DAY 01

We woke up to a cold morning in hood river which normally means one thing, WIND! Today was exceptional. The event site delivered 30 to 40 mph winds from 7 AM til dusk. The race organizers were bombarded with 70 slalom entrants. There were three fleets consisting of juniors/women, grand masters, and mens/masters. Many on the beach said that this was the most intense they had ever slalom raced. This would be an instant classic if it was on ESPN. The men's/master's heat had 27 compeditors and was dominated by Kiwi James Dennis holding onto his 5.9 TR5 in the wild gusts.  Many racers did not bring small enough gear an had to borrow from each other.  The race committee had fun with all of the sail nuimber changes.

Grand Masters hands down champion will be local hero Bruce Peterson who recieves loud applause even when he finished second one race.  Peterson, who is know for going small on sail sizes, looked fully wound on his 5.4 and 51cm wide board. There is no doubt that he is dialed in at all times. Bryan Perez-Metcalf surprised everyone as he kept close sights on first place in Men's with his 4.7 and carbon art slalom board. Most sailors followed his lead switching to wave sails in the second half of races today.  Probably the most impressive sight was the junior/women's fleet carving around the jibes in such wild conditions. The other two fleets were happy not to have such good sailors in their heat.  Well, take four Advil and see you in the morning! I'm going to bed early tonight.

DAY 02

It's another beautiful day in the gorge for day 2 of the US Nationals! The wind has backed off a bit and has holes drifting down the course. The race committee has shaken things up a bit by taking the men's fleets and making a silver and gold. This puts the best masters, grandmasters, and open men in the same start. Start one saw Bruce and James trading mind game tactics before the start. They ended up drawing the fleet up into a general recall and a restart. On the restart they were both very close to causing another recall, but an all clear was sounded and we were off. Plenty of wind pushed us down the first reach until the first mark where two of the top 5 splashed, causing mass chaos. More jockeying ensued at the second mark as some fell into the bad air of the second grouping (at least that's what I'm blaming it on).  Bruce and James continued to battle until James went for a swim at the jibe mark and as Doc says 'that ain't fast.' There are no moral victories in racing, but trading jabs with the King of the Gorge for more than a lap is quite commendable.

Finally the Bic 293 class got their chance to shine in front of the crowded beach. It was an exhibition, but they were full force racing on 5 meters and techno 293s. These kid's are strong sailors. Nevin's daughter decided to not just sail the exhibition course, but one full lap of the championship course.

The rest of the day was more mind games in the gold fleet. After a couple of restarts in the first two races, the boat flew the black flag which is usually a discouragement, but claimed (unofficially at this point in the day) some of the top sailors in the next two races. We'll see how the results are tablulated tonight. As the day went on the wind lessened until we were on 7.6ms and 40cm fins. Although today was not as epic as day 1, it would be a killer day in anyone's book. Today made 11 rounds of slalom for the first two days and probably kept the local pharmacy busy. 

DAY 03

Looks like yesterday's slalom champions will not have to take it to the water to defend their result. James Dinnis now has TWO national championships under his belt in one year! After racing concluded Friday, many racers came to inspect the carbon art boards and TR5 sails. We all now know how deadly they are on the race course on two continents. 

Formula racing began with winds of 5-25mph spread out all over the course. But of course this matters little to Mr. Pederson, who dominated the fleet using a meter less sail.  San Francisco's Steve Bodner came away with a few 2nds and was plenty happy. Talking to sailors after the event, sounds like everyone worked really hard today for evey knot of board speed and was relieved to get on dry land. Truely gruling conditions all the way around for the 2009 US Nationals in Hood River.  Looks like tomorrow calls for more light wind. Put some duct tape over your blisters and get ready to saddle up for one more day.