This weekend Bayside is holding an Alpha challenge at wello from 3-5pm.
Have a bash at cranking out the fastest gybe or just get some practice in for racing next week.
Check out the Bayside site for notice of race.
This year the GPS fleets have been changed to gold, silver & bronze to make the series more competitive. Sailors have been allocated into fleets considering their (known) GPS history and the slalom class they are competing in.
To reduce any advantage dedicated speed gear might have the series is run across a variety of categories (including gybe prowess) & venues which may not produce flat water. Categories this year-
Alpha
250m
500m
Nautical Mile
1 hour
Hope to see the Baysider's there.
PS if there are any photographer friends of Bayside the jetty could provide some nice shots from a great perspective 
Those that wanna have a crack & dont have a gps can hunt me down on saturday arvo & i'll sling lend you a gps for a while so you can belt out some alpha's.
For those with ambition Vando is the current alpha gun with a 26.67 knot alpha.
Basically you sail a track which has a total distance of 500m which includes the gybe or tack.
You must sail back to where you start- your start & end point can be at most 50m apart. So aim to sail around 250m gybe & return to near where you started.
Apparently best is to sail at 90deg to wind.
Sailing very fast & broad into a gybe will mostly put you outside that start/end 50m proximity so it isn't about the fastest person off the wind. It's all about nailing a clean, relatively tight planing gybe.
There are many ways to play the game- sacrifice a bit of top end speed & go for something with a bit of float or that will get you round or use a sail that is easier to handle. Maybe you want to gybe and then cross over your path on the way back or maybe you want to round up slightly before going into the gybe.
If you want some tips on the best way to pull of a good alpha Simon, Vando, Pierre or Brad would be the guys to ask (i gybe with the finesse of a baby elephant 
).
Had great fun thanks mark , man there where some big stacks
Thanks to Richard for boat duites
Thanks those that came along. It was good & challenging conditions for alpha... I'm going to put my hand up for coming last in gold fleet by a mile.
Some great stacks for sure, I thought we'd be sending the boat out to put you back together when you fell. Apparently best crash went someone who after a close shave with the fin almost became Miss Pierre.
Early call is Simon to retain his crown, the new falcon certainly seems to have some pace & go round corners. Bobbing around in the water I had the chance to watch the others a fair bit & there were some great gybes.
Hopefully for the next event the wind gods provide some warmer & more appealing conditions.
Thanks again Rich for bringing the boat & keeping an eye on us 
Haha Interesting watching all the stacks.
might be a too early call there Mark.
looks like im off the water for abit
here is a small video of the sat not much with conditions and little one in tow
Results on bayside site
www.baysidesailboards.com.au/results.html
Very close comp !!!
