Round 3 of the Victorian Wavesailing Series kicked off at Waratah Bay on Melbourne Cup Day - 1/11, as the last part of the SHQ Melbourne Cup Sandy Point Event. The conditions were tricky with a small 2ft wind swell and fickle cross to cross onshore winds. Some great jumping was possible if you were in the right spot at the right time! The turn out for the event was great with full Open and Intermediate divisions.
As the first heats kicked off, rain squalls played havoc with the wind, gusting between 10 and 20 knots. Due to the gusty wind it was difficult to stay in position upwind, so choosing large equipment was critical to battle the challenging conditions.
The intermediates were the first out to brave the cold and rain with Tom Rosoman and visitor Nick Taylor looking comfortable out there, catching plenty of waves and therefore advancing straight into the finals. Next up was the first expression session from the Open division. Joel Ryan managed to put together a few waves with solid turns and Dan Gardner landed a nice forward loop. The wind dropped half way through the heat and it was put on standby to allow everyone to make their way back upwind. Matt Comer took advantage of this and busted out some solid rides as soon as the heat was back under way, advancing to the semis along with Joel and Dan.
The second open expression session started well with enough wind for Tom, Al, Evan and Andy to all head out and land forwards simultaneously on their first run out.
As the wind dropped through the heat Tom was able to still pick up decent jumps and rides on his floaty 90+L board and 5.7. Al got a lucky gust and landed a high, clean forward putting him through to the semis while Andy also made it through with some forwards of his own and solid riding.
Next up was the super sessions allowing two riders from each division a second chance to make it into the next round. Josh Flipp did well riding a few waves and going for some decent forward attempts to make it through to the final, as did Darren. In the opens, late comer Andy Bain caught a couple of bomb sets downwind to secure a spot in the semis. Spotty was sailing very well, but unfortunately caught his best wave as the heat was put on standby, closely missing out to Evan who was consistently landing his jumps.
To get everyone back out on the water during a break from the heats, those who had never landed a forward before were eligible to enter the SHQ Forward Loop competition. The rules were simple - the person with best forward attempts wins a Neil Pryde Fly sail! After a few tips everyone hit the water and started throwing themselves over the handle bars. There were notable attempts (and crashes) from Nick Taylor, Tom Rosoman and Darren Ross. Phil Vaudrey (who can loop on port tack) had some hilarious crashes spinning through double loops, just without his equipment. Overall the best effort was put in by Josh Flipp who was awarded the sail for his commitment. Watching Josh going for loops every run and water starting out of some of his best attempts was great to see.
The semis were run in some of the most inconsistent conditions of the day with the wind dropping out a few times. Dan Gardner went for an awesome backloop that he just lost on the landing, allowing for the ever consistent Tom and Andy Ackland to make it through to the finals. On the other side of the draw Al McLeod and Evan scraped through with some landed forwards.
The intermediate finals started with Josh Flipp showing off his new found confidence, going for plenty of loops and backing them up with decent waves. Nick Taylor was solid just taking second from Tom Rosoman in third. Unfortunately Darren had to retire after a busted sail from all the forward looping insanity. In the opens the finals kicked off with one of the bigger sets of the day breaking and catching everyone inside in the fluky winds. Al struggled on his tiny 68L JP Quad, ending up downwind making it difficult to hunt down the needed jumps. Evan pulled a few small but clean forwards filling out the jump scores. Tom and Andy both caught some decent waves, with Tom also locking in his two jumps. In the final minutes of the heat Al went for a big gutterflip to try and get a solid jump in the bag but missed the landing in the light wind ending up 4th. Tom was sailing well in the tough conditions, using big equipment to get around the line up and catch plenty of waves giving him a deserved 1st over Evan in 2nd and Andy in 3rd.
Overall it was great to see the effort put into the whole long weekend by the SHQ crew paying off, thanks to everyone that helped make it happen.
Current championship standings here:
www.vicwavesailing.org/results 
Stay tuned for more pics.
