, scattering the snowflakes in a wide-fingered pattern. Here is a sketch of what this looks like from above, from Dave Dellenbaugh’s Speed&Smarts newsletter. When you see the puff coming your way, tack early to catch the edge of it and you can ride the lift to sail closer to the mark. It’s no fun trying to go through the middle of it. There usually is a lot of tacking on the beat when the wind is from the Northwest. Those sailors down at the shore have it easy with steadier winds – no wonder they need notebooks when challenged by the winds on hilly inland lakes.
The Yacht Club is planning more sailing seminars for this Spring, so watch our website for particulars: www.LakeMohawkSailing.org We will also be offering our popular Junior and Adult sailing programs during the summer for LMCC members who want to learn more about the sport. Lake Mohawk is pretty close to ideal as a sailing venue. We don’t have to worry about the current, as sailors on the Hudson or Delaware rivers do. And we don’t have to wash the salt water off our boats after every sail, as they do at the shore. And the challenge of understanding anabatic, katabatic, thermals, inversions, etc. provides a lot of fun reading in the wintertime.
Until next month,
Smooth Sailing and God Bless America!
