It was a great day to be on the water! Thanks to everyone involved in organising and the sponsors for the day Severne, Starboard, Banner mitre 10, Flying objects (just edited this list -sorry Ty :-) ) and Rita for the photos.
The wind was seriously light (say 2-8 knots?) and very offshore at times. Wavesailing has come a long way since the days when is was for +25 knots or nothing. Seems the options yesterday were:
WindSup's: Easier trip out the back, earlier take-off, higher wave count, but slow motion carves on the fatter parts of the waves.
Big wave boards: More time in the washing machine, more critical take-off, lower wave count, but lots of speed down the line with the potential for aggressive cut-backs and off the lip aerials (if you are as good as Josh or Scotty).
Either way, it's all good for the sport and great to see!
major sponsorship for the day
Severne
Starboard
Banner mitre 10
Flying objects...
Thanks for the prizes for the day
Big thanks for photos Rita
See you on the water
Great day on the water yesterday, some amazing sailing considering the lack of wind, well done to all those that gave it a crack, 15 competitors on the day, 23-24 degrees, light northerlies, super day on the south coast...
Huge thanks to Severne, Starboard, Banner Mitre 10 and Flying Objects for their support of yesterdays event, I think everyone won a prize,
Heres hoping for more wind at the next event in June (21 or 22), get along, get involved, catch some waves, have a few beers with some mates,
Great day - lovely warm weather, waves, lots of cool prizes given away - (Flying Objects harnesses, Starboard hats and rashies, assortment of treasures from Banner Mitre 10 - the list goes on) and fun bunch to hang out with!
First round of entries in the box for the Severne mast...... - gotta be in it to win it
Well done to Gen for getting out so many times in the super light winds!!!
Bring on Round 2 in June
Well done guys fun arvo and speccie weather - nice pics Rita.
One other thing to add to Richards comparison of SUPs vs big wave boards- SUPs can be rather heavy and have a tendancy to break long mast extensions in white water smackings but it was a nice day for a swim
Yeah, quite right Russell. Back luck your extension broke at the start of the heat!
WindSUP's can be weapons of mass destruction in a break, with potential for damage to the rider, the rig and any innocent by-standers that's for sure. I wear a helmet and try to keep out of everyone's way if I can.
On the bright side Russ - I think there was a mast extension prize in this series ?? maybe the good karma will come round...
And yes, wind-sup have a few design features needed - something to help get them into the water when you have a sail attached (normally us windsurfers hold onto the footstraps, but...they dont have any...) and maybe they could look into some weight-loss. These boards are not ultra-light. So...please mr. sup designer....???? I love mine but it was not coping with the middleton whitewater and I went back for the 105L board.
on another point - the silver tuna 130L quad board (modified former brand board) which stands out in the photos as the board that succeeded with these conditions (ok, rider is outstanding too but that aside...) , so maybe dear modifier, you should look into convincing someone you can sell these ? looks a sure fire winner for light wind waves! I know I would buy one...
See you in June!!
The silver board was hand made in a shed at North Haven, it's a one off and not made from any parts of a major brand board!
I know this cos I made it!
And it's definately my favourite board Scotty. Gets you out there' and rides waves when they are glassy and good quality. Most of the time Middleton gets a lot of chop on the face when it's windy.
Sorry Genstar, don't have time to build anymore and there are a few on the market now, like the Nuevo 120 or Peter Ross can make you a custom.