Hood River (The Gorge) in Oregon, was the fantastic spot for the Formula North American championships. With excellent conditions, sunny warm weather and great organization this was a great event. Darren Rogers, the race director, did a great job and a total of 14 races where run smoothly during the 3 day event, and we even had time for 2 unofficial slalom rounds as the winds where over the limit for formula.
The winds varied from 15 to +30 knots and sail range varied from 9-10 meters for the fleet of about 40 racers, I used my SB 160 and NP 9.0 and 9.8.
In the Formula Open fleet I took 12 wins, managing to secure the title, but with some very tight competitions from the locals Dale Cook who came in second and Bruce Peterson just behind in third, followed by Gabriel Starosta from Brazil in Fourth. The starts where always exciting since half the fleet started on port which always seemed to be the best, as you got helped by the strong current that ran against the wind in the channel.
In the slalom, Bruce Peterson took one round with very fast speed, I came second and Dale third, and on the next one, I took the win followed by Bruce and Dale.
Results
Formula open:
1. Wilhelm Schurmann BRA 999
2. Dale Cook (North American Champion) USA18
3. Bruce Peterson (Master Champion) CAN 21
4. Gabriel Starosta BRA 307
more pictures at the official event site. http://www.vmgevents.com/
