Finally - the first downwinder of the series. For this particular course, a southerly is better than a northerly. The SUP course is modified to reduce the distance to about 11km. The final paddle around South Head to Watsons Bay is inner harbour beaches. Probably better to keep your eyes front past some of these secluded spots 
The pointscore (best 3 races with 20Bs being double points) is looking interesting at this early stage:
Open - Steve and Sam are in front. Sam is looking to unveil his secret weapon this weekend...hint...it is yellow....
Girls - Neelie leads but can she stay on the Ace in the tricky water along the cliffs.
o40s - Steve Floyd and Stu Murray will be the ones to watch. But look out for Will Anido (and Casso) who I expect will be making their debuts this Saturday.
o50s - Race 1 winner, Goaty, has his sights firmly fixed on the Doctor in January. He will be hard to beat if the wind gets up.
There is a little bit of admin involved in this race - as with any downwinder, so try and buddy up to work it out...
Last year was a great experience, seeing that part of the coast from the ocean was amazing. I may be in the mountains this weekend mate, but hope you get a great turn out. yeewwww
Looks like a southerly predicted for Saturday Dave looking the goods at the mOment !!!
Think I could make an appearance for this one thats thanks to sambo at wind surf and snow for demoing me a bullet !!!! I'm excited !!!
Definitely has to be the race in the series with the best views!!! The cliffs around there are awesome to look at and a fun paddle too. Hope you get some wind this year which would make it even better!
Just watch out for the surfboat oars when they're next to you! I almost got taken out by a few of the boat crews last year (rookie sweeps I think ).
I'm going to miss this one Ali (but for legitimate reasons as opposed to last year!!)...see you at Narrabeen for Race #4.
Getting close now. Fingers crossed that the weather forecast is right. Sunny with a light to moderate southerly is perfect for this course as the backwash should set up a few little A frames.
This is not the sort of run to do on your own (as there is no way of scrambling up the cliffs if you have a problem) so if you want to experience something different (with plenty of safety) come and have a go. If anything, it will memorable.
Beers on at Watsons Bay Hotel afterwards to share (war) stories
We have all been debating what is the best board for this course in these conditions. The Ace is usually the "go to" board in anything under nuking downwind, but, with the backwash, I reckon either the SIC Bullet or WOW dugout or 27 Ace.
Re the admin/car shuffle, it is really easy. Basically, register at Bondi first, then just organise with someone to leave a car in the car park at Watsons Bay beforehand - at that time of the morning, it is only a 10 minute drive each way.
PM if you are not sure how it works.
Did the Bondi to Opera house paddle a few years and tears back, 2009 I think.
Agree with Kissa's comments on the course.
It has many challenges and is interesting ???
See photos of the memories here :))
Looks like a wave off the light house that day ?? Would be some great runs through there !!
You racing Stuey?
Just heard Will is a late scratching and is unlikely to make 3 races for the series.
That'll open up the 40s...
FYI - online entries close tonight but you can still enter on the day.
Hope you can still make it NNSUP - alot of northside crew going - should be fun 
Dave Yep I am planning to be there.
I am looking forward to racing this course.
What are you racing on???
Once we start we gotta go all the way or go home with our tails between our legs :))
16 brave souls took on the daunting Bondi to Watsons Bay Paddle today.
For something different, we had a beach start, and the surprise leader round Ben Buckler was Big Ben Brown, followed by Stuey Murray. Plenty of fast twitch fibre between those 2 . Pity it didn't last thought
Unfortunately, it wasn't freight traina downwind, but there was still plenty of other stuff to keep us interested - dolphins, sheer cliffs and sneaky boils waiting to catch the unwary.
As usual, there were plenty of battles. Stevie and myself went blow for blow the whole way around with Stevie getting the nod this time by about the same margin as last time - 7secs. Was good to see Fanatic get their first victory in the Oceanseries - Steve said it ran beautifully.
Ben Brown continued with his impressive form finishing in 3rd (sorry about the results page mate), while Banger Chamlmers edging out 40s leader and early pacesetter - Stuey.
Our O50s leader, Goaty, went ding dong with Neelie and with some fancy footwork around Sth Head cemented a winnning lead. Goaty paddled the new WOW dugout and seemed to have a smile on his face at the end.
Of course Neelie Brown won the womens race. She is going to be hard to beat on her Starby Ace.
Dan Cream (nee Cleary) was lamenting the lack or runners on the big SIC Bullet - but, now, at least has a ranking after his first finish for the season.
If your reading this, #7003 please send me a PM so i can update the results - again, sorry bout that.
See results at: http://online.oceanseries.com.au/media/pdf/Results/overallsups.pdf
Next race is the Narrabeen Downwinder with the one and only Kai Lenny making an appearance - hope the wind is nuking so we have a chance and can break out the Bullets (you never know - he might be tired from all those NISCO races).
Sorry bout the lack of photos for this one.
Potty Mullet was watching the race from the cliffs and took a few so hopefully he will post them.
Cheers
Dave
These were taken from my "point and shoot" automatic with full zoom at times so not fantastic but not too bad either. This location is prime for someone with a good camera and photo skills. Just let me know if there are too many photos but all tell a story I think. Some good battles out there today, and was hard to watch as it looked very inviting.
Looks like a nice day but a bit too hard work for me.
Come on downwind conditions for Narrabeen!
Even though the wind was cross offshore for much of it, it was actually not a bad paddle with a few little runners in between the backwash off the cliffs. Amazing views along a pretty iconic stretch of coastline.
Thanks to Dave (Kissa) for organising the SUP side of things and for the lend of the WOW 14 footer - perfect board for the race. Big thanks to Sam from WINDSURFINSNOW for the sponsorship - $100 gift vouchers for division winners. Great to see the shops getting right behind the sport.
