Come meet local rigging expert and author Brion Toss in a special event to benefit Sail for the Cure® and the Oregon and Southwest Washington Affliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.
Race Your Rig – Basic Tuning and Tweaking for Optimum Performance
11 AM – 2 PM Saturday, April 30th
The Clubhouse at Columbia Crossings
12050 North Jantzen Drive, Portland
(in the Jantzen Bay parking lot, across from Safeway)
Cost: $30 (includes food and a beverage (wine, beer, or soda available))
Oregon and SW Washington have the highest rates of breast cancer in the nation. We think this is unacceptable. Your registration for this event goes directly towards funds raised during Sail for the Cure 2011 to support:
- Free mammograms for women and men who can’t otherwise afford them
- Cutting-edge research into the causes, effective treatment and potential cure of breast cancer
- Breast cancer outreach and education
About the Speaker:
Brion Toss has over 35 years of yacht rigging experience. In 1978 he established Brion Toss Yacht Riggers Inc., specializing in rigging cruising vessels for offshore voyages. Brion regularly consults on rig design, layout, fabrication, and installation of rigging for clients such as naval architects, boat builders, and yacht owners, as well as performing expert witness work for court cases. Learn more and find some great rigging tools at www.briontoss.com.
In addition, Brion has taught workshops and given presentations on knot tying, mechanical advantage, going aloft safely, rope splicing, inspecting rigging, tuning rigs, and many other topics, for yacht owners and sailors, professional boat builders, marine tradespeople, US Coast Guard Inspectors, the National Association of Marine Surveyors (NAMS), the Society of American Marine Surveyors (SAMS), architects, horse trainers, arborists, equipment providers, tree house builders, timber framers, and the National Forest Service, among others. Brion has rigged — and worked aloft in — hundreds of sailing vessels, and has worked at heights in trees, stadiums, scaffolding and cranes for a vast array of rigging projects.
Brion practices a systems approach to rigging, which sets him apart from the crowd. This approach means that all components – the rig, hull structure, and even the sailor – are treated as an interdependent, interrelated system. Brion’s philosophy was born out of a lifelong interest in sailing and in the people who sail.
- Author of The Rigger’s Apprentice, The Rigger’s Locker, Chapman’s Guide to Knots, and Working Rope –Field Guides for Rigging.
Regular contributor to Sail, Practical Sailor and Cruising World magazines; as well as a contributor to Boat US- Ask the Experts and his own Fair Leads column and SparTalk – the latter two both available at www.briontoss.com
Has produced numerous technical rigging videos, including Inspecting Your Rig, Going Aloft, Tuning Your Rig, Splicing Wire Rope, 25 Basic Knots and Making Your Own Eye Splices.