Youth Racer Casey Pickett of the Willamette Sailing Club used OYSF President Woody Blackford’s Laser for the 2018 WIND Clinic and Regatta in Cascade Locks, OR, July 17-22. The Columbia Gorge is the place to go in the Pacific Northwest for heavy air training. This year’s WIND event did not disappoint! Photos here…
Thank you so much for letting me use your boat for the WIND clinic! I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to practice in such great wind with such great coaching. I learned a lot! We talked a lot about smart hiking upwind by building apparent wind. We then practiced passing waves on the downwind in addition to surfing them. I feel like a much better sailor at the end of it. Each day was very windy with gusts at 25 and low current. The conditions were amazing. Even on the last day when to all of our surprise there was an equally strong easterly! The regatta at the end was a great opportunity to apply what we had learned. Races were fast and competitive. At the end of the last day, I was one point behind third place which taught me a valuable lesson that I should always do my best because I don’t know how close the results will be in the end. So fun, though.-Casey Pickett (Willamette Sailing Club)
