Conditions are looking good for this weekend's downwind race and a decision will be made in the next day or so on course and day so stay tuned to the Face Book page and Sea Breeze. Can we get conditions like competitors had in the 20 Beaches race?

This race will be sponsored by STAND UP PADDLE GEAR AUSTRALIA.

Are you going to paddle this one Johnny :)

robg1703 said..

Are you going to paddle this one Johnny :)

Yes Rob, I might come for a paddle in this one.

Rego will be at Brownwater from midday with a 1:30pm briefing and a 2pm start.

Entries are now open and can be found on the Face book page of Sydney SUP Downwind series. Please enter early to help organisers. Payment is made at the start, not on line.

Great conditions for today's race saw nearly 40 paddlers line up at Brown Water for the 10km run up the coast to Newport. A nice southerly pushed paddlers along a very scenic stretch of coastline. (I bet no one actually looked at the view) OC1 paddler Steve Vinney crossed the line ahead of locals Sam Parker, Steve Morrison and Andy Davies.

Finishing in 11th place was a guy who is used to running downwind at speed. Jimmy Spithill who skippered Oracle to victory in this years America's Cup showed that he is no slouch on a paddle board either to finish well up in a solid field of paddlers..

(Sorry for the way these results appear - they were all nicely spaced until the results were posted.)

1?39?Steve Vinney Mens Open Open Class??M?49:50.4?- (OC1)
2?44?Sam Parker Mens Open Open Class???51:41.7?+1:51.3
3?36?Steve Morrison Mens Open Open Class??M?53:03.1?+3:12.7
4?3?Andy Davies Mens Open Open Class?33?M?54:17.5?+4:27.1
5?7?Charles Domin Mens Open Open Class?34?M?54:26.9?+4:36.5
6?22?Mick Davis Mens 40's Open Class?47?M?56:27.6?+6:37.2
7?24?Pete Morgan Mens Open Open Class?39?M?56:48.8?+6:58.4
8?29?Terrene Black 14' Womens?30?F? 57:58.2?+8:07.8
9?32?James Casey Mens Open Open Class???58:17.6?+8:27.2
10?31?Tim Wyers Mens Open Open Class?31?M?59:01.0?+9:10.6
11?34?Jimmy Spithill Mens Open Open Class??M?59:32.3?+9:41.9
11?14?John Engel Mens 50's Open Class?51?M?59:32.3?+9:41.9
13?13?Jimmy Melhuish Mens Open Open Class?25?M?59:55.9?+10:05.5
14?12?James Tibbett Mens Open Open Class?25?M?59:59.7?+10:09.3
15?19?Lee Johnson Mens 40's Open Class?45?M?1:00:23.9?+10:33.5
16?27?Robert Meredith Mens Open Open Class?35?M?1:00:57.1?+11:06.7
17?11?Jacy Shimahara 12'6: Men?19?M? 1:02:07.1?+12:16.7
18?33?Adam Quinn Mens 40's Open Class???1:03:14.8?+13:24.4 19?4?
19 Ben Chin Mens Open Open Class?39?M?1:04:04.8?+14:14.4
20?9?Evan Green Mens Open Open Class?36?M?1:04:46.6?+14:56.2
21?38?Jarrad Howse Mens Open Open Class??M?1:05:06.7?+15:16.3
22?40?Roger Casey Mens 50's Open Class?51?M?1:05:39.4?+15:49.0
23?5?Brett Baber 12'6: Men?52?M? 1:05:47.7?+15:57.3
24?17?Kevin Long Mens 50's Open Class?52?M?1:06:18.5?+16:28.1
25?37?Nathan Purll Mens Open Open Class?38?M?1:06:45.7?+16:55.3
26?26?Rob Gittoes 12'6: Men? 48?M? 1:07:51.7?+18:01.3
27?30?Tim Radford Mens 40's Open Class?48?M?1:08:21.2?+18:30.8
28?43?Anton Frurie Mens Open Open Class?36?M?1:08:46.1?+18:55.7
30?2?Andrew Lai Mens Open Open Class?37?M?1:10:02.7?+20:12.3
31?42?Gareth Grant Mens 40's Open Class??M?1:10:46.3?+20:55.9
32?16?Kevin Claret Mens 40's Open Class?49?M?1:11:39.5?+21:49.1
33?8?Chris Ting Mens 40's Open Class?44?M?1:12:57.4?+23:07.0
34?15?John Peard Mens 40's Open Class?41?M?1:13:34.8?+23:44.4
35?23?Mike Hayes Mens 50's Open Class?51?M?1:14:31.4?+24:41.0
36?35?Andrew Howard Mens Open Open Class??M?1:14:33.1?+24:42.7
37?28?Tammy Montgomery 14' Womens?39?F? 1:14:37.8?+24:47.4
38?21?Matt Montgomery Mens 40's Open Class?41?M?1:18:17.5?+28:27.1

GO!
Not sure if this will work but here is the link to 40 seconds of the start (unedited) -

The video above shows me heading off to the right of screen while the rest of the field bolts straight toward the finish. My tactical genius was to use the shelter of the headland to sneak further east & then surf back into the field as they cut across the wind. I checked the water over the rock platform an hour or so before the start & it was deep enough, only problem was the tide dropped leaving me dragging a fin & tapping out little shallow paddles across the rock. By the time I dragged myself off the reef the pack was 150m clear. Lesson learned. After that it was a great run, thanks to the organisers.

Looks like a good southerly predicted for Sunday, if anyone is keen for a repeat run from Long Reef to Newport then please contact me because I am.

Good to see former World Tour Pro Surfer Jarrad Howse racing SUP