Hey Marcus,

The below info I received from surfing QLD may answer your question


- Thursday 7th ??? Saturday 9th November, 2013: Competition Period for all SUP Surfing & SUP Technical Racing Divisions
Venue: Currumbin Alley, Gold Coast, QLD

- Thursday 7th ??? Saturday 9th November, 2013 - SUP Surfing & SUP Technical Racing Divisions
???
- Sunday 10th November, 2013: Competition Period for all SUP Marathon Racing Divisions
Venue: (TBC ??? Conditions depending, finishing creek side at Currumbin RSL)

- Sunday 10th November, 2013 - SUP Marathon Racing Divisions
6.00pm ??? 7.00pm: Event Presentation (Waterside Room, Currumbin RSL)
7.00pm ??? 11.00pm: Closing Ceremony Function (Waterside Room, Currumbin RSL)

Hey Marcus, the pro's will be on 12'6's and everybody else on 14's.
PS if you are coming up don't forget about the Sunshine Coast Island Challenge the week before

Hey Jonesy I heard a rumour that due to the circumstances with surfing Australia giving Jamie a wildcard for ISA and potentially Trav as well that essentially the Aussie team was already selected so some of the top guys were going to paddle 14's for the marathon as there was no real point in doing it on a 12'6. You heard anything about this????

Oh dear...the 14s v 12'6 debate again. At Port Stephens, IMHO, the race was ruined because the 2 best paddlers (Travis and Beau) raced on different boards.
For the record, lets have the Aussie Titles Marathon on 14s.

bt said..

Does the marathon have to be on Sunday or is it flexible?
Would be a shame if there was 30knts onshore and we had to paddle up and down the creek for 20km!! Especially if the day before had nice ocean conditions.

Creek might be a better option on that R-- B 30 knts Queensland like to see that ? They get exited when its 15 knts

Good one Marcus, always starting trouble.

I think I read on the entrants info sheet that Surfing Australia would only have a flat water race as a very last resort and only if it came down to safety, other than that it will be an ocean race, or something to that effect.

Secret Agent said..

surf4fun said..

Hey Jonesy I heard a rumour that due to the circumstances with surfing Australia giving Jamie a wildcard for ISA and potentially Trav as well that essentially the Aussie team was already selected so some of the top guys were going to paddle 14's for the marathon as there was no real point in doing it on a 12'6. You heard anything about this????

Hi surf4fun,
i must say that you have been fed very incorrect information regarding Surfing Australia already awarding Jamie and Travis automatic wildcard entries into the National Team.
Surfing Australian do allocate a wildcard position to a competitor that may not be present at the National Titles due to prior date commitments, injury or the likes of. This wild card position (one allocation only) is not confirmed to be awarded to anyone but the Surfing Australia Tech Committee does take this into consideration when choosing the Rep Team.
Wild card positions must be applied for by the athlete through the correct channels and even this does not guarantee them a start.
Obviously Surfing Australia and there sponsors certainly want to send the strongest possible Australian Representative Team to the ISA World Titles and the Wild Card position reinforces their judgement.
And with the depth in talent Australian SUP houses, making the team to represent Australia will be as tough as competing in the BOP.
But I agree with the board length debate that a lot of paddlers has chosen to compete 14'. I guess with Surfing Australia taking this path to align with ISA rules is wanting to keep within an already set guideline. I can confirm that this will be reviewed for next year and a push to uniform this area throughout the respective states is a current hot topic within Surfing Australia and AuSUP.
With this being the first time Surfing Australia has organised a stand alone SUP Titles is exciting for the sport and I know with everyones support and feedback that next year and the future of the sport is on the up!
Cheers

Happy to stand corrected, that's the problem with Chinese whispers.

surf4fun said..

Secret Agent said..

surf4fun said..

Hey Jonesy I heard a rumour that due to the circumstances with surfing Australia giving Jamie a wildcard for ISA and potentially Trav as well that essentially the Aussie team was already selected so some of the top guys were going to paddle 14's for the marathon as there was no real point in doing it on a 12'6. You heard anything about this????

Hi surf4fun,
i must say that you have been fed very incorrect information regarding Surfing Australia already awarding Jamie and Travis automatic wildcard entries into the National Team.
Surfing Australian do allocate a wildcard position to a competitor that may not be present at the National Titles due to prior date commitments, injury or the likes of. This wild card position (one allocation only) is not confirmed to be awarded to anyone but the Surfing Australia Tech Committee does take this into consideration when choosing the Rep Team.
Wild card positions must be applied for by the athlete through the correct channels and even this does not guarantee them a start.
Obviously Surfing Australia and there sponsors certainly want to send the strongest possible Australian Representative Team to the ISA World Titles and the Wild Card position reinforces their judgement.
And with the depth in talent Australian SUP houses, making the team to represent Australia will be as tough as competing in the BOP.
But I agree with the board length debate that a lot of paddlers has chosen to compete 14'. I guess with Surfing Australia taking this path to align with ISA rules is wanting to keep within an already set guideline. I can confirm that this will be reviewed for next year and a push to uniform this area throughout the respective states is a current hot topic within Surfing Australia and AuSUP.
With this being the first time Surfing Australia has organised a stand alone SUP Titles is exciting for the sport and I know with everyones support and feedback that next year and the future of the sport is on the up!
Cheers

Happy to stand corrected, that's the problem with Chinese whispers.

I've just spent the last 2 weeks in China and I didn't hear this particular whisper.

NNSUP said..

Does anyone know if there is any info out on the Nationals other than date etc? It would be good to get the 12 vs 14 thing sorted early as well as some idea of courses before the chinese whispers get louder.

Ali or Secret Agent can you enlighten us at all?

What's to sort out? The Over 40s and Over 50s Men are on 14', the Women are on 12'6". The rest can suit themselves.

Regarding the course, it is wind direction dependent but will finish at Currumbin SLSC regardless, with a final 2km in the creek.

All questions answered. I have just received an email from Surfing NSW sent to all team members.

NNSUP said..

Does anyone know if there is any info out on the Nationals other than date etc? It would be good to get the 12 vs 14 thing sorted early as well as some idea of courses before the chinese whispers get louder.

Ali or Secret Agent can you enlighten us at all?

Sorry John, I don't know any more details than anyone else on here... and I'll probably be the last person to find out as I didn't race in our State titles this year, so wasn't eligible for team selection.

But with the 12'6" vs 14' thing for this years nationals - maybe I'm missing something, but I thought each state had a certain allocation for each division, and those spots were filled through their respective state titles. So if you raced and qualified in the 14' class you race on a 14' at nationals and if you qualified in the 12'6" class then that's what you race at Nationals this year. With the last of the state titles wrapping up in South Oz last weekend all the teams should be set - seems pretty simple to me?

As much as it kind of sucks to have the top open paddlers split in two classes, it's been set out that way from the start of the year... and everyone's made a choice when entering their state titles. If I was a guy in the opens (and actually got a choice of what to paddle) then the decision would have been simple:
1. Race in the 12'6" class if you:
(a) want to go to the ISA games and think you've got a chance of making the team;
(b) you want to pit yourself against the guys who are looking to be selected and see how close you can get;
(c) you love paddling 20km on a 12'6" in whatever conditions are thrown at you on the day; or
(d) you've only got a 12'6" and didn't have the option to borrow a 14' for states (whether you would have preferred to paddle one or not.
OR
2. Race in the 14' class if:
(a) you're not interested in going to ISA and you'd rather paddle a board that most paddlers would agree is more suitable for a distance race (except the guys who fall into option 1c);
(b) you've got all you're fingers and toes crossed for epic downwind conditions on race day and just want to go as fast as possible;
(c) you're aiming for a double crown for the open & over 40 (or over 50) class and need to be on a 14' to compete in your age group (if you're interested in winning an age group title and qualifying for ISA unfortunately you'll have to choose what you want more); or
(d) you don't have (or didn't have access to) a 12'6" board for states - in which case you probably couldn't compete or qualify for the BOP race (so ISA is out) and you'll probably have more fun doing the distance race on a 14 if its what you're used to.

Just a pity the state allocations aren't bigger to allow for more competition in both classesthis year!

When it comes to the 12'6" vs 14' thing for future years nationals, I'm with Kissa and reckon the marathon should be on 14's (and the 1 or 2 who qualify should be good enough paddlers to adapt) - but that's just my opinion and everyone else is entitled to theirs. Will be interesting to see what Surfing Australia comes up with after their review.

Interesting Ali. None of the top NSW guys I can think of paddled on 12'6s at our State Titles so i guess all NSW paddlers must go on 14s. Come to think of it, Travis (the winner) paddled a 14 and I think he qualifies through NSW. Does that mean he can't qualify for ISA because he can only compete on a 14?

SUP Open Men 12'6? 8 NSW Surfers Progress to Aussies

1? O'BRIAN , Beau? SUP Open Men (12'6)? 01:17:19? 700
2? CRACKNELL, Toby? SUP Open Men (12'6)? 01:20:50? 300
3? DAVIES , Andy? SUP Open Men (12'6)? 01:23:44? 150
4? BATES , Kai? SUP Open Men (12'6)? 01:32:03
5? GREEN , Evan? SUP Open Men (12'6)? 01:33:48
6? WORLEY , Matt? SUP Open Men (12'6)? 01:44:33
7? CHAPMAN , Paul? SUP Open Men (12'6)? 01:52:55
Here are 12'6 open results for NSW titles

stimo said...

OG SUP said..

Ali just because you didn't race doesn't mean you cant get a wild card entry.

You just need to ask for it through appropriate channels.

There may also be left over allocation from other states as from what I hear a few people may have pulled out due to time, distance and cost to get get to Nationals so again you can ask for one of those positions.

Just keep hassling and you would probably get a gig.

Phill

Ali WA have some spots in open women marathon we would be happy to have you rep WA think Michele the only wa girl doing it this year

That would be a good option Stimo if Ali had done the local state qualification rounds for the marathon team - best 2 results of 3 distance races over the SUPWA season. Female SUP is still developing in WA, but recently we have seen some impressive new girls coming down, so hopefully they might represent their State one day.

Keep the discussion up on 14' vs 12'6 for distance and let your state AuSUP rep know. We have a de-brief meeting with SA during the nationals to discuss all these points. Any issues or concerns you have with the SUP nationals speak to your AuSUP rep - the present format is going to lead to the most successful SUP Nationals so far, but SA and AuSUP want to ensure all paddlers are satisfied and the event can progress for 2014.

Can't wait to get over there!

kissa said..
Interesting Ali. None of the top NSW guys I can think of paddled on 12'6s at our State Titles so i guess all NSW paddlers must go on 14s.

Good point, I had (wrongly) assumed that most states would have filled their allocations, at least for the open mens divisions, when i made my comments. But it's sounding like QLD might have been the only State with sufficient depth in numbers of paddlers at their titles to fill both divisions, therefore setting the team.

It makes sense that if a State hasn't filled their quota in any division, they would be able to allocate the remaining positions at their discretion, including allowing flexibility for paddlers who qualified in a different division to swap if they wish. Clearly there's a lot of room for flexibility in the teams for most of the other states - so now I understand where the questions are coming from.

Come to think of it, Travis (the winner) paddled a 14 and I think he qualifies through NSW. Does that mean he can't qualify for ISA because he can only compete on a 14?

I didn't think Travis could officially qualify through the NSW titles as he doesn't (and wasn't at the time) living there? Although he didn't compete at the QLD titles, I'm pretty sure that he'd be able to get a Surfing Australia wild card into both the BOP and the 12'6 Marathon class if want to race at Nationals or quality for ISA (remembering that on top of the state allocations there are 4 Surfing Australia wildcards available in both these divisions).

I could be way off the mark... but I was guessing he chose to race a 14 at NSW, because most of the top NSW guys would be on 14's to race the Over 40's as well and he might have wanted to race against you guys?