More photos over on the CGRA Facebook Page
While a few west coast 505ers were trying their luck in the UK, nine hearty teams ventured to the Gorge and were rewarded handsomely with great times and three days of excellent and varied sailing. This was also the I-14 North Americans (18 boats), and RS Aero NA’s (22 boats). There is some renewed 505 interest in the northwest and great to see some fresh faces and a lot of excitement for 505 racing. The NW guys are looking forward to hosting the NA’s in Bellingham, WA next year and it should be a great event.
As a Gorge virgin I was eager to finally get to this famous sailing venue I had heard so much about. I heard more than once “what you’ve never been here before?” Yes life got in the way. The 505s sailed here for the 2008 North Americans and were back again in 2013 and 2014. I was fortunate to team up with Blaine Pedlow when his regular driver had a late conflict. The fly-in, fly-out program was perfect for me. Blaine recently acquired a VanMunster from Pegasus and this was a weekend of firsts - first time for Blaine racing this boat, brand new Alto mast and two guys that have never met. But it worked out exceedingly well. Both of us had similar temperaments, had fun and sailed well together. Ryan Nelson (505 sailor from SF) and owner of Rogue Rigging drove our boats, made daily breakfast for us on his camp stove and did a beautiful job rigging Blaine’s new Alto mast. Ryan styled us pretty good.
Fortunately Blaine has numerous Gorge trips under his belt and knew the ropes. After some wrangling with the camp host, we camped on-site in the overflow area, along with about half of the 505 fleet. Fortunately for us, the Thunder Island Brewery is located literally 50 yards from our tents. It became the de facto hang-out for 505 teams. The beer, food and views are excellent and it was sure convenient to walk back to tent city.
I guess if there is one certainty about the Gorge is that it’s never certain. Each day and each race saw different weather and different optimal tracks. I never spent so much time looking backwards for the next puff. The biggest gains (and loses) were had downwind in staying in pressure and executing fast gybes. The puffs didn’t seem to last long so there was no guaranteed best track. Mike and Adam seemed to manage these conditions best. The pack was usually pretty tight at the weather mark, but even if Mike and Adam got back a few places they could put a hundred yards or more on the fleet by the leeward mark. By the second lap they were never challenged. The rest of us had really excellent tight racing all the way through with frequent position changes.
Friday sailing conditions were the best of the weekend with sun and wind all day. While it looked like it could hit 30 it seemed to top out around 22 and most teams raked to 0. In race 1, Mike and Adam jumped into an early lead followed closely by Mats Elf and Eric. Blaine and I chased hard but Mats and Eric didn’t give an inch. Mats has been sailing 505s regularly in the Seattle area. He teamed up with Eric who is a student at Yale, working a summer internship in Seattle and hopes to land a job in the bay area and continue west coast 505 sailing. Eric and Mats had some insane speed and were always pushing.
Race 2 and 3 saw more of the same set-up but with building breeze to 18-20. Class veterans Aaron Ross and Rob Waterman showed some serious wheels and were challenging at the top for a while. The fastest movers downwind seemed to be Katherine Long and Pat Diola who sailed a little underweight but made it work. Katherine has a newer Rondar that is beautifully rigged. By this time Dave Chatham and Ben Glass made it out and pushed hard for races 3 and 4. It was a Van Munster smack-down with Blaine, Mats and Dave all racing VM’s. I haven’t seen this many VM’s in one place in a long time. The I-14s were on the same track and we had to keep our eyes peeled as they had quite a few turtles splattered around the race course. Friday night we had great 70 degree weather and sat out until 10pm at the Brewery feeling very fortunate for a great day of racing at such an awesome venue – with great beer.
Saturday (races 5-8) was a complete opposite of Friday with misty rain all day but the wind came up so we had 4 great races. Race 8 was probably the windiest of the weekend hitting 25knts or so. By day 2 our fleet grew in numbers as a couple additional Seattle teams showed including Erik Coburn and Gabe Hill (sailor from Western Washington University) sailing Aaron Ross’ older Hamlin and Colin Dunphy and Alex Simanis (Alex owns Ballard Sails which were used by Colin and Mats) sailing Blaine’s older restored Hamlin. Race 5 was one of only two races where we tank-ran downwind. While most of us hugged the shoreline for current relief, Colin and Alex showed the way sailing the rhumbline for pressure and jumped from 4th to 1st and looked to be untouchable. Also looking strong on day two was Lee Laney and Josh Dyck from Bellingham who finished 3 and 2 in races 5 and 6. Josh is an avid kite-boarder and has only been sailing 505s for 5 months but you wouldn’t know it by how well they sailed. Pretty cool. Saturday evening it was back to the brewery, then over to the camp area where CGRA laid out a great catered dinner. The I-14s kept us entertained taking cracks at a beaver piñata. You can imagine the jokes.
Sunday (races 9-11) was the trickiest day. The wind shifts seemed larger and bigger lulls in between gusts. The clouds hung low and threatened rain all day. Downwind was especially challenging. After race 9 the wind completely died, shifted to the north then back to the normal direction and built again to 12-18 for two more great races. Mats and Eric put together a solid day to narrow the gap on me and Blaine. Aaron and Rob picked some great puffs and moved from 6th to 1st on just one downwind leg. Katherine and Pat were consistently very quick and strung together some great races especially races 10 and 11 finishing 2, 4. Eric and Gabe also strung together a fine day and once in front were impossible to pass.
All in all a great trip. As we spoke more about it, sounds like this needs to remain an annual 505 fixture.
Full Results:
|
Pos
|
Sail
|
Skipper
|
Crew
|
|
8
|
10
|
|
Total
|
|||||||||
|
1
|
9106
|
Mike
Martin
|
Adam
Lowry
|
|
[1]
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
|
10
|
|
2
|
8782
|
Kevin
Taugher
|
Blaine
Pedlow
|
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
2
|
[6]
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
6
|
2
|
|
28
|
|
3
|
8823
|
Mats
Elf
|
Eric
|
|
2
|
3
|
5
|
[DNS]
|
6
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
2
|
3
|
3
|
|
35
|
|
4
|
8084
|
Aaron
Ross
|
Rob
Waterman
|
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
5
|
7
|
[9]
|
5
|
5
|
6
|
4
|
7
|
|
51
|
|
5
|
8824
|
David
Chatham
|
Ben
Glass
|
|
[DNS]
|
DNS
|
3
|
2
|
5
|
3
|
4
|
3
|
5
|
RET
|
RET
|
|
55
|
|
6
|
9116
|
Katherine
Long
|
Pat
Diola
|
|
5
|
5
|
6
|
[DNS]
|
8
|
5
|
6
|
8
|
7
|
2
|
4
|
|
56
|
|
7
|
8616
|
Lee
Laney
|
Josh
Dyck
|
|
[DNS]
|
DNS
|
7
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
DNF
|
6
|
9
|
7
|
5
|
|
63
|
|
8
|
7156
|
Erik
Coburn
|
Gabe
Hill
|
|
[DNS]
|
DNS
|
DNS
|
DNS
|
9
|
8
|
7
|
7
|
3
|
5
|
6
|
|
75
|
|
9
|
7153
|
Colin
Dunphy
|
Alex
Simanis
|
|
[DNS]
|
DNS
|
DNS
|
DNS
|
4
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
8
|
8
|
8
|
|
82
|
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