2 categories

Seaside Park, NJ, US (Home spot) West 10-30ml.

iSonic W54, Severne 7.0m, Tactonics Hornet 25sm.

3 categories

Hood River Waterfront Park, Hood River, OR, US

Loft RB 6.3 & 5.6, Naish SP95 & 80, Vector Volt 28 & 29

Great day out at the park, steadily building breeze but a touch gusty and very bumpy, got worse as the day wore on. Barton is back in town so fun to catch up and sail together, even if the water is a touch cold for him! Solid 30 knots at the end and chop Suey had taken up residence.

Hood River Waterfront Park, Hood River, OR, US

Sailworks Retro 6.5, Retro 5.5, JP Magic Ride 104, JP FreestyleWave 77 Wind: building from 16 knots to 23G30

First, a big thank you to Roo for all the helpful tips and encouragement he provided today!

As I expected, my first day at the Gorge this year was a humbling experience. My cruising around Lac Bay in 15 knot winds didn't fully prepare me for today. I started out OK with the 6.5 and the MR104. Made a couple of runs (of course blew the jibes) and got intimidated by the 58 F water temps (I like the 82F of Bonaire). Eventually mentally calmed down just in time for the wind to build. Rigged the 5.5 but was tailwalking a little with it. Roo suggested switching to the 77 FSW which I did by then the wind was more than I wanted to deal with knowing I was going to spend a lot of time in the damn cold water... Roo provided rigging tips for this type of condition and then provided a tip worth the trip to Oregon - how to clear a race sail luff sleeve when full of water. Use the board as leverage, DO NOT try to lift the tip of the sail.