It’s been a windy summer in the Columbia River Gorge, as the Moth and Laser sailors can attest. Last weekend the Laser Masters Pacific Coast Championship was run after a little tune-up called the ‘Laser Gorge Blowout, an aptly named 18-mile downwind hara-kiri from Cascade Locks to Hood River. This year they were blown out for real and pulled the plug at the mandatory halfway stop at Viento Park as winds started to gust above 30 knots. At that point Michael Schalka was ahead of John-Bernard Duler and Drake Jensen.
On Saturday and Sunday, 20 Masters in Laser Standards and 19 in Laser Radials gathered in Cascade Locks to race their guts out in the Westerly that’s howling up the Gorge, against the steady current of the Columbia. In the end of a hard-fought 10-race series, age and treachery beat youth and power. Vilhelm Roberts (31pts., Master) got the better of Nicholas Pullen (39, Apprentice) because of the age handicap. Both sailed a marvelous series with three firsts and three seconds and were tied at 15 net points. In third Tracy Usher (42, Master), ahead of Chief Bill Symes (45 Grand Master). A tight finish order was also posted in the Radial division, with Grand Master Mark Halman (40) edging Apprentice John Sturman (42) for the title. In third, another Grand Master with Bruce Braly (42). See all the results (PDF) and the events page.