WA
2782 posts
We start from about 4.30 onwards so first come first served. Racing until just before sundown.
Cheers.
KH
WA
322 posts
won't be able to make it till 5.30.....if its too late, i'll just watch the action. this should be great fun :D
WA
34 posts
me and tim will be there to watch should be good
WA
432 posts
hmm, beer in hand big plate of curry to compliment it and some very sore legs. t'was a fine session today, had a good run with Darren and a couple of the Airush boys. To anyone that has not tried it, this racing thing has a whole different stoke to it.
Your pushing every last ounce of power from your kites holding the fins at their breaking point screaming along with a big smile as you try too hold off/catch up with the other bloke doing the same thing, exhilarating.
I've had the big air stoke, I've had the big wave stoke and now I have the racing stoke and it is just as good.
Cheers for getting this under way Darren.
WA
2782 posts
Hey Sandman,
Cheers for turning up and playing with us today. Great fun! Wait until you feel your legs getting out of bed tomorrow morning LOL. We had a few closet racers turn up today and ride REALLY FAST in their races, I think everyone was surprised at the speed we were covering the course.
To give everyone a run down on the racing today .....
We started very informally as today was more of a taste test to see if people would enjoy it and to get used to the boards and the course itself. As peeps were ready, they just grabbed a board, eyed off a competitor and took to the course. Pretty simple, no real rules today and it went fairly smoothly.
I laid the course earlier in the day with the first mark being directly upwind by about 600m, second mark was laid about 1.2 km off the beach which created a 3/4 run (broad reach) from the first mark, a quick gybe and then a cross wind (tight reach) back to the start/finish point just off the beach. As it turned out, the course was pretty decent and was a good challenge to windward, fast but tricky downwind, and a fast powered screamer back to the finish line. The last leg especially had some great speed and spectacularly close racing.
The course and boards tested tactics, technique, strategy and stamina of all who raced. We started with one on one but quickly added additional competitors to later heats as we had plenty of boards when the AIrush boys turned up with two additional Monaro's and a Sector which brought the total to 7 course boards.
The four different model boards were all competitive to race, with each having it's own strengths and weaknesses. The North boards probably a bit faster to windward, but the Monaro's were lightning quick and more user friendly off the wind which brought it all back to evens, totally fun!
I think we must have had about 20 odd people race and enjoy the fun. I was pretty stoked with the first attempt, a big learning curve for all of us. Plenty of speed and high speed wipeouts as everyone pushed beyond their comfort zones when trying to catch or lose their rival as Sandman said. Most people dropped their gybes and had difficulty with the boards but in the end, the fun as Sandman said, is a different stoke ..... a challenge to improve, to think more tactically, to get the boards really humming.
Next week will be back to Wednesday evening due to X-Mas parties approaching which will make Fridays messy.
Next week will probably be the last week for practice racing (no scoring), and we will be trying a different format. 4 riders will compete in next weeks heats, start line will be much longer and further of the beach a timed start with flag drop to signal racing will be used to get used to the format for the real thing (pointscore). The start will be laid perpendicular to the wind and will be big enough for multiple riders.
We intend to have more structure in the heats and be more strict in start times and returns to the beach so others can get their board from you for their next race. Also next week I'll start taking names for the pointscore mini series which will hopefully start the following week. I was also thinking of opening the course to social twin tip racers for an "all in race", once the course racers have completed their races.
If you like the sound of what we got up to today and what we have planned, come on along next Wednesday and have a go, no one has an advantage at this early stage of the racing so it's actually pretty fair and you have a chance to try something fresh and exciting and be in one the ground floor of what will surely be big.
I'd love to hear what others thought of the racing today, and to see how many will turn up for another run next week.
The Course boards are available for practice or demo every windy day. We are at the beach from 12pm until 7ish.
Cheers all and thanks so much for making the effort.
KH
WA
432 posts
I think the only thing that could be improved upon was the starts and it sounds like you have that sorted now.
Maybe a flag drop 30 seconds before race starts than a horn for the start line. that way racers could be lined up for the beach start, see the flag go and know they have 30 seconds to get into position, build up speed and time the take off with the horn.
I say horn because I know that once on the water I personally will have too many other things to concentrate on to be watching a flag.
Just thinking out loud here, I'm sure you'll have it sussed.
WA
257 posts
I am off work and have a TAFE-free night for a change next Wednesday, which means the stars have aligned, and I will be there with bells on!
Nic
