www.noosafestivalofsurfing.com/

complete results here surfing included

Great event for sure , my thoughts sunday arvo for one !if it was a saturday or even early sunday morning those that travel can book accomidation sat night race in the morning.racing in the afternoon then having to drive home after racing is a bit hard.

JonesySUP said...
I'm a little confused and very disappointed with the number of paddlers that competed in this years Noosa BOP race.
It's arguably the best venue in the world to have a BOP race, its spectacular amphitheater and with one to two thousand people watching its bloody Australia's best!!!!
It only cost $44 dollars and you got a Tshirt and goodie bag.
Come on SUP'ers tell me why you didn't go??
I would love to spark up a debate and see why this wasn't MASSIVE!!!!!

Cheers Jonesy

PS....For the paddlers that competed, WOW that was the best!!!, surfing 2-3 foot first point on your 12'6 race board with no surfers in the water for one hour "Priceless"

Not everyone is into BOP style races or owns a 12'6

One thing to look at first is in your own back yard! 15 out of the 30 were from outside the sunny coast

JonesySUP said...
I'm a little confused and very disappointed with the number of paddlers that competed in this years Noosa BOP race.
It's arguably the best venue in the world to have a BOP race, its spectacular amphitheater and with one to two thousand people watching its bloody Australia's best!!!!
It only cost $44 dollars and you got a Tshirt and goodie bag.
Come on SUP'ers tell me why you didn't go??
I would love to spark up a debate and see why this wasn't MASSIVE!!!!!

Cheers Jonesy

PS....For the paddlers that competed, WOW that was the best!!!, surfing 2-3 foot first point on your 12'6 race board with no surfers in the water for one hour "Priceless"

Might be because there's people that buy a SUP and are happy to just paddle around on the lake ,river ,ocean and don't feel any need to compete in an event?,
bit like a sup'r who likes throwing dishpan turns free surfing and has no need to enter a contest to be judged whether there's enough rail in the turn or not

RJK said...

Adapt said...

JonesySUP said...
I'm a little confused and very disappointed with the number of paddlers that competed in this years Noosa BOP race.
It's arguably the best venue in the world to have a BOP race, its spectacular amphitheater and with one to two thousand people watching its bloody Australia's best!!!!
It only cost $44 dollars and you got a Tshirt and goodie bag.
Come on SUP'ers tell me why you didn't go??
I would love to spark up a debate and see why this wasn't MASSIVE!!!!!

Cheers Jonesy

PS....For the paddlers that competed, WOW that was the best!!!, surfing 2-3 foot first point on your 12'6 race board with no surfers in the water for one hour "Priceless"

Not everyone is into BOP style races or owns a 12'6

If not bops then what? Bops are the ultimate downwinders as your surf real waves not just chop?

I'm also confused why 12'6 wouldn't be in everyone's quiver if not the only race board. I find they are more fun down winding, surf better, are cheaper and smaller so easier to handle and store????

Sorry just have no real interest in competing in BOP racing. But I like watching it

As for the 12'6 not everyone can afford to have every style of board. I'd prefer to have a 14 due to my size, weight, fitness level and what I'm more likely going to use the board for. I'd love a shed full of boards but that's a dream, maybe one day

Two divisions may help.

Most of the guys and girls that entered would be in the elite class I guess,the average punted would not enter because they would get lapped,why not have elite and novice divisions.

Just an idea,same if I was invited to one of the training camps here I wouldn't go for this reason,hope that helps.

JonesySUP said...
I'm a little confused and very disappointed with the number of paddlers that competed in this years Noosa BOP race.
It's arguably the best venue in the world to have a BOP race, its spectacular amphitheater and with one to two thousand people watching its bloody Australia's best!!!!
It only cost $44 dollars and you got a Tshirt and goodie bag.
Come on SUP'ers tell me why you didn't go??
I would love to spark up a debate and see why this wasn't MASSIVE!!!!!

Cheers Jonesy

PS....For the paddlers that competed, WOW that was the best!!!, surfing 2-3 foot first point on your 12'6 race board with no surfers in the water for one hour "Priceless"

I came 2 years ago and the start has been postponed all morning ( almost 4 hours if I remember) because obviously the bop race was not a priority for the organisers that day. Results have never been posted nowhere after the race ever.
But for the public it was very successfull with a fantastic finish between kelly and travis, so I thought the organisers understood it could be popular and next year will be different.
I came last year. Basically same thing, very hard to get the results in you were not in the top 5.
So I just told myself Noosa BOP race won't be a priority anymore for me because they made me feel they don't care.
Just the opposit of the coolum BOP race that was good the 1st year and good again the 2nd year. Of course I will go back in 2013 to support them !

Please don't take any of this to heart but you have asked for feed back and why this event has gotten smaller and what makes a good event, well here's my take on it and some ideas from my point.

A few of the guys above have hit the nail on the head with some of there points. I was not going to do this comp either after going to it the last 2 or so years and leaving a little disappointed but thought i would give it one more chance and sorry to say i was still not overly impressed.

Things i picked up on.

Feels like the SUP is not really a big part of the event, no where in the name of the event is SUP mentioned yet it pretty much takes up a whole day of the comp. The race although was fun and it is great to get waves on the point with a race sup seemed unorganized with just simple things like have a course map for people to look at or having decent sized turning buoys.
If you want more numbers you need to have age groups as not everyone wants to race against Beau or Jake!! most people just want to have fun and getting put in the same group with the guys and girls that train every day is a bit rough.

If you call up the top 3 guys then at least call the top 3 girls up as well, maybe have some encouragement awards try and get people stoked to come to a event!!

This next one is a bit touche but here goes.
PRIZES!!! come on really!! with all the sponsors around at that event you are telling me that someone could not get a box of leg ropes or some board covers or something? It is NOT that hard i have done it on many occasions and really it is not that hard. Good on Quiver Caddy for what they did but what was there was not a real effort. To me it still feels like we are just being tacked on to a long board event and just another way for them to make a bit more money.

Why are none of the local shops involved? if you want numbers then that should be your first point of contact if nothing else they should be able to help you get better prizes and i'm not talking about giving the top guys more by the way more about giving back to the people who make this sport happen!!

Alot of the time it's just getting the little things right and building on that and this goes right back to listening to some people who might know more about certain things EG: The inside buoy, i'm pretty sure 2 or 3 people told the course guy that it would move if it was put in the waves and sure enough at the race sure enough it moved!! not a big deal but it's all about getting the small things right.

With all the events on these days everyone has to really lift their act if they want to get the numbers, do things a little different.

Flame suit on

Jacko

I read with interest what has been written above and how its a great venue but certain things are lacking to make it a fantastic event.

We run the ALSO at Kingscliff beginning next week. We have done what we can to accommodate the SUPs into both the surfing and racing part of our event(and have supported SUPs since 2007) and given the BOP major time placement on the Sunday. All competitors get a competitors bag with a spot prize plus thanks to Illusions @ Noosa we have 2 SUPs to be given away to lucky SUP competitors. (You must be present at the preso to win.) Everyone says they are supporting the event and we have put a lot of time & effort into making this a quality event for the SUP's. However we need the SUP community to support the event and put in their entrys.

JonesySUP said...

Plus I don't think its just Noosa declining in numbers?? another thing that stood out was only that their was one junior paddler, no development of young guns in any sport means a limited time span for the sport!
I'm interested to see the numbers in the Kingscliff comp, Xcel race, Qld titles this year and other comps around Aust. Here's hoping a swell of fresh competitors are on the horizon.

At least you guys got to have a race!!....and the conditions looked unreal.
Believe it or not the Vicco State Titles BOP race was cancelled due to lack of participation.....apparently 9 people is not enough entries to warrant running a race for State team slection [}:)][}:)]
Big shame
There are other threads going on at the moment that probably offer some good reasons why crew are not turning up to races

Making an event that caters for all is the big key. The elite group is a small group in any competition none the less an important group. Though their numbers do not lend to the growth of events or the successful marketing of events with running costs. For the sport to grow it must attract more to participate. This can not be obtained by pitching all against the best each time and expecting the 90%ers to just keep turning up.

Looking at any sport structure to develop a high pyramid you need a large base.

Here are some ideas that might attract more. Not taking away from the importance of having the main race for the elite but just ideas so there are more steps to the elite race and not just a giant leap from a novice. Also catering for those whose age eliminates them from the elite though still have a desire to compete at their peer level.

1. Age groups divisions so that there is interest and recognition at all levels.
2. Different length races for either ability or age. We did similar to this at Coolum and then used it as a qualifier to the elite group.
3. Handicapped events that push the elite but allow the others a chance.
4. Novel events at the comp that may be attached to prizes so anyone might win something.
5. Allowing shops and distributors to set up at the events to showcase their wares and run demos. This may also offset the cost if a small fee was charged. By having a sole sponsor you can prevent this. Can be a catch 22 situation. This event had large sponsorship from one supplier and as such others understandably could not set up displays. I love attending events that have all types on display and for demo. I personally would go out of my way to go to these events to test all gear in the one spot. We did this last year with great success at the Lake Kawana.
6. Junior specific races. From short distance micro from events etc. etc. This leads to a family event.
7. Maybe divisions instead of age. A, B, C, D etc. this is bigger picture stuff and would need monitoring from race to race. Newbies could come and smash a lower division but from then on would be classed up???

Not saying these are the answers but just something to brain storm about. If there is a decline in racers after the initial splash of interest then doing the same each time and expecting growth does not seem the best idea.

I am sure there are many other ideas out there better than mine. Post them if you have some regardless if you think it is silly as someone else may take part of your idea and come up with something great.
Brainstorm as a collective group.

Go Andy. What a comeback

Gassa said...
all I can say is its a mal event and lets leave it that way ,

Well I got to agree with that one,sorry guys but bagging the organisers for not been given the time of day,wake up your lucky to get a start in this comp which has a rich history.Water your own garden and don't use pest control

Every year you complain.

kissa said...
Go Andy. What a comeback

Second that!