Al Hunter said...
I went on the SQ website to register and got totally confused
They have a pro category on 12'6 ,which even if I don't really share the interest of 12'6 only for pro I still can understand since it's the way they took for the Aussie title.
But now they have a pro category over 40 and one over 50. I am flattered that I could be considered Pro at over 50 but to make it more pro they of course put the limitation at 12'6 as well like the real pro! Even Surfing Australia ditched the 12'6 limitation for any aged group as they realised that nobody over 40 wanted to do a long distance on a 12'6.
To make it interesting they put an amateur category for aged group with unlimited board. That makes perfect sense knowing that 99% of the aged paddlers in Australia are paddling 14'. So now we will have an already very reduced over 50 field split in 2 categories and the choice will be to feel the pain on a 12'6 to be sure to be on the podium as they will hardly get 3 entries or paddle against one or 2 guys on unlimited...
Since the only aged paddler on the line with a 12'6 will be real amateurs having a go, they will now have to register in the pro to be on equal lenght board....or feel themselves very disadvantaged against unlimited boards.
All this makes no sense to me. Either ditch any aged group Pro category and just have an unlimited over 40 and over 50 if you want. Or if you absolutely want to have an aged group Pro category (which honestly looks ridicule just reading it) keep it at least under the same format at the National title which is under 14.
Just my opinion but don't forget that at 50 we want to go out there have a great race against the largest field of friends we can find and do it on a good board.
We don't want to go on a board too short for us to get 10$ getting placed in a pro category that will just split and already reduced field.
Hey Al thanks for your feedback,
When setting up this event I started a post on Seabreeze asking all paddlers to put their two cents in about competitions, board classes, age divisions, prizes, entertainment and generally what people wanted in an event.
The response was overwhelming and when setting up the Island Challenge we took note of what everybody wanted and our mission was to try to please everybody and put on a kick ass event that would put Stand up Paddle Boarding on the map!
I'm sorry Al if it's confusing but we have tried to cater for everybody.
So......................... I'll try to explain.
We decided to have a 12'6 Pro division (only because we felt it was more like a BOP race) and have a 40's men and women's and 50's men in this division. Yes this is for "Pro's" and "Pro Hards" and from all reports we will have the large majority of Australia's best coming.
A lot a paddlers have 12'6 boards and are fair'dink'm about training hard and competing at a high'ish level and would like to have a crack in the two laps 8.2k around the island race.
The "Island Challenge Event" is still red hot and serious but also a good opportunity for people to get into the sport and have a good crack at Paddling around Old Women Island in a safe and fun environment in a 1x lap 4.1k race on any unlimited board or 14' foot.
Yes I agree with you there is a lot of divisions but with 100 paddlers split up you will have some bloody good racing for everybody and don't forget everybody will start at the same time (conditions depending) and everyones time will be recorded.
So mate we would love to have you racing with us, enjoying the arvo SUP expo and having a drink with your paddling mates at the after party. Then on the Sunday watch or compete in the SUP surf event
Cheers Jonesy
PS, Hey Al if you have any other queries please don't hesitate to send me a private email.
PPS, I'll be contacting Surf Qld tomorrow and seeing if we can make the entry page more clearer.
