The reason good sites are good is because they rarely disappoint. Expectations ran particularly high for this year’s Area Championships when Lake Quinault was selected as the venue after a two year hiatus.
NW sailors have been plying the no-motorboat-waters of Lake Quinault for over a quarter of a century. Most sailors arrive early and stay late, and this was true again this year. There are plenty of stories to tell, and it was particularly heartwarming to have many long-time Hobie sailors — some of them without boats — show up for an informal reunion and lots of reminiscing.
Hobie Cats NW served up its patented (and highly sought after) seafood cioppino Friday night to hungry mouths catching up on old times. Full Sail Ale continued to quaff their collective thirst.
Winds were light Saturday, and limited the sailors (and RC Skip & Jan Anderson & crew) to just 3 light-air races. But tactics continued to be the trump card. Those who read the lake well were aptly rewarded.
Laura Sullivan and a slew of volunteers served up a wonderful salmon dinner Saturday night that was to die for. All of this for $40-50? Incredible!! The raffle afterwards helped subsidize the dinner with lots of laughter included.
Sunday morning Peter Nelson familiarized newbie sailors (and a few vets) with a rules clinic. But that didn’t last long as it became apparent Race Committee was intent on its 1030 start.
Sailors saw a building breeze that started with partial single trap conditions and ended with most boats fully trapped. There isn’t much better than trapping out under sunny skies on Lake Quinault in the middle of a rain forest! Committee hoisted all class flags at the same time for the last start and 32+ cats were off to the weather mark. The second lap had boats heading to a reach mark in front of the beach where everyone was finished. A great end to a great day on the water.
Yet another dinner was hoisted up by Laura, aided by J Rosenbach. So sailors were fed 3 great meals for $50 for 2-crew boats, 2 days of racing, and awards. There’s nothing like a Hobie regatta (at Lake Quinault)!!!
Hobie Division 4 