PSU Magazine Winter 2004

ails on the tiny 12-foot boat snapped savagely as the wind kicked up in the Columbia Gorge. Anika Olsen felt a thrill of excitement as she and PSU Sailing Club teammate Jeff Causey rode the wind through the whitecaps. "lt was kind of exciting," says Olsen. "Almost like being in a movie." Like others competing in the Rainer Cup regatta last spring, Olsen and Causey had been sailing in light wind, when a sudden storm sprang up. The choppy waves and brisk wind-fierce by landlubber standards-were ambrosia for the sailors. Until lightning split the clouds. Like synchronized swimmers, Olsen, Causey, and the others quickly steered to shore, hauled their boats out of the water and tipped the masts to the ground. "That part was kind of scary," says Olsen. "The storm came out of nowhere. It was definitely a surprise squall." F or more than 15 years, PSUs Sail- ing Club has offered beginning and pleasure classes for the weekend sailor, as well as competitive racing on junior varsity and varsity teams. lt is the var– sity racing team that is gelling noticed these days under coach Kerry Poe '96, who took the post two years ago. Poe first entered PSU in 1989, about a year after the Sailing Club was founded. He quickly gravitated to sail– ing, and two years later had earned a berth on the U.S. Sailing Team-the proving grounds for sailors hoping to compete for the U.S in the Olympics. 14 PSU MAGAZlNE \\'INTER 200-+ Poe was ranked top sailor in the nation in 1991 in the 470 boat class, but was edged out before the qualify– ing year for the 1992 Olympics by sailors from the East Coast, where sailing programs start in high school and the sport is as enthusiastically supported and competitive as football. The experiences Poe garnered have come back home to PSU . s members of the Northwest Dis- trict of the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) , PSU racers com– pete in regattas in Washington and Oregon. At home, the club hosts matches on the Columbia River near Cascade Locks. Olsen has noticed the difference with Poe at the club's tiller. "The first year I was in the sail club, we just helped each other-the more experienced sailors taught the others everything we knew," says Olsen , who has sailed since she was a young child. "The next year, Kerry became our coach and there was a dramatic improvement in the new sailors and in the experienced sailors. " That improvement was recognized by the Northwest Intercollegiate Sail– ing Association (NWlCSA) Each year, NW1CSA teams participate in 10 to 12 regattas. District rankings are estab– lished based on performance during the fall season. National rankings are set each spring by lCSA judges who review the sailors' performance for the spring season. Causey and Olsen won a number of regauas during the year and routinely Jeff Causey and crew Kelly McFarlane sail the 2003 Gorge Invitational. finished in the top three spots. Based on that performance, the NWICSA named Olsen All-Northwest Crew of the Year for the 2002-2003 sailing year and named Causey, who served as team captain and skipper for the var– sity team, as the All-Northwest Colle– giate Sailor of the Year. A Washington native, Causey has been sailing since he was 11 years old. His experience includes a stint, when he was a high school senior, as a pro– duction assistant for ESPN cable televi– sion during the 2000 America's Cup race in New Zealand-an opportunity that cemented his desire to race at the highest levels. 'Tm probably one of the few at Portland State," says Causey, "who chose college based on its sailing opportunities. " T he club, part of PSU's Student Recreation Program, has always operated on a miniscule budget. When Poe came to Portland State in the 1980s, the group didn't even have boats. "For the first year," says Poe, "we basically met on campus and talked about sailing. " In time , the Willamette Sailing Club (WSC) offered students the use of some boats and a long-term alliance was born. Now WSC offers dock space and use of its boathouse. Many of its members are PSU alumni, says Poe, and have gone out of their way to help. They're helping a winning cause. In 2002, PSU fielded the top team in the NW1CSA and was invited to sail in the 2002 U.S.-Japan Goodwill Regatta, which was held in Newport Beach, California. The Goodwill Regatta pits the best team from each of collegiate sailing's districts against an equal number of teams from Japan. It's a time for sailors to test their mettle, but it's also a microcosm of the sailing world. "Sailing is an opportunity to travel and meet other sailors and have a lot of fun ," says Olsen. "You have a con– nection with people around the world. " D