Driving to the lake I was intimidated by the severe T-storm warning and the huge cummulo nimbus cloud towering over the lake. By the time we arrived at the dock their was a thick, nasty, lightning filled mass to our south and east. It missed us.

Ben and Deb arrived shortly thereafter and reported torrential rainfall on Clinton 10 just a few miles away. However, the sky to the west was clear, the wind decreased from 15 to 5kts. We launched.

Suzy Q and Blown Away were the only boats out and managed 5 races before a glorious orange sunset. Suzy-Q won all 5 starts but there was still some close roundings of the windward mark and the finish.

Before leaving Champaign, I checked the local radar(http://www.accuweather.com/us/radar/sir/il_/radar.asp) and saw the T-storm moving toward Clinton Lake with nothing behind it. Last week was a similiar situation but the storm arrived and we had to head back to the dock and tie up(even so, we still got some sailing in both before and after the storm). The Wednesday before that looked equally dire; Severe T-storm warning, red blob on the radar headed for Clinton Lake and nothing behind it. On the drive out that night, we drove through a downpour of biblical proportions and then it cleared up and gave us another night on the lake to ourselves.

While I absolutely do not advocate sailing in a T-storm or taking such lightly, I do reccomend to check the radar and see what is behind it and consider waiting it out. It has paid off a few times now.