This weekend 20-21Feb10.

Ramsgate Beach, Botany Bay, Sydney.

After such a successful FW Nationals, it is time to concentrate on the local series again.
Anyone interested in racing is welcome to attend and can race in the FE+ divison.

Youths are welcome also as the BIC Techno Youth boards will be supplied on Sunday free of charge. Don't miss out....

www.storm-riders.com.au

So was the girl you or Brett?

Another blessed weekend. 2 days of hot and windy conditions. 7 races in perfect NE winds. Sean O'Brien AUS-120 dominated with 6wins.
John Bear AUS-135 won the FE+ from new dad Tim Ford AUS-71.

Results etc will be on www.storm-riders.com.au asap...

shear tip said...

As a total racing noob, I had sooo much fun out there on my first racing weekend. A great crowd, and a well organised event. Looking forward to more of the same.

I would encourage anyone thinking about formula to come down and watch a race or two. You might just get the bug...

Congrats Timmay!!

Well said Mike.....

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yes james, not sure what is going on with the site....this is the message i get.

JayBee said...

Sadly this is a symptom of success. It appears that the traffic on the Aussie formula sites has been significant since the oceanics. We have exceeded the bandwidth limits that was bought.
Just a case of paying more cash to have more bandwidth, but I understand it may take a couple of days to get arranged.

Jb

not all bad big fella...
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=61957 tetete

Good question Ben... i believe the site had 2000 unique hits last week. I don't have the exact demographics, but a large portion was from Australia.

I guess there are allot of people interested in racing, but not participating?
So the challenge is how to engage more people into the club scene, which ultimately increases the numbers at the state and national events.

the sport is definitely growing, but we need to keep the momentum.....

Brett Morris said...

Good question Ben... i believe the site had 2000 unique hits last week. I don't have the exact demographics, but a large portion was from Australia.

I guess there are allot of people interested in racing, but not participating?
So the challenge is how to engage more people into the club scene, which ultimately increases the numbers at the state and national events.

the sport is definitely growing, but we need to keep the momentum.....

I'd be one of the 2000 unique hits. Was interested in what was happening and if there was a way of renting/borrowing kit to try FE+. As my biggest sail is 5.7m I haven't ever raced!

I think that Crash Landing may be on to something here. There is a lot of interest in trying out Formula gear / racing. Ive noticed that a few people have asked on seabreeze or storm-riders about how they go about trying it?

Perhaps it might be a good idea to develop/invest in a small hire/demo fleet of formula boards/sails? Probably doesn't need to be more than 1 or 2 sets and doesn't need to be the latest and greatest? That way people that are interested in trying to sail a formula board can have a go with relatively ease? Perhaps the manufacturers / importers can help out here?

In conjunction with the demo/hire fleet perhaps we could also have Formula Tryout Days? Get a bunch of regular sailors down at Ramsgate / Kyeemagh on a weekend to provide basic instruction, a few sets of gear for newbies to try, rescue boat on hand if required. Make it open and friendly with a bbq at the end of the day. ??

Having tried formula for the first time recently, I would definitely recommend giving it a go.
I was astounded by how many people were willing to offer/lend gear in order to let an interested outsider give it a crack (bad choice of words)... Give it a try.

Coming from a wave sailing background I was a little dubious at first as to what all the fuss was about.
Number one smile maker/deal breaker for me was that I could get planning in 8 - 10 knots... for someone closing in on the triple weight wise, this was simply unheard of to me.
The boards have a surprising turn of speed and the ability to 'race off' against anyone else sailing with you is pretty addictive. And you don't have to be in an official event/race.

Now I wont be rushing out and offloading my wave sailing gear... BUT I will need to find some more space in the garage so I can get a Formula set up.
Best of both worlds... especially here in NSW where we have experienced one of the WORST wind seasons EVER.
When the wind and waves are on, I'll be grabbing the wave kit... when those conditions fail to eventuate the Formal Experience is pretty bloody awesome (and hard to beat).

The cherry on top.... I reckon my all round sailing (fitness/ability/dexterity) has improved as a result of the Formula gear.
Took my 6.2 wave sail out for a blast recently and could not believe how small it felt !

Get involved, give it a go... you wont be disappointed.

Standard operating procedure for any gear borrowed/used of course... you break it, you buy it.

Kev

Liar liar James
Cheers Sean. As Daryl Kerrigan once said, "this ones going straight to the pool room" :) Havent had many 0.75 scores in my sailing history!

James your alzheimers is getting worse - for the record round one - overall fe winner, round two heat winner....

Chris Ting said...

Katapult said...

I think that Crash Landing may be on to something here. There is a lot of interest in trying out Formula gear / racing. Ive noticed that a few people have asked on seabreeze or storm-riders about how they go about trying it?

Perhaps it might be a good idea to develop/invest in a small hire/demo fleet of formula boards/sails? Probably doesn't need to be more than 1 or 2 sets and doesn't need to be the latest and greatest? That way people that are interested in trying to sail a formula board can have a go with relatively ease? Perhaps the manufacturers / importers can help out here?

In conjunction with the demo/hire fleet perhaps we could also have Formula Tryout Days? Get a bunch of regular sailors down at Ramsgate / Kyeemagh on a weekend to provide basic instruction, a few sets of gear for newbies to try, rescue boat on hand if required. Make it open and friendly with a bbq at the end of the day. ??

Actually finding equipment for new racers to try, either through club members or Windsurfnsnow is something we have always done. Probably need to promote more actively. It use to be on the website, perhaps we need to put it up permanently again.

And perhaps we can have one of the FE+ people be the 'go to' person on the day for any new comers. Help with rigging, introductions & how the course works(maybe someone, other than myself, could help with this aspect!) etc. I'm happy to put my hand up for this, as I'm sure a few others would too?

Katapult said...

The top guys are always very approachable for tips and assistance if needed.

They dont help me any! Probably scared. You know who you are!

*sarcasm*

Crash Landing said...

Just wondering - is there a limit in sail and board size with FE+ division? Could you get away with one sail and one board?

No limit on size - its run what you bring racing

You could sail one sail only- most have 2 - 3 sails but provided you were prepared to be under or over powered depending on sail size you could do FE+ with one sail

As for one board - its a one board rule anyway
3 sails, 3 fins, 1 board

As a newbie in fe+ i have managed to sail in all conditions with a 2 sails, 1 mast and 1 fin - as the treasurer put a limit on the spending before the I started - but i think it helps as you do not have too many variables - you just focus on hanging on

Out of interest can somebody give a run down on the cost for a full set up.

Cheers

Hey Mango,

I recently bought a full kit: Board, 2 sails, 2 masts, 3 fins, extensions - the lot for $2500. It was gear from 2006, so it's not cutting edge, but the gear is still infinitely better than my skills.

The good side about buying 2nd hand race gear is that many top guys will update their gear annually, so there's a lot of kit for sale. (Boards will start to come up every 2nd year from now I guess)

The down side of 2nd hand race gear is (the perception?) that it's built super light, so it'll only last one race season. My gear looks like it was really well cared for and is in it's 5th season and still going strong though - YMMV.