Great Racing at Columbia Gorge One Design (CGOD) despite a slow start.

Jay and Lisa Renehan are Tasar North American Champions.  Andrew McFarlane and the crew of Suspense claim the J-24 District Championship.

Cascade Locks, OR – Seventy-two boats from the west coast of the US and Canada descended upon the Columbia River Gorge this past weekend for the 2004 Columbia Gorge One Design Regatta (CGOD) hosted by the Columbia Gorge Racing Association.

Friday, the first day of racing, produced an uncharacteristic Gorge summer day; drizzle with light and variable breeze.  After a few hour postponement, International 14s and A Class Catamarans finally had enough breeze to complete a few races by the end of the day.

Saturday broke a beautiful sunny day as all classes rigged for racing in the morning.  Unfortunately, the breeze proved fickle once again.  After a lengthy postponement there was finally enough breeze on the East Course for the Lasers, Europes,  J-24 and Melges 24s to get in one race.  On the West course patience rewarded the Tasars, I-14s and A-cats who finally got two races late in the afternoon.

After racing, sailors were treated to a barbecue chicken  dinner and entertainment by the Seattle band Hoist featuring I-14 Sailor Kris Henderson; all set against the majestic backdrop of the Columbia River Gorge and a Northern Cascades sunset.

Whatever wind had been lacking on Friday and Saturday arrived with a vengeance on Sunday.  Sailors were treated to a warm 15-18 knot breeze from the east that provided some fantastic sailing and close competition.

For the Tasars, this was their North American Championships and the competition was extremely tight.  A strong Seattle contingent dominated the top 6 places with a mere  11 points between first and sixth for the entire series.  Jay and Lisa Renehan sailed their way to victory with the crews of Herb Cole and Alison Parker and Carol and Carl  Buchan right on their heels.

This regatta was also the J-24's   district championships.  Andrew McFarlane and the crew of Suspense showed confidence and speed in Sunday's big breeze to take overall victory, followed closely by Phil Campagna and crew on the notorious shark boat Bite- Me.  Rounding out the top three was Stephen Estes and the crew of Run Lola Run.

For high-speed action there were no better fleets to watch than the International 14s and A-Class Cats.  Competition was very tight in both classes going into Sunday when the big breeze tested both sailors and equipment.  In the I-14s, Andy Penman and John Vincze finished one point ahead of Kris Bundy and Jamie Hanseler to take victory.  Kris Henderson and Guillaume Vernieres finished in third, only two points out of first!  In the A-Class Cats, Ken Marshack and Jim Boyer battled it out to finish one and two in the fleet with Eric Marshack finishing third.

In the Laser fleet, Emery Wager dominated the 16 boat fleet taking bullets in 4 of the 5 races.  Rod Buck and the crew of Myst triumphed in the Melges 24 fleet with solid racing and Christin Feldman won in the Europe Fleet.

Article by Jarvis Brecker
Photos by Sean Trew

Complete results
Photos By Sean Trew
Photos by Scott Wirs