I am thinking about entering this in 09 (the 'Ledge to Lancelin')
What preparation would you recommend/ are you going to do?
What kit will you use/ should I avoid? (thinking of Isonic 105 + JP weed fin)
What will you do differently next time you are in it?
What has worked well for you in it?
The best answers get used?
The funniest answers get laughed at!
When everyone starts running for the water, and the buzzer sounds, don't assume it's a "false start" and stand there like a doofus.
This will put you dead last. 
Practice sailing stupidly broad in huge swell.
Practice gybing on 2m high swell.
Oh, and tone up the muscles in your drinking arm 
Stay as close as you can to Claude from SRM he is one of the slowest out there, and tends to think he is in a cross slalom race and tries to jump Cray pot lines with little success.[}:)]
And what ever you do, don’t get fit, this puts the dampers on the after affects of screaming out in pain when half sloshed with bicep, hamstring, quad and calf cramps.[}:)]
Oh, and don’t leave the water at race end with any urgency, this tends to result in knee blow outs and such like[}:)]
See you on the start line then[}:)]
If its a very light wind day, head for boozer before anybody else, dont get wet, it wont be worth it
the big trick is to ride what your comfortable with.
Many times in the 08 race i had ppl pass me on new fandangled slalom gear on a leg, but found myself passing them at every single gybe point, and again after they had had a catapult after a nose dive.
For doing it on wave gear my tips are:
1. Smallish and upright fin at the back of the box.
2. always go a large board (10L more than your body weight min)
3. put the mast at the front of the track
4. tune your harness lines with a quick run b4 the race deep off the wind
5. make sure you have a 5.7
6. Practice your planing gybes and picking good waves to do them on in the ocean.
Don't forget to consider control in the open water. Too many people bring flat water slalom boards with no nose rocker and struggle.
Cammed sail are more stable particularly deep off the wind but harder to waterstart in swell after a big crash. so make sure your fit in the upperbody (chinnup and pushups) and practice.
remember to set you footstraps up to be comfortable. you dont want foot cramps.
Same is true for harness line positions. Consider you will be sailing on each tack for significantly longer than you normally would and you cant just gybe off to give your "other side" a break.
Practice sailing with a life jacket. it can take a bit of practice to get to the point where you dont notice it anymore. the neil pryde ones are nice and comfy and cheap.
Overall there is a running theme with my suggestions. Practice.
Get some mates together and do some downwinders if your real keen!!
One final point. Don"t step off your board until you've stopped.
now wonder if I can get the other foot in
mate, no offence taken. you have to looks at the funny side of these things.
knee is on the mend and surgeon say its looking good.
the real rehab will begin in 5 weeks but there will be no chance i could sail in the next LOC.
and promptly Elmoed myself on my first (warmup) run
Many thanks guys, please keep them coming. I have heard several times about practicing sailing very broad in big swell. I think I shall try to convinve some fellow Mandurah Mobbers to do this with me.
Particular thanks to Bertie, that is great stuff.
What is the reference to getting off after stopping, and how bad was your knee?
Please keep the ideas coming everyone.
Bad enough to have more than 3 months off work, need 2 operations, require $4000 worth of titanium.
I might be a little biased but to me some of the JP supersport/ superX boards look like they would be the absolute shiz for the LOC. The JP slaloms look better than the isonics coz they have more nose rocker in their extra length, but i would still go a supersport.
I think the best thing is to have several sets of kit rigged and ready to go. I have been unable to do that as i know Mrs bender wouold not be keen to unrig a sail, take on the traffic all heading to the finish line and then wait for me to finish.
I make this point as last year i first went out on my 5.8m and Isonic86. It felt just right. Then 5mins before the star the wind dropped out a bit so i grabbed the Isonic 105. As the race started the wind came in again and i was over boarded and finned.
So as previous post state yes i was very fast but that was in between masive crashes where all the people i had just passed would just cruise by only for me to fly (wildly out of control) past them again.
I should have calmy just chosen my 6.4m and used the Iso86. This would have been perfect if i had it rigged and ready to go.
So i think we need a rig bitch, anyone???
With 156 days and 6 hours to go I am getting a picture of how hard this event is
.
If I enter I am leaning towards a board with more rocker than the Isonic (not that the Isonic is not a great board, just I am not a great sailor and finishing is a high priority).
That said I am 8 hours into the campaign to enter/ finish and there is a long way to go before I feel I am even likely to be ready for the start line.
Do people feel adjustable outhauls are useful to extend the range of sails?
an adjustable outhaul can be highly advantageous because the legs are not all the same angle off the wind.
Thus it will allow you to bag out the sail on the really deep ones and flatten off of the legs you need to pinch to reach the boat.
However you better get good at adjusting on the go while keeping your speed up. coz you don't wanna fall off while adjusting it.
Sounds like a great plan Bender.
Bertie I take your point about staying on being important particularly in the big swell.
[}:)]
Any tips on sail numbers? Looking at the photos on the website there seems to be all sorts and many of those do not meet the requirements of both sides of the sail!
Regarding sail numbers, the best thing to do is join your local windsurfing association. This will automatically let you choose an AUS.... sail number. Also it's best to cut them out and stick them on your sails beforehand instead of making new numbers with tape on the day. Do as I say and not as I do http://www.windsurfingwa.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=34:Info&id=51:sail-numbers&Itemid=53
www.windsurfing.org/sailnumber_staterules.htm
You are only required to have a number on the starboard side of your sail (visible when sailing on starboard tack).
It's not a bad idea to make them easy to read, if you choose a funky font and colour scheme then the organisers might not be able to read your number as you cross the line in first place!!!
I think the the race officials would have seem my sail numbers better if i had them on the bottom of my board
Here's a big tip; ENTER NOW! www.oceanclassic.com.au
Start line positions are allocated in order of entry, and the better your start line position, the less chance you will be swamped. Even if it's blowing 25 knots, 150-200 sailors create a big wind shadow at the bottom end of the line.
Also, practice running into the water with your gear, jumping on and getting away quickly. If you manage to get a decent start, you could be a kilometre off the beach when some of your likely competitors are still wallowing on the beach.
I also find it helps to drink heavily the night before.
I have tried several times (and just then) to register/enter online and once i submit my info i get a a error message. Any idea"s?
Chris, looks like Pinneroo on a flat day [}:)]
www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=14872
On the subject of Sprecks, which has nothing to do with the Lancelin Ocean Classic, but is a good topic nevertheless, the water is actually very smooth in between the waves, the only problem is that since it is smoothest on a decent swell and low tide, the smoothness is interspersed with large waves. These need to be negotiated in some manner.
If you are Robby Naish it's pretty simple - just launch an enormous air at 35 knots, but if you are human if more often involves getting slaughtered onto sharp and shallow reef and having your gear trashed.
Having said that, I reckon it's the best place in the world that I have had the privilege of sailing - carving a turn as hard as you can into a nice wall is one of the great pleasures of windsurfing!
