12 courageous Fireball teams made the journey from afar to gather at the sailing mecca of Cascade Locks, Oregon for the 2014 US Nationals. In attendance were two boats from Oregon, four from Victoria, three from Calgary, one each from Arizona and Colorado, and a team from Montreal. All who came were rewarded with sunny days in the 90's and three days of fine wind. The trip and effort were regretted by none.

Friday opened with an unexpectedly light wind day. Well, at least light for the Gorge. The day was fine with sunshine and light clouds with winds in the mid-teens and gusts around twenty. After four races, the first day leaders were Frank Crawford and Sean Holmes-Smith in boat #14156. Showing all that the old North American (Ed Note Australian) boats still have plenty of fight. The front group was tight with Joe Jospe/Tom Egli and Debbie Kirkby/Gregg Ferguson tied at one point back followed by Jamie Cox/Simon Pearson just one more back.

Day two brought on real Gorge conditions. Medium wind on the way out led to racing conditions in the mid-twenties with gusts strong enough to knock everyone down. Every team had the opportunity to wash their boats as no one was upright all day (Ed Note Jospe and Egli dispute this!). Several boats broke and ran into shore for repairs and a few teams decided it was best to retire for the later races. The heavy winds gave Joe and Tom a chance to prove their experience and use their size and strength to pull off three bullets and take a commanding lead.

On the final day, again the wind wasn't quite up to truly Gorge-like conditions. Instead of brutality we had beautiful sun, fairly flat water, and great sailing with winds again in the high teens low twenties. The lighter conditions kept all the boats much closer together and gave some of the lighter teams a chance to box with the front group. The 'evil doctor' Rob Thompson/Francis Westlake had two strong bullets in his new boat. the other wins went to Debbie and Gregg and Joe and Tom.

Other teams competing were Mianne Erne/Clay Poulson, Mark Cummings/Evelyn Chisholm, Peter Wirth/Mike Leitch, Paithen Larkens/Alana, Greg Desilets/ Pete Adam, Liz Brennan/Michael Moleski, and Leigh Anderson with Vanessa Edwards.

Everyone who attended this event was thrilled to be at this great event. The Western North American fleet meets here every year for a reason. Wonderful weather, fabulously consistent winds, and great company. Every Fireballer on the planet should at least once in their lifetime, sail the Gorge!!!

Clay Poulson