I am also keen. Take it you just need to be a YA member to enter?

Hi Guys.

I'm not a kiter but I am a dinghy racing sailor and because of that I wouldn't assume that being a member of the association automatically means that you will be a member of YA. In sailing, YA membership is handled through clubs, not your class association and it's an additional cost on top of your club membership. I do agree though that it will become mandatory to join if you do more than three races per year, same as sailing.

We went through this a few years ago when kiting first got recognized as a sailing class. YA membership does not cover your public liability unless at an organized event but does include some personal accident insurance. I remember one sticking point AKSA had in joining YA was the need to wear a pfd. So did you guy's have to wear one for the Nationals? One good thing for us here is we are all part of the local yacht club already and actually make up the majority of sailers at the club.
Probably the cheapest yacht club in Australia too at $65/year.
You should be able to start your own kite racing clubs and become YA covered.
This is probably something AKSA will have to re address if races are going to be run with YA.

turtle is right, To be ISAF class there has to be provisions to wear a life jacket, take the 1ft skiffs, the class decided that it is safer to not wear PFD's so ISAF wont recognise the class, and therefore they cant hold ISAF world championships.

But some olympic classes have a flag that is raised where then they must wear the PFD's although it has to be in the boat at all times.

i think that this is something that ISAF wont budge on and we may as well embrace it, there are some pretty small ones that you can get now, look at all the wind surfers.

As for sail melb, lets get a huge turn up. i'm 100% in

AGK said...

turtle is right, To be ISAF class there has to be provisions to wear a life jacket, take the 1ft skiffs, the class decided that it is safer to not wear PFD's so ISAF wont recognise the class, and therefore they cant hold ISAF world championships.

But some olympic classes have a flag that is raised where then they must wear the PFD's although it has to be in the boat at all times.

i think that this is something that ISAF wont budge on and we may as well embrace it, there are some pretty small ones that you can get now, look at all the wind surfers.

As for sail melb, lets get a huge turn up. i'm 100% in

The dates that the kiting will take place at sail melbourne are not set yet, so it may not take place over the whole regatta!.

Did u get my text about your gear?

eppo said...

Ta for that gives a good perspective. Question is why did they have to get rid of windsurfing. It like getting rid of a class of yacht racing. They are very different. Shame. Man those race boards have some serious finnage.

A bit like asking why did they get rid of the Star class yacht

I assume this would be a different venue than Sail Melbourne?
It would be nice to have them at the same place, but I cant see an ISAF multi class event like this having freestyle in the mix.

Have you guys had any race competitions there in the past?

That sounds good if they intend to have both freestyle and racing at the same venue.

How was the turn out last year for both disciplines

the racing should be as close to the beach as possible.
if its 2km offshore nobody (spectators) can see anything!

At last years sailmelbourne the rs-x was raced infront of the wave screen (which has public access) and from my brief chat the plan is to hold kite racing in the same position. Which judging from last year is a perfect spectator platform as sandringham yc has a huge deck spanning the length of the clubhouse.

I have no doubt that the racing will be easily viewable for all to see.

have a look at this link for an idea of the racing area, it should be between the club and the first set of wash you see from the power boat, depending on course size etc.

i cant wait

When you say "wave screen" (concrete) I think you really mean the rock breakwater.

There is a big wind shadow in front of the wave screen. You need to be at least 100m away for reliable planing even with a kite high and riding a raceboard.

There is not much room for racing and no good spot for spectating except for the beach or peering through the bushes on the cliff.

In previous years the RS-X racing has been off the breakwater. There's heaps of room and heaps of wind. People can sit all along the breakwater or stand in the deck or in the bar of the yacht club (members only except for the restaurant).

They usually set the course out to sea from the buoy off the yacht club, opposite the control tower. That's probably good for racing but not so good for spectating (unless you're in a boat).

The view from the beach is not so good unless they send competitors down towards Green Point. Then you have heaps of parking and good viewing/access from the beach, cycle track, cliff, road etc.

The wind and terrain towards Black Rock is pretty good but parking and viewing from the road is restricted. There's a few reefs that will take out raceboard fins if they come in close.

PS Some of my most fun kiting is chasing the women's RS-X racers around the course on my kite. I could cut the corners and beat them to the marks. Plenty of action and hot women in wetsuits.

Whats the conditions usually like around this time? Seabreezes?