Kmun
Since 05 Jul 2009
257 Posts
Obsessed
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 Wed Jul 10, 24 2:10 pm Warning: Sailboat near collision |
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Warning: Gorge Sailboat Racer with a Squid at the helm.
Twenty years sailing The Hatch & this was by far the most dangerous interaction. I am writing this as a caution to my fellow Hatch Rats & as topic for education for the Hood River sailboat racers.
Wednesday evening (7/3/24) the Hatch was a buzz with all forms of crafts; wingers, SUP foilers and down-wind canoe racers. With winds blowing west at 22mph, two race sailboats decided that they wanted tack up close into shore of The Hatch, running right through the highest concentration of wingers & small boaters & largest swells. Say what? Is winning a citizen race worth putting others at risk?
Sporting a BLAZE ORANGE wing & screaming-orange helmet I was down in the water fifty yards from The Hatch shore in the largest swell sets. Two sailboats from the regatta decided it would be “wise” to cut right through this deepest swell section filled with wingers & paddlers. Their east & west offset place me in a decision to stay put (floating in the water) & let them proceed without me adding my moving vector to complicate their path. One sailboat tacked safely to the west of me, but the last sailboat (with a #42 on its sail) tacked very close to The Hatch shore at Family Cove which was a good one hundred yards offset to the east from me. I felt safe to stay put as sailboat #42 vector seemed it would leave them passing my stationary drift position with a good fifty yards to the east.
Wild card! = The squid at the helm (of sail#42) did not consider that his keel & deep draft would make him crab very quickly with the current to the west while I was virtually stationary. There were at least three people riding the sailboats rails & yes, they were watching me while their boat eventually lined me up in their sights. They did not adjust course or bear off! In the end had the swell not reflected off their boat my flagged-out wing would have touch their boat right under the sailboat driver’s ass. Yes, while passing he looked almost straight down at me. After I gave him a “piece of my mind” he simply reacted with a careless shrug. What if the leash on my gear had gotten caught up on their keel or rudder? Sheesh!
Hood River Wednesday race club; please make this a topic of discussion. |
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