Hi guys,

Are there any kiters interested in racing for the fun in Sydney?

Heard in September 08 that NSWKA was working on organising such project with one of Botany Bay's sailing clubs, but as I didn't see any further news since then, I was wondering if they had found ressources to allocate on that front. If there is anything being organised, could anyone please let us know?

I believe that at Botany Bay we have a fantastic playground with quite e few options to do long distance races on uncroweded areas with both choppy and flatwater zones... (and wind!!) For example Dolls Point to Towra/Kurnell, or Dolls to Hollywood with long upwind followed by a strait downwind... could be fun to see what gear and riders perform best in each different situation, and on "long" distance.

If nothing is planned, would there be any kiters interested in getting together and try that? If we don't have marker buoys and marshals, I guess it's going to be a bit difficult but we could always give it a try for the fun and see (for example we could do the start roughly together from just downwind of Dolls green fixed buoy, and the goal would be to be the first to touch the dry sand of the sandbank at the westerned end of Kurnell)... if we can get 10-15 kiters I think it could be good fun!

cheers
Jacques
PS. the idea is definatly not to do a strait downwinder!

keep me posted

It will take some people with a passion and some enthusiasm to organise and run the event
It looks like there are now 4 people who can run with the idea and make it happen

make that 5

Great idea Jacques,

Count me in for any assistance to organise it and of course participate

I'm sure I can round up a few people to join in too.

Manny

Hi Jacques... good on you mate. Count me in..

WA has been doing this stuff for a while and its about time we start here as well. The kiters community is quite large here and this I am sure will take shape in no time.

I have some free time during the day and can lend a hand for whatever.

V

The Georges River 16ft Sailing Club might be another good one to contact. I think their Saturday sailing is a little light on. Plus its at Dolls Point so its a good central location.

eightfootplus said...

I'm trying to imagine tacking duals with 30m lines and priority around bouys and calling starboard. I can see some interesting racing going on. And the starting line that should be fun.

Perhaps a straight out time trial might work better with guys starting every 30 seconds, just to put some space between the lines.

heres a link http://www.ooto.com/uskite07.html

its getting quite popular in San Fran .A mate had a race there when visiting and can prolly give an idea of what they did .the 30 second break would prolly be a good idea to kick of but starting from scratch can be done and would be quite exciting

and I say - let the fun begin!!! Need help organising? - PM me.

hey, that sounds awsome! I would love to do some racing since i have a sailing background. so count me in.

Sounds like a challenge.

I'm in too :)

Hi all,

Very glad to see that many positive feedbacks about the idea, let's make it happen!!

Steve, this is really nice of you to offer assistance with your boat, I guess this is the most important bit, we will contact you once we have a more detailled project.

I will coordinate the organisation the best I can, with the little time I have available. Currently starting to put something together with the help of Mike (Schmik) and Manny (manno_au):
==> For suggestions please PM me or email at sydney.kite.racing@gmail.com
==> At this stage aiming to have something up for the start of March

cheers
Jacques

Jacques,

Don't have much time but I am happy to help if needed. PM me if needed.

Cheers

KIT33R said...

I had a visit from Steve from KP yesterday and we agreed that the quickest way for racing to happen is to have a talk to the Kurnell Catamaran Club again now that we have strong interest. I'll put the ball in motion with them.

As you guys know I'm stuck at home with a fractured foot and can't get out without assistance so SSKC will need help.

The Cat club has the infrustructure to easily run races and have offered their help in the past. They have windsurfer racing every second weekend and are prepared to slot us in with them on those days for our own races. They will set the course to our specification and provide marshells.

Remember, if you wish to compete you MUST be a member of NSWKBA (or equivalent) for the insurace otherwise they will not let you compete.

I'll send private messages to the guys I know on this post so we can set up some dialogue.

Anyone keen to help please send me a message. Once we have something in place I'll email all of the NSWKBA southside members which are automatically SSKC members

Graeme Snowdon
President
SSKC

might be an idea to try sailing a cat with a cat too .I found that it works great .just hop on the tramp and put your feel up against the leeward side of the tramp frame .great light wind option.Big kite works well (doona )don't know how LEi would go in the lulls or stuff up Gybes.initially we rode with akiter and a steerer but got pretty good at it and kited and steered .i'd stick with the kiter and steerer

All good ideas fellas. We initially discussed a trianglular course out from the Cat club with an up wind leg and an off the wind leg for speed. A staggered timed start would eliminate any pile up before you got going and you could handicap the competitors depending on their level of skill (years/months kiting), that way no one is disadvantaged. If we keep everyone in sight it is also much safer. And each race should take about 15 - 30 minutes.

Any thoughts?

I am very keen on doing starts with all kiters at the same time... have a look at videos of PKRA races such as this one:

... having 10s of kites all together looks awesome fun to be part of, and even just to watch!

Also, I think if we go one at a time it would not be completely fair because the wind will be slightly different each time, and there would be the hassle of timing each rider, and also each rider would not know how good or bad it is doing until the results are announced...

Of course, getting tangles is a risk, and in the racing series in Europe or US, it is recommended to be well powered or have a park&ride type of kite, as you don't want to have to work your kite and be in the way of all the other competitors... but at the end of the day, what we want to start with at this stage is just a race format suitable for a good laught so no big issue I think... riders will just have to take it easy on the start and avoid too agressive kite flying on the first few tacks.

In regards to handicaps, I think this is a valid thing for a mature sport whrere standards are clearly established, but I would personaly find it a bit constraining for our sport at this stage, and I would also love to try and encourage people to make prototypes boards, kites, line lenght and try them out... for the fun of seeing what works best, and without trying to penalise the ones who are trying new things...

let's do some tests and see what format we like most for our sport!
cheers
Jacques