It doesn’t seem like it.
To my knowledge, there hasn’t been a proper downwind race around here in five years, since Trevor Hendy organized the Salt Festival about 5 years ago. (Probably no coincidence there that the race organizer is also such a fine waterman.)
Ever wondered why no-one posts GoPro footage of themselves paddling up-wind? Because it SUCKS! They don’t hold Downhill Mountain- Bike races on courses that go UPHILL!!
Downwind paddling in my opinion is what SUPs are made for. It’s the funnest thing you can do on a SUP and a whole bunch of people are missing out on it. I have heaps of guys I train with whose only experience with ocean paddling is the occasional ocean race we have around here. They then mistakenly think that a crap crosswind slog is what a downwind paddle is all about. That ‘s because the races are either organized by people with no idea about what’s required for an enjoyable paddle, or are races that are locked into a fixed time/date. Why not have a waiting period?? Schedule a race for a long weekend and pick the best day for wind. How about a race for the best day between December 26th and 2nd January. Or the Easter long weekend? How about scheduling a race for sometime after 9am in the morning for God-sakes so at least you’re giving yourselves half a chance of decent conditions??!
I’ll volunteer myself and my Jet-ski to do water safety and follow the paddlers if someone steps up and organizes a race that at least tries to run in decent conditions.
Anyway, gotta go for a downwind paddle now. If the Aussies were held on a decent course and were scheduled a few hours later all those poor buggers could be having a fun downwinder too.

The thing to remember is the the National Titles race is not and has never been promoted as a downwind race. It is a Distance race. And when you look at the ISA World Titles for which this event is the qualifier, that distance race runs around the outside of an island on a lake if I recall correctly, so also not a strict point to point downwinder.

But I take your point, an ocean race over 20km or so that is not downwind the whole way or even most of the way is nobody's idea of a good time. On the other hand, here in Melbourne, we had a fun downwinder in 20 knots with 30 knot gusts today so that will do me just fine.