Lighthouse to leighton

What a great day, couldn't have been much better. No tangles, no rescues, and everything organised and running like clockwork.

Big thanks to all involved in putting on a spectacular event for us!

How good was Said making the crossing in "2nd place"? on a twintip and a 9m kite. Most of the leaders seemed to be riding directional boards. Just goes to show that gear choice is not as important as technique, stamina and determination. Holding it all together over that distance is not easy.

Congrats to the winners, hope we can do it again next year.

Was this the critical moment you speak of?

YEAH - I WON THE FIRST EVER LIGHTHOUSE TO LEIGHTON. (check the avatar )
Officially confirmed at the after party by the starter, he reckons I definitely came past with the biggest grin

Love your tale Jonno - what a great read. Must have been a super blast being at the sharp end.
Hard work for the speedsters Im sure but for those pacing themselves it was a dream run. SSW meant everytime I checked my bearings, from staying carefully & comfortably on my board, I was heading straight for home.
Organisation was sensational. Not a hint of panic anywhere at any stage and everything went off like clockwork. Huge thanks to Tim Turner - master of organisation and so cool about it all. And to Red Bull - not just sponsors but major players in making it happen - huge commitment.
And WAKSA. What can I say. You guys are totally killing it - to the max + + +.

And (if you didnt read my post party post ) thanx to Gruezi for dropping my board in front of me before I learnt I had to watch where I was going, not where I was heading. DOH.
Thanks everyone. One of the best, most memorable days of my life.

And Said - so sad for you man. But what a superhuman achievement. From a rank outsider you out kited a swag of very very very tall poppies. Everyone knows you were the first local home - better than any trophy. Total respect.

Super froth great organisation ran smooth as

Thanks WAKSA crew and RB for a memorable race still buzzing

Oh and the bar tab afterward...

Sensational event. That was the best event I have attended for kitesurfing in the sports history. Absolute clockwork.

I massive thanks to all the WAKSA volounteers, without your support, and that of the association we would not have had the event. You guys are awesome.

Thanks Redbull, cabrinha,the guys at kite addiction and the rottnest express, the port authority, even Rotto for having us.

Wow, I'm still buzzing though the body is still hurting. Tomorrow is day 2 and I don't think I'll be able to walk.

Please run the event again next year.!!!!!! yeoooow...

^^

There's some sweet shots! Check out Youngy going for a swim, [}:)]

As Juddy said at the after party- I'm still "buzzing off my tits!"

^^^^you may not av bin first over the line taff,,but your booosst at the finish got a bigger responce from the public than frenchies fist punching.........wel done boyzeeeeeeeeeee,

^ Yep I was thinking the same thing about the finish Pat it was very well explained and pretty simple really, no changes required there.

I thought the finish line set up worked well and even though I wasn't in contention for a place (high teens I think) I found that after covering the 19k's pretty much on my own off to the side of the pack, when it came to the finish there was a few of us squeezing around the red marker racing for the line which made it exciting, an orange nomad? beat me by about a second.

Upon reflection, there were a lot of tactics involved.

The start is quite crucial as you wanted to be out in front early and not be left behind in everyone else’s wake.

You needed the right size kite - Here is where I made a big tactical error putting up a 7m instead of my only other kite a 12m (the 7m was my newer kite which put a unfair biased on my decision - in the end the wrong call)

Board selection helped,

The unknown ! - half way through the race I skipped out and went sideways and went down, I thought I had picked up a bit of weed and cavitated out , I could not work it out - after that my board did not feel the same or was it I was just getting tired ?

No, once I returned to the beach I found I had snapped a fin off at the base! - Bizarre after 10yrs of kiting this has never happened to me in open waters.

Did it snap under pressure, or did I hit a large fish or some other solid object?

I will never know.

Towards the end of the race and after trading positions with Dale a couple of times going towards the finish line - he appeared right on my tai !. He then managed to get upwind of me and tried to take me on the inside.

As I was underpowered I had to do everything possible, so I looped my kite across the finish line which just got me across the line ahead of him!

We then both pretty much came up to the beach together and the cheer from the crowd is something I will never forget.

Congrats to all involved! And looking forward to a bigger 2011 crossing.

Number 39, yellow black and white Eclipse Kima, from memory there was another white orange nomad somewhere close by as well so not sure if it was us racing to the line but whoever it was it made for a bit of excitement after half an hour of just concentrating on chop etc.

Not sure if anyone recorded numbers, positions etc after the first few spots but it would be good to know, in the excitement at the start I forgot to press the stopwatch button on my watch so have no real idea of my time or position.

I admit I lost sleep over gear selection.

My boards are 138 Hammer, 138 Stonker, 2008 Spleene Zone and 6-1 Wainman.

Tried them all out on long tacks during the week (should have started testing earlier):

Hammer is my #1 choice but power hungry so wind would need to be +22kn for racing.
Stonker is too stiff.
Spleene Zone is very fast but I just couldn’t control it riding goofy.
Wainman better but again riding a surfboard goofy just doesn’t feel right to me.

So after reading a Kitehard post I went and borrowed a 141 North X-ride and took that and the Hammer over.

My kites:

2011 8m C4 – going to be too small.
2011 11m C4 – ok with the X-ride but not the Hammer.

So borrowed a 08 13m Ozone Sport (from another mate) and took that and the 11m C4.

Race time: I decided I would go for all out power so opted for the X-Ride (untried) and 13m Sport and was very happy with those although the 11m might have been a better choice.

Also borrowed a PFD from another mate so in the end it was just my harness and a heap of borrowed gear and what a great time I(we) had.

I can’t thank all those involved in getting this event together enough, it was truly awesome.

Slack

First of all have to thank all involved, I have mainly been focussing on waves for quite a while.
Tim your foresight to come up with the event and have the balls to pull it off with your committee and volunteers was amazing. Personally it has given me even more stoke for the sport, not that I needed much. The race itself was a lot less demanding then I expected, had been training, doing 7 km single leg runs off Cott, this really helped thighs.

My race started well a bit back of the main gun,s but had good clear water in front of us, Youngie, tight lines pretty sure it was you and a few others raced together in the middle of the pack. Once you were in a set group about a third of the way it was hard to make up ground on fellow competitors, crossing Gage roads was interesting swell was not too bad. My second half of race was definitely quicker, averaged just over 30km/hr for 19 km, had a great race to line and just managed to get over in front of tight lines. I also got the feeling that we finished around 20th

The buzz of this event will continue for a lifetime. I have done quite a few Ledge to Lancelin on windsurfer and this event left it for dead as far as organization, comfort preface, after party and general friendly atmosphere throughout group of competitors.

Hope we can have twice as many next year

Well that would be me

Having had the last 2 weeks off the water with a sutured laceration to the sole of my foot (another Pt Walter casualty), I was definately nervous and underprepared on every level for the race. Unfit, scared of and no experience of real open water, and a older chick to boot!

But I made it, I had a cruisy run at the back, came in around 50th in 45 minutes I would say (but forgot to check times etc as per others- too tired and excited to hit the beach to do anything but stumble from the water!).

I muffed the start- didnt notice the flag changes, and had a few downwind tacks to make to get over the start line, where I promptly stacked it, so I spent the whole race at the back.
It was fun to watch the pack from back there- wish I had my camera, but that was with my boyfriend on the support boat nearest Gage Roads.

The washing machine conditions and my uncoordinated efforts meant I continued with the theme set by my inauspicious start- I think I fell off about 6 times, with a few body drags to retrieve my board, and one where I dropped the kite too- DUH! I find it hard to describe the sick feeling in my gut as I watched the kite hit the water with no power in the lines (classic inversion/line tangle situation) somewhere in the middle of the course miles and miles from other kiters, boats, land or anything nice in fact .

However, the kite relaunched and I actually quite enjoyed the cruise- I didnt have enough power to get up a lot of speed, and the sloppy chop meant I had to watch carefully where I was going, with occassional glances to try and see the Dingo and check out the views. It was not too upwind a course to keep as well so I did not get the back leg burn I was expecting.

Coming towards the beach was awesome- as the beach came into focus, I could see and hear the crowd and the music, and I made an effort to charge into the beach with a bit more style that I had shown out in the big deep.
It was very cool to be greeted by a bunch of enthusiastic yellow shirted vollies, made the dunkings earlier worthwhile. Thanks D1!

I think my gear choice left some room for improvement- I took my North Freestyle Fish, thinking of big swell to navigate and nice to have a floatation device if all went to sh#t, but really it was too stiff and buoyant for the sloppy conditions and I spent the whole time trying to stop the board bouncing around (I have a sore front leg today, not back leg). But it was that, or strapless, or on a twinny I havent really touched in 6 months.
I also took my small kite (a 7m) thinking it was only going to go upwards of the 20knots that it was at 1pm, but I was in fact mostly underpowered and having to work the kite especially at the half way mark. (Another sick feeling in the gut thinking of a VERY long swim in if the wind switched or died....). I think I would have been overpowered on my 12m, so still the best of the choices on the day.

Had a great time all day, and at the after party, meeting some new friends and many old ones, and overall was a great experience.

Massive thanks to all the volunteers, WAKSA, and Redbull for a great day

Heaps more Photo's, some great pre event and start pic's at
hetheringtonphotography.fotomerchant.com/galleries/red-bull-lighthouse-leighton
Especially good one of Said page 5 and lot's of Alex and all contestants.

I reckon rotate the direction year for year eg to rotto next year

Imagine the after party at the quokka arms