The 29er U.S. Nationals were held on the Columbia River Gorge, a sailing venue notorious for high winds and flat water. This was the first time my brother, Ian, and I would be sailing there. When we arrived at our campsite where we would be staying for the regatta, we were dumb struck by the shear awe of the venue.
The biggest challenge that lay before us was the fact that the Gorge is a river, which meant that water was always going to be pushing you somewhere and that it can completely change the way that you have to think about racing. Luckily for us, we had two days of training beforehand to get used to the current and when the first day of racing came we were feeling confident in the skills and knowledge that we had.
The first day of racing began in a steady 18 to 20 knots of wind. Even though this wind is extremely rare in San Diego, Ian and I were able to keep the boat moving quickly to take a 1, 2, 5, and 1 in the first 4 races. This left us only one point behind our fellow SDYC teammates, Peter and Jack Joslin. Being that we were still the youngest combined team sailing in the regatta, we were thrilled with our performance of the first day.
Racing began the next day in a consistent 20 to 23 knots with gusts of up to 28. This was the windiest that we had ever raced in and it was more fun than I could have imagined. Once you rounded the windward mark and the kite was up and I was on the trap, the boat would just take off. Sadly though, due to a couple of simple mistakes that were magnified by the amount of wind, we were only able to get a 10, 8, and 5 in the three races leaving us in fourth place in the overall standings.
The last day of racing came and we had to remind ourselves that we had put in the time to be at the top. All we had to do was go and put together three more good races. The first two races we got a 5th and another 5th and it put us exactly one point behind third place. But not knowing this, we just raced the last race as if it was any other. We got off the line winning the pin, sailed to the Oregon side of the river and got a huge lull and header which cost us and we rounded the top mark in about seventh. We got the kite up and immediately gybed to a giant puff that was coming down course right. We got the puff and were flying down the race course. Now, while we were in this massive puff, most of the boats that were in front of us where in a lull. We saw our chance to come back to the fleet in another massive puff. And we found ourselves in second place. The one issue was that third place in the overall standings was right behind us and where in the right place to gybe on top of us when we gybed. The part that we didn’t know was that the boat in third was the boat that we needed to beat to tie for third place. This next part happened so fast it is hard for us to even remember it. We were coming down wind on starboard and where almost to lay line to the finish. One little lone puff came down from the left. Ian and I reached it first and the pressure took us down to a safe spot to gybe and get to the finish without getting rolled. It's kind of hard to explain what happened. There was no talking - it was as if the two of us where thinking the same thing, GYBE. I remember looking at Ian after the gybe than looking at the boat in third now a good ways behind us and trying to remember how on earth we just pulled that off!
Overall, we finished tied for third place and won the tiebreaker because we had more first places leaving us in third place in the overall standings and the first place junior team (a team with no one turning 19 in the calendar year).
This would not have been possible for us if it wasn’t for the other amazing sailors at the club training with us and the help of SDYC supporting our sailing. Thank You.
The 29er North Americans were held from July 3rd through the 6th in Squamish, B.C. in Canada. We arrived early to Squamish so we could practice because it was supposed to be a windy venue. We were the first to arrive and were surprised that the launch area was only a small beach ramp from a dirt lot. Well, the next day morning, the beach was huge. That’s when we learned about the 15 foot tides.
On the first practice day, the winds were upwards of 38 knots so we rode in a coach boat planning to go out after we saw what the conditions really looked like. When we got out, every boat that went sailing was flipped over within minutes of launching. It didn’t take us long to decide that it would be better to wait until tomorrow. The second practice day was a perfect 20 to 25 knots. We had some great practice races run by the Canadian coaches. We learned quickly that the river that was fed by the glaciers and ended up right in the middle of the course was the place to race to.
The first day of racing came with great conditions. We got off 3 races that day and ended the day with a 3, 3, and 4 in our score line. The second day had good breeze but slightly lighter than the first day. It was also pouring rain. Getting four races off this day was tricky with all the shifts. We got 7, 2, 3, and 10. The last day of racing was the trickiest because of the wind direction but we were able to get a 1, 2, and 2. When all the racing was completed, we ended up second overall behind a previous multiple time winner of the event.
If you ever get a chance to sail in Squamish, Canada you should take the opportunity. You are surrounded by trees, massive granite cliffs, a huge waterfall, and you launch right next to a logging facility. There are lots of things to do besides sailing like hiking, mountain biking, and kite boarding.
Thank you SDYC for supporting us at this regatta!