For the record, I meant "Rogue Queenslander" in a very complimentary way. Because there's some really fast paddlers in Queensland! Male & Female.

lfrenchy2007 said...

Do I have to bring down a pfd for this race ?

No.. but you can if you like.. or think that you need to if you can't swim.. You should have a leggie.

DJ

Starboard the main sponsor of the GMP will be down at Green Point on Saturday the the 3rd with Annabel Anderson runniing a race clinic at 7.00am and a ladies clinic at 9,30am followed by demos till 2.00pm.

So get the competitive advantage for the big race or just tune your skills, see you down there.

On Sunday we will be down at Greepoint all day again for the big race and will have demo boards available from 7.30am.

For further demos check out SUP.net.au

Ian

Thanks heaps Dave. I would have jumped off after the West Gate through Port Melbourne, past my old old pad in Albert Park, down Beach Rd / Esplanade the whole way.

Just cracked a Carb Loader (Beer - Boags Premium! Race Prep for the Professionals! )

I'm aiming for a Top 10 Finish in my class. Aiming for 10th.

Great Melbourne Paddle is going ahead but is moving to Sandringham Marina. Come to Sandringham Football Club carpark opposite Triangle Park and just north of Safeway petrol station and SHQ.

Here's the big winners of The 2011 Starboard Great Melbourne Paddle.

DJ

Great fun race guys. Well run and awesome turn out considering the wind. Look forward to coming down again maybe. Well done to everyone that placed in the hard race conditions today & great effort by all that raced. Xx Angie

The event was very professionally run and was a credit to the SUP Vic Crew.

To have to shift the event at the last moment and still have it run like clock work is no mean feat.

Dave Hunt did a wonderful job on the mic keeping people informed and the ability to hear what was going on from the waters edge was a great help.

The conditions were easily met by the elite paddlers, however the rest of the field did it tough and it became a mission to just get the 3 laps done.

Through the binoculars it was interesting to see the boards disappear in the troughs which was a true indication of how choppy it was at the bottom mark.

Watching Jacko and Annabelle power home like it was a warm up was simply amazing they hardly broke a sweat.

Congrats to all those that completed the course and also to those who gave it thier best!

Phill

Thanks to everyone who obviously put a lot of effort into organising and running the event so successfully in less than perfect conditions. This was just my second race since joining the sport. I certainly got value for money at the back end of the field, taking 1 1/2 hrs to complete the course. Rather than feeling beaten, it was a great challenge and the variety of conditions certainly sped up the learning curve. It was tough but now I just want to get back out and do it again (once the body recovers!).

DavidJohn said...

Hey Phill.. Kristi did a great job braving those conditions and winning her class.

DJ

Hey DJ,

Kristi's goal was just to finish as it was a tough course with the wind, huge thank you to Jacko, Annabel, Angie, Simon, and other paddlers for their encouragement of Kristi during the race and for Ian Grouse, Chris Sal and DJ finding Kristi the Startboard Aces to race on at the last moment.

Kristi wants to focus more on racing as endurance fitness and cross training for Surfing in 2012 so we are planning to make it to more events up in Melb.

DJ thanks again for your help.

Phill

Bnaccas said...

Great effort guys (Dave, JC, Wooz, Paul, Tim) for organising a "Great" event!

Thanks Ian from Starboard for supporting the event and congrats to Simon Morris who won the new Starboard.

Thanks Rob and Ross for helping out at registration.

A lot of great assistance on the day but one who hasn't been mentioned is Famon Wong for caddying all the boards on the beach as racers finished. Much appreciation.

Well done all the competitors, to see the effort going into the race from the water was just fantastic. Let me tell you that even in a 5m RIB some of those waves were huge down at the business end of the course. Amazing achievement from Annabel and Jacko but I think the people that pushed themselves in probably tougher conditions than they had ever paddled in should really be congratulated. To battle away out there for almost two hours was absolutely incredible.
Thank you Ian Grose, Starboard and all the other sponsors. And thanks to SUP VIC members and friends for all the hard work on the day.

Will post all results of the 8km race tonight, Leon.

well done Sup Vic on organizing such a effyn fantastic event, the amount of volunteered hours that you blokes put in was evident by the seamless manner in which the event was run. I know it would have been ideal to have no winds but I kinda liked the change of venue and the harshness of conditions as it was such a great physical workout....... but I am pretty sore