Racing In The Northwest

It’s been an interesting race season so far. Most of the downwind races have been what Dave Kalama calls “good training”. In other words, a lot of work. The last race of the Portland Ross Island Races put on by Gorge Performance had to be postponed due to high water, debris and nasty current in the Willamette River. A product of the copious rain we’ve had lately. It’s four days to the official start of summer and we’ve been freezing our butts off. I’m glad Bob postponed the race, I don’t care to be run down by a root ball when I’m trying to race. That freed up last Saturday, so Rod Parmenter, Mark Ribkoff and I made the long trek to Port Angeles for the Wanda Fuca race.

This was supposed to be a high wind race, but the Straits of Juan De Fuca is a treacherous place, and this time the treachery was that there was NO wind. There was a strong tidal current, headed theoretically in the right directions: 13.5 miles along the coast to Port Angeles. But like all tidal flows it was fluky. Guessing where it was going and where it was strongest would figure large in the race. To make a long story short, it was a very tough race, basically flat water paddling for 11.5 miles and then against a brisk side wind and chop for the last two miles. I was glad to see the finish. Beau Whitehead won the race on a Bark, followed by Rod on his F18, then Rick Graves–I don’t recall what he paddled. I came fourth on my F18, followed by Mark on a Starboard Surf Race. there were about ten or so SUP racers, and a big turnout of sea kayakers, OC-1s, and surfskis.

Back to Hood River, the mighty Columbia and Big Winds first race of the season. The river current is strong right now, and the winds are moderate, so I expected an easier time of it on the first leg of the course: upwind, but downcurrent around Wells Island. I was pretty surprised when we rounded the end of the Hook to paddle face into a powerful wind and some decidedly rough swells. My F18 was a handful in those conditions and bounced all over the place. Rod Parmenter took an early lead and I slotted in behind him, paddling hard. By the time we were halfway to the island Rob had given me the slip, and both Mark Ribkoff and another guy on a Starboard race board were edging past me. We reached the island and started along it’s shore, trying to duck out of the wind and use the current. It was simply a gut-wrenching pull to the tip of the island. we rounded the tip and my F18 started doing what it does best, getting into small swells and ripping along in them. I pulled away from Mark fairly quickly, though he stayed on my heels most of the way to the event center. Rod was too far way to catch, but the guy in second looked close enough (don’t know his name, sorry). I concentrated on my stroke, watching the water, keeping the stroke clean and fast, and edging towards the land where I knew the current would be much less even though the wind would be a little lighter. I started catching the guy in second, though very slowly. As we got closer to the event center second place edged out to catch more wind and swell. I considered this a mistake and increased my cadence to take advantage. Sure enough, as we entered the boat works channel I was neck and neck. We sprinted for the turning buoy and I seemed to have a small advantage. He rounded the buoy the wrong way so he could stay in the wind shadow, but I still had him by a length or two at the finish.

I caught a little static for having an F18 at a race where only 12’6″ boards count for points. My retort was “hey, I’m 250 pounds and 63 years old. If I can’t play the fat or old cards then you can’t play the board card”. I’m sure it was an advantage in the run downwind, but it certainly wasn’t on the upwind leg. Guess I need to get a 12’6″ race board. No idea which one will handle my weight best.

Time for a comparo, methinks.

Tomorrow is the last race in the Gorge Performance Ross Island race series. It’s a neat event, been a lot more fun racing around Ross Island than I thought it was going to be. It’s a pretty tactical race since there’s so much current variation. Tomorrow will be even moreso since the current in the Willamette is still really strong. The return leg is going to be a real grind. It will be interesting to see what the times are like.

Through a bit of a fluke I seem to be the points leader for the series even though I haven’t won first overall in any race. As I recall I’ve come in third in each race, but I was first in the unlimited class and the other classes have had turnover in the winners. Just a scoring oddity, but what the heck. I’ve been on the bad side of those things before. It also helped a lot that Mark Ribkoff bonked when he was paddling his F18, and missed the start in the second race.

Coming up soon is the Gorge Blowout, and SUP racing will be part of it. It’s very cool to have Stand Up Racing added to this venerable and highly regarded event. In years past the party afterward was more physically taxing than the race. I don’t know if that’s still a tradition, but I’m hoping for the best.

Here’s the basic details:
The Columbia Gorge Blowout is a classic Windsurfing event, they’ve been ripping up the Gorge for 28 years, and this year it’s going to include Stand Up Paddlers. The blowout is a big event, with lots of great activities surrounding it. We got together with the Darren Rogers, the principal race officer for the blowout and he enthusiastically agreed to include SUP. Get this on your calendar: Gorge Blowout June 26 or 27

The full blowout runs from Stevenson to Hood River, but we’ll be doing the short course version which is Viento to Hood River.

You can preregister for both the Gorge Blowout and the Kite blowout here:
The entry fee for the Gorge Blowout is $45 which includes food and beverages.