This turned out to be the greatest kiteboarding event to ever hit the Great Lakes. We placed 30 top local kiteboarders and all their gear on a 40 foot pontoon boat and took them out to the St.Clair flats, 2 miles offshore of Mitchell's Bay, in the middle of Lake St.Clair to do battle with 15-20 knots of wind. With air temps around 80F and water in the upper 70's, boardshorts were all that was needed to do battle on the water. Not only did we have food, beer and wind, we also had Ryan Riccitelli of Kiteboarder Magazine shooting away and Adam Koch taking in the killer conditions.

The day was the highlight of my kiteboarding career and everyone that was there will not forget the epic spot we discovered and the good times. Future trips are planned as this is sure to become a yearly event. The trip was basically planned the with one days notice so many local riders that I would have loved to had along were not contacted. Also this was our first trip out on the pontoon boat and did not want it to be to crowded so limited the riders to 20, even though we had 30 show up. Crowding however was not a problem and I think that we could easily accomodate 40 kiters on future outings.

I would like to thank Joe Bidawid for inviting Ryan Riccitelli, Adam Koch and the American crew of riders to experience this amazing riding spot out in the middle of Lake St.Clair. Kyle of Detroit Kiteboarding supplied the beer keeping everyone happy. Dan Cogghe deserves the biggest shout out for allowing us the use of his barge and driving us out to this super secret spot.

For the amazing video of the day put together by Joe Bidawid, check out: Memorial Day the Movie

For more pictures from the day check out : Barge Trip Pictures