Results: https://pacificmultisports.com/results/gorgedownwindchamps2023/

First Liar
beau whitehead Jul 15 #34133

What a week. I went Friday and did the 6-man race with my crew on Saturday… best wind/waves conditions in recent memory for that race. Waves almost all the way from Drano to Bingen for the mens race.

Good wind every day (especially Sunday/Monday) with a gradual decline as the week went on. Thursday was race day, and the wind was fun for the first 3 miles. And then it died. There were small runners here and there if you were lucky enough to find them and had the energy left to catch them.

I can only speak to the mens OC1 race; 243 of us lined up (that was pure chaos). I ended up in a good spot, lined up behind all the Kai Wa'a pros, and probably had the best start I've ever had there. Probably went out way too hard, but surfing those initial bumps with some top paddlers was too much fun. The doldrums lived up to their name, hot, flat and endless. With 5 miles to go, I was out of water, and mental fortitude. (It's bad if you stop sweating right?) I ended up 59th out of 243, 7th in age group. Collin Smith absolutely went into beast mode and ended up 35th overall and 4th in his division with the top 3 being pros. The small army of Tahitians, Hawaiians and other pros dominated the top 20 OC spots.

But my true highlights of the week were:
1) seeing some of Peters ashes spread on his favorite downwind run
2) surfing through a very large Swell City with Collin who had his 9 year old daughter in seat one of his double (that was incredible) If you are on FB, check out his videos, it will put a smile on your face
3) doing my first 12 mile Celilo to Rufus run on a very big day. That is a very surreal place to paddle (I actually felt more exposed there than in the channel from Maui to Molokai)

Slept in my truck for 7 days, ate way too much pub food, got way too much sun, hung out with the best people I know…. A great Gorge Week!

paul clement Jul 15 #34134

Sounds like it was a great week Beau! A lot of boxes checked. That’s how it’s done.
pc

Kimberly Reeves Jul 15 #34135

Seems like you crushed a week of Gorge fun! Good on ya!