We have made it to gorgeous Cascade Locks, the destination of the 2013 Tasar Worlds. The club is about 30 minutes drive from Portland, the capital of Oregon, which is north of California, and south of Washington state on the West coast of the USA… surrounded by mountains on both sides… it really does just take your breath away!
We managed to get on the water for the first time yesterday, despite a small amount of damage in the container, and a bit of a political issue with the railroad! The club managed to sort it out in time for the other Aussies to get their boats out in time to race today.
Today we did five races for day one of the North American Championships. Exceptionally tricky racing conditions… Not unlike Canberra. With 26 boats on the tracks, and a less than five minute first work, the racing was tight, tricky and constantly changing… With the outgoing flow of the river, and the breeze nearly always blowing against the current, the upwinds are very short, and the downwinds long. This means that the boats don’t seem to spread out following a short work, and then a run to a gate where we all converge again. Check out the 20 boat wide approach to the gate in race three today below…
The approach
We still have five races to go depending on the breeze tomorrow… so we will just see what happens. Great to get out there and measure up against some fantastic sailors who know the area. At the moment we are sitting in sixth, behind one Canadian and four Americans. The next Aussie is in tenth. Full results.
As expected, there are a number of teams sailing exceptionally well, and they know the area. It is definitely a preview of how tough the worlds will be next week. We will just keep learning as much as we can over the next week of sailing before the worlds. Will post more soon… until then, check out Facebook or Twitter for more updates!
Hope all is good back in Australia or wherever you may be enjoying your own adventures!
