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About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2015)
S PORTS www.hoodrivernews.com Hood River News, Saturday, June 20, 2015 World-class paddling event coming to the Gorge Outrigger canoes and surfskis highlight Gorge Downwind Paddling Festival July 19-25 News staff writer See PADDLE, Page A8 Columbia Gorge Windsurfing Association Beach Bash to be held next week Contributed photo A SURFSKIER, flanked by windsurfers, cuts through the Columbia River. Those who paddle surfskis and outrigger canoes either professionally or recreationally are invited to register for the inaugural Gorge Downwind Paddling Festival that will be held July 19-25. Team photos contributed; water photo by Keith Howell LITTLE LEAGUE CHAMPS Local Little League teams had their championship games last weekend, featuring showdowns in boys majors, boys minors, and girls minors this season. Clockwise, start- ing at top: For boys majors, New Dawn Security beat Apple City, 6-1. From left to right are New Dawn Security team members Cristofer Castaneda, Maurico Diaz, Caleb Hoover, Tanner Fletcher, Hunter Hough, Harrison Howell, Forest Lawson, Jackson Perkins, Mason Spellecy, Nathan Van Dooren, Cade Wetherell, Luke Rinella, coach Les Perkins, and team manager Mike Van Dooren. Not pictured: coach Sean Spellecy. Next, in girls minors, Boda’s Kitchen beat Gorge Fly Shop, 7-1. Pictured in the back row from left to right are Boda’s Kitchen coaches Tonya Schroeder and Ryan Flory (not pictured: coach Mitzi McMurrin). Middle row, left to right: Sydney Cox, Lauraine Smith, Miyana Robertson, Kyra Davis, and Kirie Nesbitt. Front row, left to right: Rachel Smith, Sienna Davis, Zoe Mansfield, Tiahna Pacheco, and Kim Anh Kirschbaum. Next, in the minor boys championship game, Hood River Supply defeated Gehrig’s Chevron, 7-5. From left to right are Hood River Supply team manager Eric Fauth, Aaron Aamodt, Elijah Adams, Isiah Adams, Mathew Fauth, Sam Fauth, Caleb Foster, Robert Glassmann-Germain, Joseph Kahler, David Torrescano, Nicholas Tuttle, Caleb Wahlstrom, and Catelyn Wahlstrom. Not pictured: coach Eric Foster. Finally, Tanner Fletcher and Harrison Howell are shown dumping the water bucket on their coach, Mike Van Dooren, after winning the boys majors championship. SPORTS BRIEFS Leonard Hickman wins Flag Day golf tourney loop trail) that is just north of Kingsley Reservoir pared for some hard work, some easy work, and lots Staging Area. Work party will be Saturday, June 27. Start time is 9:00 a.m. Work party will end at ap- proximately 1:00 p.m. Clear cuts and road construc- tion work from Erica Timber Sale have been com- pleted and trail 191L can now be reconstructed. This trail is designed for ATV’s but is multi-use; also used by bicycles, equestrians, and hikers, etc. A portion of the previous route used to run along an old skid road that was rocked for the timber sale. The work party will improve a new, fun section of the loop that is being reconstructed through the woods and that has bypassed the old road section. Volunteers may also reconstruct portions of the trail routed through the new clear cut units. Hand tools will be provided but volunteers are encouraged to bring their own (lop- Kingsley Reservoir trail work party June 27 pers, Mcleods, Pulaskis, rakes, hoes, etc.). Bring cof- Hood River County has scheduled a trail work fee, work clothes, gloves, sturdy boots, safety glass- party to reroute/reconstruct a section of 191L (the es, hat, water, lunch/snacks, sunscreen, etc. Be pre- Congratulations to Leonard Hickman, winner of the June 14 Flag Day Golf Tournament at the Hood River Golf Course. Hickman edged second-place fin- isher Tom Goodwin for the honor. In third place was Gary Sollman and in fourth was Jim Franks. Individ- ual prizes are as follows: First Out: Bill Van Ek; Spe- cial prize, donated by Robin Goodyer. KP No. 3: Hick- man. LD No. 8: Goodyer. LP No. 9: Hickman. LP No. 13: Doug Hamada. KP No. 11: Bill DeBorde. The next tournament is scheduled for Friday, July 19, starting at 8 a.m. The tournament is the Red, White and Blue tournament. Non-members are encouraged to enter. Cost for members is $35 and non-members is $40. Last day to enter is July 17. Ways of the Wind A summer series with Greg Stiegel , By BEN MITCHELL The Columbia River Gorge is home to a multitude of wind and water sports, as well as a number of festivals and races to go with them and come July, the Gorge will add another such festival to its already busy summer roster. The Gorge Downwind Paddling Festival will be held July 19-25, but un- like many other events at the waterfront, this one won’t focus on wind- surfing or kiteboarding, but rather surfskis and outrigger canoes that will race downwind from Home Valley and Stevenson to Hood River and Bin- gen in the event’s two races. Though this will be the first time the race will be held in Hood River, it is destined to be the “largest event of its kind in North America,” accord- ing to the event website, and is included as part of the Surfski World Cup series and will serve as the North American championships in the sport. For downwind paddling neophytes, event director Carter Johnson ex- plains that outrigger canoes are essentially canoes with support floats (outriggers) located out to the sides of the watercraft. As for surfskiing, Johnson describe the concept as taking “very fast, tippy kayaks and you race them down the largest waves you can find. There’s no limit to how big these waves can be. The bigger the better. If it’s blowing 50 (m.p.h.), we’re more excited than if it’s blowing 40.” He added that outrigger canoeing is A7 of fun! Also bring your motorcycle, ATV (to ride on other routes), bicycle, horse, or running shoes for a ride (or run) after the work party is over. For more in- formation, call Henry Buckalew, trails program coor- dinator/forest technician II for the Hood River Coun- ty Forestry Department at 541-387-7089. Sports story correction A story in the previous edition’s sports section in- correctly listed HRVHS as having won two state championships in the 2014-15 season and then later in the article correctly listed the six championships the school had won this past school year. The two state championships listed should have been re- ferred to specifically as OSAA state championships. We regret the error. The summer wind season hit us early in the Gorge this year. We have seen warm days and steady west winds in the corridor for over a month now. Last week’s heat even felt a bit like late July or maybe even August usual- ly does. I take this as a sign of more good things to come for us wind and water seek- ers! It is already mid-June, the kids are out of school, and the summer events and ac- tivities on the water are in full swing. Last week we saw the third installment of the Gorge Cup race series go off with perfect conditions. Race director Scotia Bauer re p o r t s t h at , “ M a c R a e (Wylde) was amazing on Sat- urday, with seven first-place finishes. Fiona (Wylde) fin- ished second overall for the day, too... the story is Team Wylde!” Speaking of perfect wind- surfing event conditions, the American Windsurfing Tour held its annual contest in Pistol River with epic condi- tions. Gorge locals Nathan Mershon, Ingrid Larouche, and Anna Rohden all had top-five finishes in the Pro divisions. A huge congrats to Columbia Gorge Wind- surfing Association board member Sean Aiken for tak- ing home the top spot in the Masters division. Check out the event video posted at gorgewindsurfing.org. Coming up in the Gorge, the CGWA is excited about its premier of the Beach Bash. Four days of fun for everybody! The event kicks off Thursday, June 25 with the Pray For Wind party at Stonehedge Gardens from 6- 10 p.m. Live music, belly- dancing, tons of raffles and a u c t i o n p r i z e s, a n d a gourmet dinner are in store for you. Dinner tickets ($10- 20) sold at the door and pro- ceeds benefit the Gorge Groms kids windsurfing program. Friday, June 26 is worth getting excited about. There is a high wind demo, sup- por ted by Windance, at Rowena from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., free of charge. Then we are excited to kick off the first major concert at the new amphitheater in the wa- terfront park, Friday (6-10 p.m.) with an outdoor con- cert presented by 10 Barrel. Tim Snyder is headlining and Smoke on the Water is opening the show. T his event is open to all ages and entry is free, thanks to sup- port from 10 Barrel and Naked Winery. Be sure to get there early and stake out your spot on the lawn. T he Big Winds Beach Bash takes place on Satur- day, June 27, all day at the Event Site. With another full bill of music in the after- noon, local beer and food for sale, and over 24 vendors on hand, you will not want to miss this beach party! A sample of events for the day include: Free SUP clinics, f re e b e g i n n e r w i n d s u r f lessons, unlimited demos, A rch e r y Ta g , M t . H o o d Meadows kids section, the Never Windsurfed Before Race, and much more! T h e C G WA i s s t o ke d about this new event and all the support from the local community we have had so far to make this event possi- ble. We are still looking for fun, energetic people to help us during the event. If you want to participate, please e- mail G re g at cgwa@gorge.net. Stay tuned to GorgeWind- surfing.org for more info, and I hope to see you on the water soon!
