Friday race was cancelled, wave event went ahead today
It was a great site, seeing many kites off the south coast of Rotto, a bit of swell around as well, with good winds forecast tommorow I strongly suggest that people go over, take their gear and if nothing else watch some great wavesailing. There is a nice flat water kiting area east of the wavesailing cove. I have some pics but am unsure how to post them on this Forum

bermand if you email me the photos i'll host them on the web and put links on this forum.

Did someone say something about swell?

Is Rotto a favourite windsurfing wave sailing spot? They would know as they have been doing it in erth for 20 odd years.

Hey Guys and Gals,

this is an extract from the post on the Airush forum. I can't be arsed to rewrite it again. Hope this helps. Please excuse me writing in the third person perspective, it's a little wierd.

Airush riders featured well in the results of the Rottnest Island Wave Classic over the weekend taking 3 out of 4 final placings in the mens wave division.

The 67 riders in the race from Port Beach Fremantle to Rottnest Island on the Friday didn't get the go ahead unfortunately as the 18 - 20 knot winds in the channel just didn't quite make it in to the beach and allow a start of the 21 km race across the channel.

On the Saturday the Wave Classic got underway in winds that ranged from 12-20 knots in onshore 1m, small and inconsistent waves. The riders all jostled for additional heats in this double elimination competition. Half of the heats were run on the Saturday, leaving just seven more heats including finals for the Sunday which was forecast for better conditions.

After a big night at the pub, sunday fired up with 15 - 20 knot winds for the remaining heats before the semi finals. Suddenly at the start of the 2nd semi final when with little warning, the southerly winds turned squally with rain patches and winds jumping up to 30 knots catching several riders floundering with large kites and getting violently tea bagged in the increasing winds and violent waves.

Mike Bergman advanced to the final after beating Graham Baker in the first Semi final heat with some stylish riding. Although Graham is probably 50% heavier than Mike, he found the 15m Slingshot too much to handle well in the difficult waves, to allow Mike to advance. Mike was riding with his usual style in the difficult conditions making the most of the waves. This was proven as he also won the 1st mens Wave over 40's division!

Airush Rider Cory (Sorry I forgot Cory's surname) from Scarborough Beach WA was unlucky to be caught with too big a kite (9.4 Lift on 20m lines) in the second semi final and was washed onto the beach unable to gain an edge to stay upwind and withdrew allowing Darren Marshall flying a 12m Lift Pro to advance to the final with Mike Bergman.

This was very unfortunate for the young rider as many of the spectators and judges alike found Cory's wave style to be awesome and were fully expecting him to be in a strong position in the final.

The final was to be Mike and Darren in a 2 man final. At this point the wind increased further to around 35 knots and gusting a little higher, and both riders opted to continue on with the final, both using 10m '04 Airush Lifts.

After a lucky relaunch after a crash on the reef before the start of the final, Mike was able to move into the start of the heat but finding himself teabagging on the inside after the crash with too much power from his 10m Lift and 136 Wake combination allowed the slightly heavier Darren, riding his 138 Compact to get out and slash a few waves in the messy and extreme conditions.

The final was not a matter of who wave rode the best as the waves were more large breaking chop than clean swells. With a little more body weight and a more suited board for the conditions Darren was able to make the most of the out of control conditions to win the final.

Final standings were :-

Darren Marshall - 1st Waves - Airush
Mike Bergman 2nd Waves - Airush
Graham Baker 3rd Waves - Slingshot
Cory ??? (Sorry mate) 4th Waves - Airush

Theresa McKirdy - 1st Womens Waves - Slingshot
Tina Harrison - 2nd Womens Waves - Airush

Thanks to all of the organisers and Sponsors for a great comp. lets do it again next year

Corey is Corey Brown.

I attended the whole Kitesurf Classic event as a volunteer. I couldn't compete but it was a fun weekend, some great kitesurfing and it was terrific to spend time with such a great bunch of people.

I wanted to offer a special Vote of Thanks to Richard Pocock, the Saturday and Sunday Wave event organiser. After organising everybody throughout the whole weekend and then conducting the final presentations just before the ferry left, Richard somehow missed an acknowledgement from us all as we scrambled off to catch our rides home. Having worked with him throughout both days I can tell you all that he did ten times more work than any one the other volunteers, and had the stress of making sure it all pulled together, not to mention all the work beforehand organising it. Congratualtions on a job well done Richard. Without your effort and dedication to running the event it wouldn't have gone off as well as it did for all of us to enjoy. *Three Cheers*. I'm only sorry that we, the other volunteers, didn't have the forthought to see that you collected a prize yourself for your contribution to the event.

Perhaps someone else would like to Second my Vote of Thanks to Richard?

Zac, on your question about the judging, I was working with the judges throughout as the results coordinator. The comments that came to us from spectators was advice to say we were missing on some pretty good tricks down behind the point of land. But simply: what the judges couldn't see was not being judged. The competitors all knew that if they couldn't see the judges then the judges wouldn't be able to see them. The Rottnest Island Authority had restrictions on where we could go because of the fragile flora and loose rocks in the area and so the promentary of land right in front of us cut our field of view in half.

Russell and Carrie, what was the name of that wet suit manufacturer in Cornwall? I forgot to get your contact details before we left.
Graeme Speak [email protected]

I have been flat out all week sorting out the aftermath of the Rotto Kite Surf Classic and this is the first opportunity I have had to look at the Forum.

I would like to more than second Graeme Speaks recognition of the TEAM effort of our volunteers that made this event happen. In particular I would also like to single out Richard Pocock's fantastic effort as the Wave Contest Director - it was a very demanding task that attracts lot's of criticism and very little reward. Richard ran the Wave Contest with a firm grip and awesome precision - the event ran like clock work down to the second with the help of Sarah Marr and her fellow time keepers.

The judges also deserve special mention - thanks go to a great job done by Adam Horner, Dale Stanton, Wil Snaith, Rotto local Glenn Williams and Mario from Bali. It's a tough job to be objective about everything that's happening out on the water and things like "style" are always contentious :-) A jobe well done guys.

Of course another person who put a HUGE effort over many months was our accommodation manager, Fiona Roberts - she did a fantastic job and was not helped much but people who locked their room mates out, etc. I was personally disgusted to hear that some people actually gave her a hard time :-(

There are so many other volunteers that I have not mentioned like Jenny Auckland who sat on the beach all day Saturday coordinating the competitors so they did not miss their heats, the time keepers, Mark Broome who sat on a jetski out in the weather all weekend, etc. And let's not forget all the officials, safety boats skippers, etc for the race that still put in a huge effort but unfortunately never got to see it all put into action - maybe next year the wind gods will look more favourably upon us.

Speaking of next year, the Rottnest Island Authority have said that they may let us run the event in January immediately before or after the Australian Nationals being held here in Perth - much better chance of good winds then!

WAKSA will be looking for many volunteers to run both these events - probably one of the most importnat ones in the early stages is someone with marketing experience to start work immediately on getting major cash sponsors ASAP. Any takers?

Thanks again to everyone who supported the first Rottnest Kite Surf Classic including the competitors, especially those who missed out on the race but still had a great time over at Rotto.


Cheers,
Ian Young
www.flysurf.com.au
0414 716 812