Gorge report

[cglazier]

I had a great couple of weeks in the Gorge. As usual the wind was strong, sometimes very strong with gust up to 40 knots. The majority of people on the water are winging these days with kiteboarders coming second and then also a few windsurfers. The town is very nice as always and with more interest in other sports like mountain biking and surf skiing.
The newest fad there is hydrofoil boards that are long and narrow and allow the user to foil continuously up river (downwind) riding the waves without a kite or sail. They generally carry a paddle to assist in getting up foiling. I'm not sure that this will catch on elsewhere but it works well in the Gorge. And I expect it will influence the shape of boards for winging and kiteboarding.
In case anyone doesn’t know, the Gorge is the stretch of the Columbia river around Hood River, Oregon.

[Slappy]

Do you actually mean "surf skiing" CG? This is basically a sit on top kayak that you surf ocean waves with. Are they surfing the wind swell?

The great thing about downwinding in the Gorge is that it's also "uprivering" so you can go about 1 knot slower and not have to drive as far when shuttling.