Moore Fun Than You Can Imagine

August 5, 2013
By Mark English
This year’s Moore 24 Pacific Coast Championships were held in Hood River, OR, in the heart of the mighty Columbia River Gorge. The Gorge’s famous winds are fueled by thermal differences between the hot Oregon interior and the typically moderate coastal climate of Portland, with high speed sleigh rides up river and fast upwind legs through short chop testing the limits of all the teams. However, this year’s winds were atypically light thanks to hot temperatures in Portland which moderated the thermal breezes.


The first two races run on W-L courses East of the Hood River bridge in steady 6-10 kt breeze, saw an almost complete shuffle of results, with the eventual first, second and third place finishers coming in no better than 6th place in the first race, and then swapping results with the first race top finishers.

The last race of Saturday sent the boats West through the bridge up river to the Hatchery, before a finish inside the Hood River Marina which gave the boats a chance to scope out the racing area for the 4th race of the day – the inaugural Stand Up Paddle Board Competition (SUP), with unofficial sponsor Ranier Ale (more commonly known as Vitamin R to locals) providing hydration and fuel for the competitors.

At the end of Saturday, Tyler Beck sailing Morgan Larson’s Seldom Seen stood in first place in the sailing event, and Scott Sorenson and crew on Carlos Danger having decisively claimed the SUP and “best named boat” competitions.

Sunday’s racing was postponed until 1:30pm to let a slight 5-7 kt breeze fill on near the Event Site, and only one race was held amidst easing wind and increasing temperatures. Kurt Lahr’s Moore Wave ‘Ohs, in 2nd place entering Sunday, staged a slow speed pitched battle with Seldom Seen and ultimately ghosted to victory in Sunday’s race on the benefit of an early gybe to the finish, however was unable to close the overall gap with Seldom Seen, who ensured that the PCC trophy will live with host HRYC until next year.

Bill Erklen’s Eclipse finished 3rd, followed by new Moore 24 owner Andy Estcourt’s Ripple, and Karl Robrock’s Snafu-U crew shaking off a doping scandal in the SUP competition to round out the results in 5th place. With 1 kt of breeze and temperatures climbing into the high 80s, the finish line on Sunday more closely resembled a swim meet than a sailboat race as crews pitched into the water to cool down, however, as always, Hood River delivered a great regatta and an even better time.

1st overall: Seldom Seen (14pts); 2nd: Moore Oevo’s (16pts); 3rd: Eclipse (22pts).