The usual categories will be held. Mens and Womens open, Juniors, Amateurs and Masters.

If there is time and wind then a big air, expression session and other fun events may be held.

With regards to the racing side of things the committee has been trying to organise a course racing series on friday nights but as yet the weather has not cooperated- stay tuned for further announcements on that....

Any other questions feel free to hit us up- otherwise tell your friends and family and get on down on the 15th and 16th for another awesome states !

Is there a backup date for the state titles?

The forecast at the moment looks about as bad as it could get. Looking forward to heading up that way to check out the action if the forecast changes.

Brad,

Getting amped for the States this weekend. Its always a great event and great fun to catch up with all the crew from around the state. Looking forward to seeing some of the boys throwing down some sick tricks 2, its always good to watch.

So make sure u get ur ass down to check it out. Even if ur a beginner its a great way to meet crew, get some tips and even join in by having some fun in the free ride sessions or go in the Amateurs division. There are usually plenty of great prizes up for grabs (and they dont all go to Open).

See u all there.

I'm thining about entering the Amature competition (there has to be someone making up the numbers).

How do you enter? Just show up at 9am and register, I can't seem to do it on the SAKSA website.
Do you need to be a SAKSA member to enter?
How is the event to be run? Will heat times be listed and then finals or something?
Is there a guide to how tricks are scored?

Hey guys, I am happy to volunteer as a judge again, I will be entering opens but am happy to sit and do it for the other categories. Looking forward to an awesome weekend!!!

If you have not been before I recommend you come down and get involved!!!

Personally I think that when judging you have to adjust how harsh you are with scoring depending on what your judging, is; a minor buttcheck on landing in amatures will not be as harshly penalized as if you did the same trick and landing in opens. It's the only way in my opinion to keep the competition fun and fair...PKRA is the top level of professional competition and therefore judged accordingly.

Righto gents (and ladies)... might just head this one off at the pass.

This weekend is looking like being a great comp. BigBlock, just to address a few of your concerns; SA have some prime quality riders. To say that the "technical aspects of the sport are way above the level of the riders" you are seeing, is a strange thing to say. The technical aspects of the sport are this... if you can fly a kite, get up on your board, you're technically a kiteboarder. Are you not?

As far as the competition goes, SA has run a number of really successful competitions in it's history (as SAKSA). If we were to run comps that were so stringent that only the best riders would, or could enter, we'd only see one, maybe two riders have a go. The other "good" riders probably wouldn't be bothered coming because there'd be no atmosphere, and probably MOST IMPORTANTLY, we'd be doing NOTHING for the sport of kiteboarding in so far as cultivating and inspiring new talent.

I'm sure you'll agree that kiting is a relatively new sport, and yes, I agree that there are some amazing riders around the world. But trying to pitch the South Australian State Titles as a PKRA level event, is not doing anyone any favours. We have a stack of young (and old) up and comers who just want to be a part of our kite community. This is just one of the ways in which we do this, by putting on comps where they can get some practice/experience in a competitive environment, but overall, just have a good time, get a T-shirt and meet/hang out with other kiters.

If you feel that your kiting is so far above the level of South Australian kiters, being from WA (that's what I'm reading into this), please, come along and give us an exhibition if you like. There's are a bunch of riders who would love to see some new moves. One of the judging criteria is centred around moves that have not been landed in competition before, you would certainly score highly in that area. If nothing else, may the best kiter win, and it sounds like that may well be you, but we'll just have to see, if you decide to enter.

Keep in mind, we have Ben Winding (local rider, was 2nd in Australia), Jordan Grimes (Whyalla rider who's ripping currently, but being from Whyalla, you're right, I doubt you would have seen him ride) and Martyn Bone (Red Bull rider who often rides during the day given his work schedule). You might not find it as easy to stomp through the competition as you think, but as the comps director, I'd really love to see a stiff challenge thrown to these blokes. Please come and compete. It just makes for a better competition for the viewing public and the other riders.

Quick note on the judging criteria; Yes, it is a PKRA type format. This is to try and get riders familiar with an international judging standard at a basic level, so if they do get to that level, it is comfortable to them. If nothing else, it serves as a good, fair and easy basis for judging an event. Yes, it ignores crashed tricks, but riders ARE NOT penalized by crashes. We have some reputable judges at our disposal. We've tried to get someone knowleagable in kiteboarding and wakeboarding, to cover the wakestyle/freestyle aspects, as well as someone well versed AND well respected as a local kiteboarder. The best riders in the PKRA are not judging, they're riding. I think you can see my point.

We've tried many judging methods. We've designed this one to allow judges to WATCH the heat rather than being flat out scribbling notes and missing critical moves. The PKRA format has given us the best chance of making this happen. We feel this will lead to a FAIRER and more CONSISTENT competition in terms of results.

Ultimately, the SAKSA State Titles (waves and freestyle) are participation events. We are out to be the BEST kiteboarding association in the country. The most welcoming, the most organized, the most fun, the most community conscious and the one that more people wish they could join than any other! We feel that we are on the way to doing so and we'd like to welcome you to our state of kitesurfing and I want to invite you personally to our State Freestyle Titles. I think you'd be a good addition to the lineup! I look forward to watching you throwdown and maybe even more so, having a beer with you after the comp!

Thanks,
Jordan
Comps Director.

Well put jordy!!!! And to bigblock, there was no disrespect meant towards you. Hopefully we will catch up for a beer on the weekend. Catchya all there :)

Just one more thing, where is the best place to get the weather for Adelaide, all of the sites i have checked show no wind and no tide movement for Saturday, and combined with the posible rain on Friday would indicate no chance of a seabreeze. and i have found a maximum of 13kts for Sunday. with most of the sites indicating 10 kts, so is there a back up date?

Looking forward to coming down and watching the action when it happens

Brad.

Thanks for your further comments Brad. All good mate, no offense taken and I fully understand your point. I think my point is that yes, you're right, judge it the same way and let the results speak for themselves. Criteria won't be relaxed as such, you can only judge what is deemed judgicable.

As far as weather, this gulf is a funny one. Ironically, seabreeze's graphs don't predict sea breezes all that well but with time and experience, it does provide a good indication of what is likely to happen. Those who've lived here for a while will know a SW bias in the morning, no frontal activity, little or no cloud, and a warm day, say 24-34 degrees will generally produce a strong consistent seabreeze. SA actually has probably some of the better sea breezes around the country. Great, solid, consistent winds. Often with a SE bias, it'll go offshore but at this point we're not facing that. It's shaping up to be great. I would always consult a few sources. Seabreeze, BOM etc, and then just take a punt. We've all shown up somewhere with our gear and fot the forecast totally wrong at some point. Fingers crossed it won't happen this weekend but it's always possible.

Furthermore, if you are after some help getting your kiting up to speed, we have plenty of great instructors in the community that we could hook you up with. Elements, red baron, kite school, transitions are just a few to choose from. Whatever happens though, Saksa promotes responsible kiting and strongly recommend joining the association for insurance purposes at least. We also fight to keep beaches open and keep kiting safe and accessible to everyone.

Thanks,
Jordan.

I'm not sure i need a kite school to push my riding further, i am very comfortable on the water and can do a handful of tricks enough to keep me keen, in a recreational freeride way. But like i said i am more of a fan of kiteboarding than a competitor and will be down there watching. Hope

I have aksa insurance at the moment but not with saksa, when my membership needs renewing i will change it over, no point paying for the same insurance twice. I have no doubt that saksa do a lot for kiteboarding in this state.

The gulf is a funny place i have to agree, but putting your money on a SB with a dodge tide and extremely wet inland conditions is a bit far fetched, especially with the season we have had. I would be crossing my fingers for some sort of isolated storm front, but Sunday could pick up enough to run some heats. looks better down my end of town Sunday arvo at Aldinga

With the dodge tide and the water at 1.1m all day long saturday will there be much water over the sandbar at grange?

After a nice little session on the water down the Chicken shop last night im frothing for this weekend. If ur humming and harring, make sure u make the effort and come down, wind or no wind its always loads of fun, but is definately looking the goods Sunday! And with a stack of prizes up for grabs yet again from our fantastic sponsors even the average punter who gets out there and gets amoungst it will score a nice little prize.

C u there!

Quick weather check folks...

BOM Forecast says:
Saturday : Wind: SE/NE 5/15 knots shifting S 5/15 knots during the afternoon,
freshening to 10/20 knots in the evening.
Sunday : SW/S 15/25 knots.

At this point, Saturday is looking a 50/50 chance later in the arvo. Sunday however is looking prime for a great comp!

Remember, there's always things going on in light or no wind situations. Get along and enjoy the day!

See you all there!

To all those who aren't sure whether or not to enter this weekend- our majorest prize is a $850 Blade 136 by 42 Kiteboard which will be going to someone who is out giving it a red hot go....it wont be the best rider but it will be someone who embodies the spirit of what this competition is about- having a crack and having fun !

So come down and sign up- there are plenty of other prizes to be given away, and the comp is shaping up to be a cracker !

Weather Update time!

Saturday : Wind: SE/NE 5/10 knots, shifting SE/SW 10/15 knots late morning,
freshening to 15/20 knots late afternoon and early evening. Sea: around 0.5 m,
rising to 1 to 2 m late afternoon. Swell: S/SW 0.5 to 1 m on southern Spencer
Gulf.
Sunday : SW/S 10/20 knots, reaching 15/25 knots during the afternoon and
early evening.

Looks like Adelaide will ONCE AGAIN turn on the wind for us! The forecast has got better every day since Monday. It was looking sketchy but I think today's sunshine and the High on it's way has kept the rain conditions at bay and we're looking at prime comp conditions!

See you all there!