Contributed by coach Burke Thomas
Eight members of the Orcas High School sailing team road-tripped to the Columbia River Gorge last week in search of blustery winds to bolster their sailing skills.
The students participated in a full week of sail training, including three clinic days and two days of racing. The three day “Wind Clinic” lives up to its name every year, with winds this year gusting up to 25 mph in the afternoons. At that wind speed, little steering and kinetic mistakes are amplified and the laser sailboats capsize abruptly, spilling their riders into the water. The good news is with air temperatures hovering close to eighty degrees, the sailors were never cold. By the end of the clinic the sailors were all controlling their boats in the strong winds and ready to race.
Friday was designated a practice day after the Wind Clinic and before the weekend Columbia Gorge One-Design (CGOD) regatta. A small group of sailors, including islanders Jake White and Taylor Smith, opted for the ultimate extreme practice known as the Gorge Blowout, a 24 mile sail upriver from Cascade Locks to Hood River.
This trip tests a sailor’s skill for downwind sailing like no other I have seen, with extreme puffs of wind, current, and in sections of the river, large standing waves. Two weeks prior to our attempt at the blowout, 30 very experienced laser sailors did not finish the course and were pulled off the river halfway, due to winds in excess of 40 mph, with sailors experiencing multiple capsizes and gear failures. For White and Smith’s trip, wind gusts peaked close to 30 knots, and five of the 15 in the group were not able to finish. White and Smith finished the blowout still going strong and will be in a group of less than a hundred lasers sailors to complete the trip for 2010.
The CGOD regatta on Saturday and Sunday saw winds ranging from 10 mph to the low twenties. Nine races were completed in the 24 boat laser radial class, with the top four boats battling it out each race. Teddy Weaver just beat out Karl Haelsig, with White taking third. Five other Orcas sailors all completed the nine race regatta in the radial fleet. Smith participated in the laser full rig class sailing against the adults, placing 7th overall, and was first of the youths. Rhys Thompson placed 8th in the Laser 4.7 class.
For complete results go to http://www.cgra.org/Results/2010%20Results/2010%20CGOD%20Results.html.
White, Connor O’Neil and Lee Gibbons travel to San Deigo for the Sears Regatta next weekend to compete for junior sailing’s triple-handed national championships.
Northwest Junior Olympics will be the next regatta for the team, hosted by SYC at Shilshole on August 21 and 21.
