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kristinAt 9am the morning of the legendary 20-mile downwind race from Stevenson, Washington, to Hood River, Oregon, the wind was already blowing a steady 25 knots. By 10 o'clock it was gusting to 40. Yikes! This was going to be one wild race!
But as the 11am start time approached Bruce Peterson sensed a change. Minutes before the start he switched to a bigger (6.6m) sail. That, and a few very lucky puffs of wind enabled him to pull off one of the biggest Blowout victory margins in many years as the wind totally died just after the start.
His Sailworks training partner Dale Cook took an early and substantial lead and disappeared up river (down wind) as Bruce sat in a lull. ''Well, that's the race,'' he thought. Then Dale hit a lull and Bruce caught a string of unlikely puffs as he watched Dale bob along well behind him. By the time he hit the finish in just over an hour, Dale was still 42 minutes behind him.
Hood River local Monique Anderson, ex-U.S. Ski Team racer and mother of two, hung in there to win the women's division in 3 1/2 hours. In fact, she was the only female to finish at all! Only 19 of the 110 windsurfers actually finished the grueling race. To quote Monique, ''This race was like childbirth; just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it did .''
But as the 11am start time approached Bruce Peterson sensed a change. Minutes before the start he switched to a bigger (6.6m) sail. That, and a few very lucky puffs of wind enabled him to pull off one of the biggest Blowout victory margins in many years as the wind totally died just after the start.
His Sailworks training partner Dale Cook took an early and substantial lead and disappeared up river (down wind) as Bruce sat in a lull. ''Well, that's the race,'' he thought. Then Dale hit a lull and Bruce caught a string of unlikely puffs as he watched Dale bob along well behind him. By the time he hit the finish in just over an hour, Dale was still 42 minutes behind him.
Hood River local Monique Anderson, ex-U.S. Ski Team racer and mother of two, hung in there to win the women's division in 3 1/2 hours. In fact, she was the only female to finish at all! Only 19 of the 110 windsurfers actually finished the grueling race. To quote Monique, ''This race was like childbirth; just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it did .''
eric sanford
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