Event Site & Foils?

wylieflyote · Fri May 15, 15 7:57 am **Event Site & Foils?**

Warning... Can o' Worms
If this Foil thing keeps growing.... has anyone contemplated asking again for Event Site rules changes? The notion of carrying to the far north end of the sandbar is somewhat daunting. I know it's been brought up many many times before, but maybe a revisit of the subject in the next year or two with the Port Commission is warranted?
Maybe another user count? On the times I've gone to the Sandbar lately (2014) I've seen about 12 windsurfers, and 40 kiteboarders.

Am I embellishing the counts?

ldhr · Since 21 Jul 2009 1471 Posts Hood River XTreme Poster

I don't think the issue is windsurfer vs. kiter anymore.
It's more like kiter vs. the world (sup paddlers, swimmers, people having picnics, dogs).
On a light wind day there could be 40 people in the water directly in front of the event site - none of them kiting or windsurfing.
The thought of a foil boarder launching amongst all those people is scary..... really scary.
Foilboarding may not be a crime - but it would be insane to allow grass launches during prime summer season that coincides with school being out of session (Memorial day thru Labor day).

wylieflyote · Fri May 15, 15 8:48 am

dangler · Since 26 Feb 2006 1744 Posts WINDY SPOTS XTreme Poster

The event site is a dedicated kite launch. The signs warn beachgoers about the dangers they risk there. There are plenty of family friendly places to go hang, such as the large new beach to the west. People that take their little kids and hang on the beach are either irresponsible or totally clueless parents.

When I've gone to the trouble of informing people of the danger of their location, half of the people thank me and move to a safer location, (i.e. the intelligent people) the other half just look at me with a vacant expression and do nothing ( the inevitable Darwin award winners).

The event site is a very safe place to launch and land. Not so safe to wade and build sand castles. Rolling Eyes

Sella · Fri May 15, 15 10:34 am **Re: totally disagree**

D-Man..........Laird is 100% correct. The grass is great but those clueless kids and parents are tourists who are attracted to the pretty colored kites like moths to a light. They mean well but they don't understand the sport at all so it's on us to make sure everyone stays safe because you know very well shit happens at the punchy wind ES.

Besides, we have about 30 ##$%%$^ acres of awesome sand on this huge sandbar to rig and self launch all day long from......so Kip needs to carry his foil as a pre-session warm up....for a total of what....50 yards? Shocked

He'll survive.

Dern · Since 11 Jul 2010 544 Posts Vancouver, WA Addicted

I may be wrong as I am not a foiler myself, but I am guessing the problem with the sandbar and foils is the depth of the water around the sandbar(?).

Kmun · Since 05 Jul 2009 250 Posts Obsessed

Perhaps we can make the Sand Bar a more attractive, safer place to launch and land by improving on a HIGH & DRY Sandbar?

First step is to ask the sand bar clean-up crew to NOT dispose of ALL the logs! Instead, work with nature to develop a high & dry Sandbar launch zone. Judiciously relocate and partially bury the logs in sand on eastern most aspect of the current western ridge. Back fill the base of the logs with those arrant toe-breaker rocks and cover the rock to log slope with sand. The soft sand residual “rise” will be the substrate for additional year around wind driven sand deposition. Think “snow fences” and why sand dunes appear seemingly from nowhere.

If employed with foresight our annual arrival of winter logs are gifts and opportunity. Notice that in their few months of lying on the beach many of the logs already have a 70% plus step of sand blown in and around. Smart placement of substrate and deposition zones will accelerate and focus build-up of valuable high ground or “mini-dune”. Of course the elevated ridge also improves the lea of the wind safe kite-parking and landing zone.

Is it too much of a stretch to see that removing substrate accelerates the erosion and loss of the sand bar? When first delivered from the glacial burst (just a few years ago) we acquired close to thirty five new acres of dry peninsula. A great majority of that dry area is now gone. All has disappeared into the river by high water and winds (winter, summer day and night). Is it not time to think ahead?

Who likes a wet walk to the sand bar? If by chance during the winter one big dry log bridge was naturally delivered to a high and dry sandbar; would this natural walking bridge be greatly valued? Heck yeah! Or…would the beach clean-up crew remove a potential asset? Instead of the clean-up effort denuding the sandbar of logs, a couple of those long logs could be placed to bridge the gap from the rock point to the sand.

I’d like to be part of volunteer projects (beach clean-up) but being party to increasing beach erosion is a is a problem. Anyone else out there open to evolving our “current” thinking? If the community approves this vision, I would be glad to join the effort for next season. Feel free to PM (Private Message) me if you are on-board.

wylieflyote · Fri May 15, 15 3:11 pm

flipper · Since 17 Oct 2011 320 Posts Obsessed

I would be happy to get my shovel and dig that water a little deeper if people would chip in enough beer.

stringy · Since 23 Jun 2006 1726 Posts vancouver XTreme Poster

hey kip I was talking about this yesterday while waiting for wind haha
anyhow I've done the end of the sandbar method, launching a million kites along the way, I've done the marina thing, watch out for the shallows!
White salmon wunderbar will work, so does stevenson.
I think once the rules are in place for summertime, the only weekend you will see foils at the eventsite is during kb4c.
yeah foils can be a liability, however most foilers have good heads on their shoulders and would never put them or water users in harms way. at this time, kiteboarding is still allowed at the eventsite, foilers have been proactive at keeping the foils away from other kiters simply by staging them farther upwind. I'm sure that will change and you may see less foilers at the event site.
my bigger concern with foiling in hood river is traffic patterns on the water. foils can point so much farther upwind it will become right of way issues with other water users.
kip let's just keep meeting at jones. its the perfect setup for foiling and much less traffic.

Pepi · Sat May 16, 15 3:43 pm

Since we can make it upwind so easily, I have actually been pondering what the launch for foiling might be like at the downwind side of the Marina Beach Launch.

I've foiled down to this spot from the Event Site when testing new foils and found that I can actually foil almost into the entrance of the marina and make it back out with out any issues.
The sandbar on the east side actually drops off pretty deep at it's underwater edge.

Stringy? Wheeler? Anyone up for a test launch?

keepgorgewindy · Since 16 Jul 2013 15 Posts Hood River

I haven't really heard of any dangerous boardfoil incidents? Have there been any recently and here in the Gorge? If so, I miss the discussion thread... Question

ldhr · Since 21 Jul 2009 1471 Posts Hood River XTreme Poster

The issue is not about foils.
The original poster was asking if the summertime ban on launching from the grass at the event site could be changed.... to allow launching from the grass year round.
I think the general consensus is that it would be a bad idea to allow anyone to launch from the grass during the busy season.
I don't think anyone is calling out foils as being any more or less dangerous.....