Aug. 18-19, 2007
Hosted by Willamette Sailing Club at Yale Reservoir, WA
The second day of WSC's annual multi-class regatta looked to be another fine day of spring sailing: 60-ish degrees, full foul weather gear, rain showers. Except it was mid-August! Day 1 of the regatta was slightly nicer weather so I'll start there...
The Lido fleet was unable to launch at the regatta campground site due to low water but found the neighboring ramp a couple of miles away quite suitable. A mix of sun and clouds and temperatures that broke 70 degrees led to some variable wind speeds but the RC was able to get 5 races in for the day. In the six-boat fleet, four different boats won races with Carl & Lia Heisel winning two for the day to take a one-point lead (after a throw-out) over both Jerald Skeen and Steve Salas.
Rain filled in for the campers that night (this reporter commuted home to his bed in Portland) and most fleets experienced a drop-off in the number of competitors the next day on the water. The A-Class catamarans were still there in full force so it was important to keep a lookout for fast-moving carbon-fiber on the relatively short windward/leeward courses. Both the Salas and Moentenich boats had Saturday-only commitments from their crews so Lorin stepped into the crew position on the Salas boat for day two.
In the first race Sunday, Jerald Skeen led around the windward mark when his centerboard assembly failed, knocking him out for the day. With the fleet down to three boats, Carl & Lisa decided to make a statement by winning all four races to erase any doubt about who should take the Al Morris Memorial trophy for another year.
Report by Steve Salas