just seen race description for king of coast, on sunshine coast and only sup class is 12'6 and under, or you race in open class against craft that go twice as fast like surf club ski's and outriggers. after having a coversation with someone else yesterday he also mentioned at coffs they were talking about only really having races with sup at 12'6 and under in the future. does any one have any input or info on this subject and after just buying a 14' naish and 2 others i know have just bought the same whats the point of racing them in full open class against something we can not compete against, or have i misenterpreted the race guides

I have just asked the same question in the "king of the coast" thread.

It looks like they are also adopting the same policy for "the doctor" race in WA.

Using an unlimited board in open sea conditions is the way to go for me and I won't be getting a 12'6" for any of these races. I would like to do as many of these races as I can but am a little less enthusiastic about them with this current policy.

The sport is still growing , just look at the commitment from Surftech and Naish they have invested big money into 14 & 17 ft boards , those big boards are here to stay.

Organisers may struggle to feild all 3 race classes here in Aus but as the numbers swell so will the prizemoney.

Rob

Having just purchasing a 17ft i feel the same. The sport is still young we need some structure. Do we start our own organisation,or chime in with AOCRA. There are many kinks we have to iron out. But a start might be 12'6 for short races and 14 and 17s for long downwinders or even both categories in the same race different distances

With about 20 Naish 17 boards out there and who knows how many 14's and that's just Naish by the time you put all the bigger penetrator's, DC's, starboards and the few others, there are already enough to get some good racing. You can understand why Starboard put the money in the 12'6 class with them not having larger race boards at the moment, and fair enough it's there money.

Jacko

paul.j said...

camo hosk said...

The 12'6" sup class seems to be getting strong in the US ,and going by what happens in a lot of sports the manufacturers will cater to the biggest market and the size classes then tend to follow.
May be different over here though if the numbers are right,guess we'll wait and see,

Cheers.

You are right the 12'6 class is big over there but they mainly race flat water where as most of the races here are in the ocean. As far as i read 12'6 does not really exist in Hawaii either.

I would put money on the 14ft class if i had any.

Jacko

24 k's is a long way for a 12'6

Funny you should say that Lacey - did a run from Sandy Point to Walkerville (Waratah Bay near Wilson Prom) and back yesterday on my 12'6 Starboard Pin as a bit of a Doctor warm-up. Supposed to be 23k but ended up further on the GPS because of the wind I guess. Last hour on the way over was full on headwind (laughing away thinking how much fun this will be on the way back) then wouldn't you know it swung true south west and it was side on all the way back. Took me 4 hours! Hopefully if we get any sort of breeze it will make the doctor seem easy. But you are right, 24k on a 12'6 is a long way! Interesting, I drank heaps before I left and was fine with just my waist Camel Bak which is 1.2l I think, just ate a tiny pack of sultanas at Walkerville. Not quite sure how much water to take for the Doctor run though, it could be really hot so dehydration will be a real factor if it turns into a slog. Does anyone have any experience with the little Gel energy packs?

Yellow arrow was the wind on the way back, was supposed to have much more west in it...



Walkerville South







Sandy Point - somewhere out there



Fortunately I took a compass reading so I knew which bump on the horizon to head to


Had to come home and have a nanna nap after that one!

Its one of the waterproofed ones Scotty, only trouble is I was too stingy to get waterproof headphones! I put it into my waterproof phone pack going in and out through the surf at Sandy Point. I have actually fallen in with regular cheapie headphones and they were fine, just didn't want to risk the ipod ones.

They are great things, my wife has had one for ages for doing laps with, we haven't had any problems with either of them. You can get them locally with warranty, not cheap but I use it heaps and really love having it.

http://www.swimman.com.au/home/

Does anyone have any experience with the little Gel energy packs?


i talked to a guy in tri shop and he told me you need to drink fluids with them. also don't have too many or you will get a case of the s###s. told me about a poor lady who had 5 too quickly. i brought one to try, but haven't used it yet. hope that helps a bit
cheers

laceys lane said...

Does anyone have any experience with the little Gel energy packs?


i talked to a guy in tri shop and he told me you need to drink fluids with them. also don't have too many or you will get a case of the s###s. told me about a poor lady who had 5 too quickly. i brought one to try, but haven't used it yet. hope that helps a bit
cheers

I use them in mountain bike '- there good but a decent bar is better for sustaining you and both bars and gels should be taken with a couple sips from the camel pack, I use the Double caffine chocolate ones for a "pick-me up" at a later stage in the race.

Back on topic if you where going to make a board to race in Sydney would you go 126 or 14 I know Sam said in my thread the main fleet is going to be 126 but how long would that last as I probably won't have it in the water for the end of the year anyways ( maybe I just to both.....)

laceys lane said...

Does anyone have any experience with the little Gel energy packs?


i talked to a guy in tri shop and he told me you need to drink fluids with them. also don't have too many or you will get a case of the s###s. told me about a poor lady who had 5 too quickly. i brought one to try, but haven't used it yet. hope that helps a bit
cheers

Gels/Gu are good for 'pick me ups' - they last about 30-40 mins ( the hit comes within 10 mins). They are also good if you cant or don't like to eat when going hard. You are meant to take one (Gu) every 20-30 mins if you are well into a long endurance event. You DO need to drink consistently though to avoid stomach cramps. A good bar is definitely better (longer lasting). I just find them hard to eat and digest when you are thrashing yourself. You can down a Gel very easily and quickly.

Pop into any good MTB/Road/Tri shop and they can give you a pretty good run down on what might work for you.

3 litres of weak lemon cordial does the trick for me.

Back to topic - I can't see how you wouldn''t want a 16 or 17 footer over a 12'6" unless your focus is solely on meeting length criteria for particular race events. If you like to treat it like recreational surfing or SUPing and just to head out to sea and head downwind, get a few runners going, those big unlimited boards are the bomb. Definitely not a waste of money.

Agree 100% on the big board thing too. It's like a different sport doing open water paddles on a 16' or longer board, actually prefer it to surfing unless waves are really good.

<<<<<<<......lol........lol........

Just Wrong said...

As a suggestion to solve the sponsorship problem, perhaps Kellogs Nutri Grain could give SLSA and sponsor sup. They could start putting Stand Up Paddle Collector Cards in the bottom of Nutri Grain packets, am sure there a plety of kids out there who want to put a Dogman, Piros, Jacko and DJ in the spokes of their dragsters and start swapping them ... "give ya a Dogmans, a Secret Agent and a Casso for one DJ?"

that is not a silly idea......why has nobody thought of that yet

i'll swap my whole gold encrusted limited edition nutri grain sup superstars complete set for the just one DJ card for the spokes of my stock 3 speed shift, lowrider dragster with blue and yellow paramatta handle bar streamers with matching girly wooven handle bar basket....wigggerdy wank front and back.....

that is so Just Right......pure solid gold.....

laceys lane said...

JonathanC said...

Agree 100% on the big board thing too. It's like a different sport doing open water paddles on a 16' or longer board, actually prefer it to surfing unless waves are really good.

hey, we did a paddle from talley ck to the alley and back with a sort side /tail-y 10 knot wind home. could not believe the runners and linkups i was getting on a 17 in such a small wind. some of them as good as sunday/monday. try that on a 12'6
cheers

Total waist of money in my book,try surfing something over 12.6 foot

Hopped of my 9'2 today and rode a 17'er.

Hmmm, I think I'm getting it.....

Summer fun is a 12'Gun, but howling, on shore-crap is where its at with the BIG fella!!