Two crew needed for Double Damned race August 9th at Cascade Locks, OR.

[Paul Smith]

Hi - I'm looking for two people to crew on a Presto 30 for the Double Damned race August 9th sailing between Cascade Locks and The Dalles.  

If you haven't heard of the race it's a downwind only race for 40 miles down a windy stretch of the Columbia River upstream of the dam at Cascade Locks.  So no current but a lot of tailwind.

A Presto 30 is a 30' cat ketch - two freestanding carbon fiber masts and two square headed full battened sails - no jib, no spinnaker.  The job of the crew is going to be to manage the sheets during a jibe and as ballast on a reach.  The advantage of the boat downwind is that you can run the booms out wing and wing forward of the masts which makes it self steering - let the tiller go and it self corrects to go straight downwind.  Unlike a boat with shrouds which will try to broach...

I've attached an article about the boat.

I'm driving the boat down on the 8th, will rig and launch that evening and be ready to sail after the skippers meeting at 9am on the 9th.  Start is at 10am.  When we end depends on the wind - but no finishes after 8pm.  I'll drive the boat back on the 9th or the 10th.  I have room for two more people in the truck.

  Here's an excerpt out of the attached Practical Sailor review of sister ship:  "Thorfinn showed what a boat with minimal wetted surface can do downwind.  In a 20-25 knot northerly, Thorfinn hunted down all but one boat in its class, beating a Hunter Legend 37, a C&C 33, and a Hunter 35.5 on uncorrected time"..."speeds of up to 14 knots."

Paul Smith

Bothell, WA