Council proposes to change access, which could spell the end for sailing at Jimmys Beach Hawks Nest nsw.
Meanwhile, Lake Maqaurie guys have an application in to council for a race at Jimmys this season, the first one since 2011 i believe. More info on that to come soon i hope.
There used to be 300 competitors here. That stopped when council restricted access.
Now it's just a few of us. We worry that it's about to get alot harder to access.
Hopefully change makes it a revival, and not an end for Jimmys as a sailing venue.
I am not sure if submissions from non-residents will matter here, but if you have some time, please let council know you'd like windsurfing to be considered in their proposal via this link before 08 August 4.30pm.
www.midcoast.nsw.gov.au/Your-Council/Our-news/News-releases/Council-to-combat-overcrowding-issue-at-Jimmys-Beach
How it used to look..
www.formulawindsurfing.org/2011/01/29/the-world-is-coming-to-hawks-nest/
If we are going down we are going fighting. With the bad news of this proposal to change access, i got inspired to unleash my inner Speilberg again 
There's overcrowding at Jimmy's beach? Seriously? The place is big and from my memory when its windy no one else wants to use the beach anyway.
We used to launch along the 'esplanade' I think it was called. But last time I was there I think half of it was washed away anyway.
You are right. It is big, and most go home when it gets windy. And yes, the erosion keeps happening there. They put sand, it washes away, repeat.
There is alot of people in peak times in 4x4's. That is just a few weeks a year. I wouldn't say it is overcrowded though. No way.
Out at the spit is best accessed by 4x4 as it's a ways to walk.
Yes, The Boulevard / Winda Woppa is still and probably always will be doable.
But only if you can get a parking spot there. Because, yes, that is overcrowded. And when people can not drive on the beach, it will be double overcrowded.
No parking or access is being made, only taken away. So it is a double effect as more people come.
Bugger to read this.
Is it worth proposing to council closing beach access ONLY during peak times like summer holidays? Somewhat of a compromise but talks directly to over crowding.
That compromise could make sense.
If sailors could access some of the grass in that time it would be good.
There is now an access road into that grass area again leading to the sailing shed.
A local group of men gathering to row surf boats have registered as Jimmys beach aquatic club - Australia's first aquatic mens shed, apparently. They currently have access to the shed and the grass area.
This is where the event is hoping to access this year.
I'll try to make another vid with more info on that soon.
I don't see the disability parking permit thing working well. It is rugged, open and kind of isolated out there at the spit.
Not the place to have a fall or heart attack or something. Especially when there is limited other vehicles out the to assist.
Any injuries out there usually get transported to town in a private car off the beach, as it's much quicker than ambo's getting near the place.
Another old article on how it was here.
www.sail-world.com/Australia/Downunder-Pro-Formula-Windsurfing-Championships-Warm-Up-Event/-79874?source=google
Looks like they are just going to stop people driving on the beach? Nothing about stopping windsurfing or general access to the beach.
Sounds like a good idea to me. People in their mega 4x4s can drive on a different beach away from kids and walkers.
See you there in October MobZ!
We used to have many weekends sailing at Jimmys. Could park down on the grass with easy access to the beach and great rigging. Cranking noreasters up at the spit!!! Its all changed so much. Saw the biggest dorsal fin Ive ever seen on an early morning sup just off the beach. I really hope we dont lose it as a windsurfing spot.
Select to expand quotejamesf said..
Looks like they are just going to stop people driving on the beach? Nothing about stopping windsurfing or general access to the beach.
Sounds like a good idea to me. People in their mega 4x4s can drive on a different beach away from kids and walkers.
See you there in October MobZ!
There are 15 parking spaces at Jimmy's. These were full all last summer from caravan park overflow.
So was the access road on both sides.
This is why we drive on the beach to windsurf here and probably why we are the only ones currently still sailing here regularly, because we find good access via 4x4 onto the beach.
Council does not propose to stop cars on the beach, just cars without a disability permit.
We will not be able to access for windsurfing without driving on the beach due to lack of parking elsewhere.
If they reinstated the grass parking, that could work.
Any updates on the race application for here?
In peak times at mid summer Jimmy's is like a parking lot. I don't really understand why so many of the northern beaches are open to cars; it makes them far less attractive to most people as far as I can see. Surely the beach is a place where the average person should be able to get away from cars, not a place where they have to look out for them.
Looking at Google Maps shows how many of the beaches in that area are just a mass of tire tracks, with very little sand that isn't effectively a roadway. It's a situation where scarce areas are largely taken over by a minority who show little care for the majority or for the area itself.
If people have to park on tThe Boulevarde or The Anchorage, or in the back streets, and carry gear 15-50 metres in order to make sure the beach is shared then surely it's a reasonable thing to do. For comparison, at Long Reef the waterline is about 170m from the car park. At Palm Beach (NSW) it's about 60m from the car park to the high water mark. If people at Long Reef can carry their gear 170m with no problem in order to protect and share the beach, then why can't people at Jimmies? It may not be perfect for us, but it's not our beach.
Alternatively people could launch almost straight from their car at Pindimar, Shoal Bay or Dutchmans and still get the same sort of sailing.
Select to expand quoteChris 249 said..
In peak times at mid summer Jimmy's is like a parking lot. I don't really understand why so many of the northern beaches are open to cars; it makes them far less attractive to most people as far as I can see. Surely the beach is a place where the average person should be able to get away from cars, not a place where they have to look out for them.
Looking at Google Maps shows how many of the beaches in that area are just a mass of tire tracks, with very little sand that isn't effectively a roadway. It's a situation where scarce areas are largely taken over by a minority who show little care for the majority or for the area itself.
If people have to park on tThe Boulevarde or The Anchorage, or in the back streets, and carry gear 15-50 metres in order to make sure the beach is shared then surely it's a reasonable thing to do. For comparison, at Long Reef the waterline is about 170m from the car park. At Palm Beach (NSW) it's about 60m from the car park to the high water mark. If people at Long Reef can carry their gear 170m with no problem in order to protect and share the beach, then why can't people at Jimmies? It may not be perfect for us, but it's not our beach.
Alternatively people could launch almost straight from their car at Pindimar, Shoal Bay or Dutchmans and still get the same sort of sailing.
Launch Pindimar, get out over the mudflats then go 8k upwind through tidal currents and swell to get to the spot? Maybe in your world, but I wouldn't be so comfortable at this stage in my apprenticeship, so no, that's not an alternative.
From Shoal bay? An expert visiting sailor failed at it last year. It's some deep water coming from over there. You'd want to be confident. People have been swept out.
The majority of locals support driving on the beach, as that is how they get there to do their thing. It is too far to walk and carry gear.
It is why many people here choose this place, for the beach / driving / fishing / and in my case, windsurfing.
I guess it is changing, as it becomes more touristy. Locals get punished because of visitors acting like hoons, and just sheer numbers of people all wanting to be in the same spot at the same time, and the spot becomes lost.
My message seems lost. I guess it is not clear, it's a hard thing to tell a story about. I thought windsurfers would support better access to a world-class spot.
Select to expand quoteMobZ said..Chris 249 said..
In peak times at mid summer Jimmy's is like a parking lot. I don't really understand why so many of the northern beaches are open to cars; it makes them far less attractive to most people as far as I can see. Surely the beach is a place where the average person should be able to get away from cars, not a place where they have to look out for them.
Looking at Google Maps shows how many of the beaches in that area are just a mass of tire tracks, with very little sand that isn't effectively a roadway. It's a situation where scarce areas are largely taken over by a minority who show little care for the majority or for the area itself.
If people have to park on tThe Boulevarde or The Anchorage, or in the back streets, and carry gear 15-50 metres in order to make sure the beach is shared then surely it's a reasonable thing to do. For comparison, at Long Reef the waterline is about 170m from the car park. At Palm Beach (NSW) it's about 60m from the car park to the high water mark. If people at Long Reef can carry their gear 170m with no problem in order to protect and share the beach, then why can't people at Jimmies? It may not be perfect for us, but it's not our beach.
Alternatively people could launch almost straight from their car at Pindimar, Shoal Bay or Dutchmans and still get the same sort of sailing.
Launch Pindimar, get out over the mudflats then go 8k upwind through tidal currents and swell to get to the spot? Maybe in your world, but I wouldn't be so comfortable at this stage in my apprenticeship, so no, that's not an alternative.
From Shoal bay? An expert visiting sailor failed at it last year. It's some deep water coming from over there. You'd want to be confident. People have been swept out.
The majority of locals support driving on the beach, as that is how they get there to do their thing. It is too far to walk and carry gear.
It is why many people here choose this place, for the beach / driving / fishing / and in my case, windsurfing.
I guess it is changing, as it becomes more touristy. Locals get punished because of visitors acting like hoons, and just sheer numbers of people all wanting to be in the same spot at the same time, and the spot becomes lost.
My message seems lost. I guess it is not clear, it's a hard thing to tell a story about. I thought windsurfers would support better access to a world-class spot.
I think many of us don't feel that our rights as windsurfers over-ride the rights of a far greater number of people to enjoy a lovely spot without cars driving around. The same applies to the 4WD guys; their rights to drive on the beach don't over-ride the rights of other people to sit on the beach without cars running around and carving it up.
I've sailed all around that area on a variety of boards, including a foiler, with no problems.
I understand how it feels to be a local and have to deal with the crowds; I spent many years living on beaches and also years living in the inner city, where people from the beaches and 'burbs come to party and drive like ****wits at 3 am on Friday and Saturday nights.
Looking at maps it seems that Mid Coast Council has 140km of ocean frontage and 95km of that is open to 4WDs. There seems to be only 19km of beach that isn't open to 4WDs but even one of those beaches has access points and lots of tyre tracks on it.
Lots of people hate having 4WDs on beaches, just like they would hate having cars driving around picnic and BBQ areas at 60+kmh. Having a 4WD charge past you when you're trying to get peace and quiet is just like getting buzzed at close range by a 50' powerboat when you're trying to chill out windsurfing.
Given that most people don't have 4WDs and don't want them on the beaches surely it's fair to give the majority of the people what they want on a minority of the beaches. At the moment about 75% of the people have only 9% of the beaches to do what they want, and 25% have 91% of the beaches to do what they want. Is that fair?
By the way, I have a 4WD (Forester) and windsurf around Jimmies a bit. I just don't think that my right to unload my gear easily over-ride the rights of the vast majority to enjoy public land the way they want to.
Pretty sure i met you at Jimmys Chris, were you winging here?
I remember one winger, and no more than 5 other visitors, sailing last year.
Before council stopped the grass parking, i remember many, like 300 of them.
Take the cars off the beach if that is what the majority want for the holiday period, but give back some access.
I'm lucky i learnt here, the kids and other adults whom just started learning would have trouble with your alternatives.
I think if windsurfers were united and asked council for better access, there could be a possibility that it can grow again as a sailing place.
Select to expand quoteMobZ said..
Any updates on the race application for here?
It's in progress, watch this space 
Select to expand quoteMobZ said..
Pretty sure i met you at Jimmys Chris, were you winging here?
I remember one winger, and no more than 5 other visitors, sailing last year.
Before council stopped the grass parking, i remember many, like 300 of them.
Take the cars off the beach if that is what the majority want for the holiday period, but give back some access.
I'm lucky i learnt here, the kids and other adults whom just started learning would have trouble with your alternatives.
I think if windsurfers were united and asked council for better access, there could be a possibility that it can grow again as a sailing place.
Nope, not a winger. I'm not sure what access has been restricted since I go there by boat, but yep allowing alternative parking sounds like a great idea.
I don't know when the grass parking was stopped, but over the past six years when I've been there on quite a few classic days I've never seen more than about three windsurfers out. There's only ever about two out on the other side at the dog beach or Soldiers Point, which both have a higher population, excellent access and good conditions. It's just not very popular anywhere in Australia these days, sadly.
Even from the road it's a shorter distance to the water at Jimmies than at many other sailing spots. We're only talking a few kilogrames of kit for most people, after all, and plenty of people windsurfed there without 4WDs on the beach back when boards weighed 21kg. So getting 4WDs off the beach certainly doesn't have to kill windsurfing there.
Select to expand quoteChris 249 said..
I'm not sure what access has been restricted since I go there by boat, but yep allowing alternative parking sounds like a great idea.
I don't know when the grass parking was stopped, but over the past six years when I've been there on quite a few classic days I've never seen more than about three windsurfers out. There's only ever about two out on the other side at the dog beach or Soldiers Point, which both have a higher population, excellent access and good conditions. It's just not very popular anywhere in Australia these days, sadly.
Even from the road it's a shorter distance to the water at Jimmies than at many other sailing spots. We're only talking a few kilogrames of kit for most people, after all, and plenty of people windsurfed there without 4WDs on the beach back when boards weighed 21kg. So getting 4WDs off the beach certainly doesn't have to kill windsurfing there.
Sailing at Soldiers Point is nothing like sailing at Jimmy's. Jimmy's is flat. A sand spit.
If the access to the grass parking was not restricted 13 years ago, there would still be many sailing here, and probably more like myself might have taken it up.
The two or three you saw would have most likely been my brother, Rocky and myself. We are the only ones who windsurf at the spit regularly these days.
We live here and know the place well. This is my brother's 25th consecutive season here. These changes might not kill it as a spot, the odd session will still happen here, but it will mean it gets sailed a lot less if better access is not provided once the beach driving stops. Good for tourists, bad for residents.
Without access to parking near the grass at the caravan park, it will be very difficult to find parking and rig to sail here.
With total due respect, I guess I am preaching to the wrong people here. You guys are seeing it through tourist eyes. This is about residents living in a tourist town about to loose what they love about living here, and a few of them are windsurfers.
In addition to windsurfing, many residents here enjoy vehicle access onto the beach to launch sailing cats, sups etc, and there is a big group of local men whom have formed 'Australia's first aquatic mens shed' and drive on beaches to launch surf row boats there, their future also uncertain now.
Nobody abhors the idiots in cars making it uncomfortable for walkers more than us.
It was all fine until 2020 when lots of people started going different places.
BCF shot an ad on this beach telling people to come and do whatever they want. So too did Mitsubishi.
One thing that will stop when beach driving stops is Jims Windsurfing beach cam footage. Very few places are this good to film windsurfing from beach view.
Sorry to bomb you all with my average skills, but here is one showing the beach on 02 January. One of the busiest days. Does it look like it needs council to combat this overcrowding?
Really it is only about 5 days a year that it is out of control. And that is because there is practically zero policing of the rules out there. There is mostly no rangers present.
The spit is not a place many will be able to walk to with kids and sit down and have a picnic in the sun and wind, it is too far, too rugged, too exposed. It is well suited to accessing by 4x4.
When it stops there will be hardly anyone out there. A few walkers. Perhaps it will become very popular with visiting boats then. But then they might wreck the seagrass, and will also be stopped. And the only thing out there will be the dingoes.
The BCF ad. They only used a short clip which was shot on Jimmys, and don't explicitly say it, but the message is there to the masses, just go and crap wherever you like. So uncool. I've not stepped foot in that store and never will. Muppets.
The Mitsubishi ad will be coming soon. Also filmed showing illegal beach activity here to the masses.
Select to expand quoteka43 said..
Go James!!!!!
Nah Byron and Murray are doing all the work for the event, I can't claim credit. But hope to see you round over summer larko.
Sorry Mobz about your loss of access, I can see how you would be disappointed about the 4x4 visitors spoiling it for the locals.
Select to expand quoteMobZ said..
The BCF ad. They only used a short clip which was shot on Jimmys, and don't explicitly say it, but the message is there to the masses, just go and crap wherever you like. So uncool. I've not stepped foot in that store and never will. Muppets.
The Mitsubishi ad will be coming soon. Also filmed showing illegal beach activity here to the masses.
Yep, that ad's pretty rubbish.
I still don't like the 4WDs being able to drive over 90% of the council's beaches, and can't see that having to launch from The Promenade etc and carry the gear 20m will kill windsurfing in the area, though.
But I've put in a submission, pointing out that SUPpers, windsurfers, kiters etc use the water and need decent access to get their gear so they can take part in healthy exercise. I run the multi-club aquatic association where I live and the Council was trying to restrict our water access. Now encouraging the use of that same water is an official Council policy. We presented a united front (fishoes, rowers, sailors, dragon boaters, etc) and are prepared to compromise (although we haven't really had to give ground at all and we've gained a lot), and the Council has told us that approach was vital in them giving us what we wanted.
Select to expand quoteChris 249 said..
I run the multi-club aquatic association where I live and the Council was trying to restrict our water access. Now encouraging the use of that same water is an official Council policy. We presented a united front (fishoes, rowers, sailors, dragon boaters, etc) and are prepared to compromise (although we haven't really had to give ground at all and we've gained a lot), and the Council has told us that approach was vital in them giving us what we wanted.
oookay, now we talkin! Good one.
I'd love hear more about that club Chris, sounds like something we need to pull together here for watersports people.
What area, council are you at?
Thanks so much for making a submission You never know, it might make a difference. Being an amalgamated council covering a vast area, they may not know what they have here at Jimmys, a sailing, watersports wonderland.
Kiters love the place, I first got started here kiting but found windsurfing more suitable to the conditions later on.
Just about all kiters that are coming here are coming by boat from Nelson Bay through a business.
Select to expand quoteChris 249 said..
and can't see that having to launch from The Promenade etc and carry the gear 20m will kill windsurfing in the area, though.
there is bugger all parking at the Boulevard in summer, and even less than bugger all space to rig there.
