If you were there you'll know it was windy and it was a lot of fun, if you weren't then you missed out.....so c u next week. We had an excellent turn out last night and new competitors kept rolling in throughout the evening, in fact we ran out of room on the score sheet. We even had a new female competitor that took honours for her division.

I finally got to use my 6.7m, had two runs and put that away. Rigged a 5.2 and it was still a challenge. I did a test run of the course and charging downwind towards the far buoy was a bit scary in the gusts (up to 33 knots). On the way back you had to contend with 1-2' ramps at times coming straight at you (due to big Northerly gusts).

My home made practice buoy lasted all of 10 mins before it got ripped away and we even had to rescue our official buoy which drifted off before the second race. In the rough conditions wave /FSW boards showed their form, and consistency delivered results.

I was too knackered ( )to compile the result scores and download photos last night, and there's another good NE'r forecast today so apology for the delay. Moreover winners didn't up their prizes last night so I had to contend with 3 extra serves of Cooper's (it would have gone off otherwise)

Thank you to Jason (JJAY) for running the meeting and scoring. Moreover he was in of pain during the whole process, not because of the recent operation but having to miss out and watch the great sailing conditions.
Results and photos coming........

Hey W4W,

Fairly new to this forum (and looking to make a serious comeback ie sailing more than twice a year) and have heard about the above and sounds great. Looking to try and get down there but can't find a thread that tells me what you actually get up to down there ie what sort of course, place to park, set up etc. I work at Eastern Creek so am not too far via M7 so would like to know a bit more.

Must admit sitting here looking at the graphs showing 25kts was a bit frustrating.

Would love some more info...

Cheers,

bdl2333 said...

great stuff Des! cracking day out there yesterday. Awesome to get the wave kit out! Race was great fun. i think i need to work on my starts i'm pretty sure Chris Ting etc were on their second lap before i finally got on my board and got it going.
Can't wait to see the pics. hope it looks as windy as i thought it was.

Chris ting will be penalised for continuing to use his illegal fin as will Remi for using next years equipment with the shop tags still in tact. [}:)]

The handicap system is coming. In fact Remi gave me an idea yesterday while helping to rescue the buoy. The 2 house bricks we used to hold down the buoy seemed to plane nicely as he was towing it in. So we just need to decide how many house bricks (depending on performance) we need to hang of the back of each board.

Some photos

And now for the results!

Well this is actually a little difficult to determine exactly as it was a bit of a progressive race ie. having new contestants starting throughout the race and others dropping out. The conditions were tough and being the first windy race (read ... really windy) we are still adjusting the scoring system to accommodate a more flexible fun format.

If we followed typical race rules then the results would be:
1. Remi 2. Chris Ting 3. Duncan

However given that we didn’t have the handicap system in place then I would place 1. Remi and 2. Chris in their own seasoned racers category, as they compete regularly. However Remi didn’t make the first heat so maybe its 1. Chris, 2. Remi

So wrt to the above, results in the fun race category Duncan would be first putting in a sterling effort on FSW gear (RRD Board Blue stipes & Blu/Yellow sail w matching board shorts). And then 2nd place would probably go to Jaime Coelho, but in any case he gets the smooth gyber award.

The Participation Award goes to Alberto who after some peer group pressure (cheering mob) joined the fun. However I think he ducked out for a quick evening tea during the heat.

Finisher Award goes to Tim Ford who went the distance for the whole gruelling first race, there were a lot of DNF’s.

Fastest Female goes to Sally who stormed the course to come first in her category, a gallant effort despite the fact we only had one female competitor.

Consistency Award goes to Martin Degroot who tacked around the course in very choppy conditions. No matter how many times I passed him, somehow Mr Consistency always ended up in front of me.

Once again big thanks to Jason for keeping the meeting under control and our race team - Alberto, Alistair, Andrew, Andre, Bas, Bill, Chris, Craig, Dale, Dinh, Duncan, Jaime, Jason, Jarred, Jeremy, John * 2, Jonathan, Martin, Pete, Peter, Remi, Russ, Sally, Simon, Tim *2

Oops almost forgot... big thanks to Pammie for the photos, tough work when your being sandblasted and chilled by the 20-30 knot breeze.

Hope to see you all next week for more fun.

Waiting4wind said...

Hi Tim, I think you're supposed un hook before you do a gybe, or is that a special technique to round the buoy!

It was a 'thank goodness' I made the buoy!!! ummmm now what????? oooops yes swim thats the one.

gilesbest said...

It looked like an excellent time was had by all. Can't believe it was as windy as it was but then it would be because I had to go to Brisbane for the day.....I'll come down and jinx the next race!

Also, on an related topic....where do I sign for the club membership? It might have been mentioned but is it feasible to organise inter-club/inter-state competitions as part of the new NSW club?

Giles, this event is purely a social gathering and not an official club event. However we are looking at the viability of starting a social windsurfing club in affiliation with the existing NSW club 'Stormriders'. In the meantime if you wanted to join up please visit http://www.storm-riders.com.au/. They already run an interstate event as a part of the slalom and formula racing series, albeit a more formal affair but very friendly.

gilesbest said...

Ok....am still keen on the social idea and informal racing

The plan is to do a social race each week, I'll keep everyone posted through the forum and email. We'll also plan some other social activities to complement the races. In fact the post race wind down is starting to become a social event on it's own, may need to bring a BBQ down soon.

Wednesday is looking to be a cracking NE'r with BOM forecasting 25-33 knots
So if the forecast still holds tomorrow we call it for Wednesday.

I'm keen for a post sail get together, the only concern is the forecast for rain most of this week, but I'll probably be wet anyway.

you paying Chris?

If we have any creative people out there try and come up with a logo of some kind for our fledgling social club and I reckon I should be able to get some baseball caps made up as a donation from my company.
PM me your designs
Des you'll need to let me know just how many people are involved so I can try and get as many caps done.

WINDSURFnSNOW said...

Chris mentioned last night that he should be able to get Blackberry to put some money on the bar.

You must have been dreaming!!!!

JayBee said...

Chris Ting said...

WINDSURFnSNOW said...

Chris mentioned last night that he should be able to get Blackberry to put some money on the bar.

You must have been dreaming!!!!

Well Sam, were you really dreaming last night about smoky bars, money and a D&M conversation with Chris?

Actually - I really dont want to know.

Me either

AUS4 said...

What's Finian Maynard doing in the first photo?????

Looking for a new sail sponsor!

on the right, first photo.

could that be Phil McGain on the left?