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Coonabidgee, WA, 6503
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Forums > Kitesurfing General

LOC Kite Surfing Downwind Marathon

Reply
Created by LancelinOC > 9 months ago, 23 Nov 2012
LouD
WA, 641 posts
10 Jan 2013 9:50AM
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If they dont race tomorrow the Wsurfers are probably not going to get a crack. If the kite race starts at 1pm, there is heaps of time to run another race. Only thing is the Wsurfers will probably have to run the same course.

Did Mindarie Yanchep yesterday trying to approximate similar angles and it is extremely difficult. It will be as choppy as hell as well. The guy with the strongest R calf muscle is going to win!

Good Luck

Mark _australia
WA, 22799 posts
10 Jan 2013 1:46PM
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SugarQube said...
Mark _australia said...
^^^ you can't run both on the same day one after the other
Often the seabreeze is not in until 3, and you need a few hrs after the race for sweeping. If somebody was really missing properly, it would not be long before dark. It is already the case that they won't start a race after 3 - 3:30 or something for those reasons.

And yes they pick a lot of windsurfers out of the water or retire to the beach as it is a very hard race.

as to going together, you can't run a up to 200 windsurfers and even a handful kiters on that course the start line is like 100m wide and the start alone (with 60 kiters) will be very very difficult on Fri.



Of course you can run one race after the other, that would be the best option.

I just suspect we will be the test dummys this year and the organisers should consult with local racing crew


Last couple of years with late start due to the breeze, they were still bringing people in at 5pm. Would you start a second race then knowing some people will be getting rescued just on sunset?

Some peopel seem to not get the fact that a 40min run with 200 entrants is actually a 4hr proposition by the time all are safe and accounted for.

Today you could run one after the other, as it was good wind at 11am if not earlier.
But logistics dictate they need to run on different day in case it is a late seabreeze.

airhead
WA, 814 posts
10 Jan 2013 1:55PM
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Forecast is bouncing around all over the place. As it stands right now looks as though only the kiters will get a start

airhead
WA, 814 posts
10 Jan 2013 1:58PM
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tightlines said...
The start may be interesting as well, the windsurfers usually start on the beach I believe, so if our start is the same there could be 60 kites trying to take off at the same time....fun and games ......and maybe a bit of carnage .


How about a Le Mans style start with unassisted self launch

tightlines
WA, 3486 posts
10 Jan 2013 2:01PM
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airhead said...
tightlines said...
The start may be interesting as well, the windsurfers usually start on the beach I believe, so if our start is the same there could be 60 kites trying to take off at the same time....fun and games ......and maybe a bit of carnage .


How about a Le Mans style start with unassisted self launch




Start should be in order of age....oldest first.

AndyHansen
WA, 278 posts
10 Jan 2013 2:07PM
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tightlines said...
airhead said...
tightlines said...
The start may be interesting as well, the windsurfers usually start on the beach I believe, so if our start is the same there could be 60 kites trying to take off at the same time....fun and games ......and maybe a bit of carnage .


How about a Le Mans style start with unassisted self launch




Start should be in order of age....oldest first.



haha. In that case might to include a handicap system like the ponies run, some added ballast for previous race results

LouD
WA, 641 posts
10 Jan 2013 3:32PM
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tightlines said...
airhead said...
tightlines said...
The start may be interesting as well, the windsurfers usually start on the beach I believe, so if our start is the same there could be 60 kites trying to take off at the same time....fun and games ......and maybe a bit of carnage .


How about a Le Mans style start with unassisted self launch




Start should be in order of age....oldest first.


Which means I start ahead of you!

Chris6791
WA, 3271 posts
10 Jan 2013 4:47PM
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SugarQube said...
Mark _australia said...
^^^ you can't run both on the same day one after the other
Often the seabreeze is not in until 3, and you need a few hrs after the race for sweeping. If somebody was really missing properly, it would not be long before dark. It is already the case that they won't start a race after 3 - 3:30 or something for those reasons.

And yes they pick a lot of windsurfers out of the water or retire to the beach as it is a very hard race.

as to going together, you can't run a up to 200 windsurfers and even a handful kiters on that course the start line is like 100m wide and the start alone (with 60 kiters) will be very very difficult on Fri.



Of course you can run one race after the other, that would be the best option.

I just suspect we will be the test dummys this year and the organisers should consult with local racing crew


Don't overlook that it is an open ocean race. If someone goes AWOL that's 20 or 30 square kilometres of ocean to thoroughly sweep and clear. It would be irresponsible to start another race until every competitor is accounted for.

Plus they are almost all volunteers, you can only spend so long in a boat in those conditions.

And yes you are test dummies, same as the first lighthouse to Leighton. There was a lot of feedback before and after the race on here and by all accounts is it turning into a well run event. Give this one a year or two before it settles in.

airhead
WA, 814 posts
11 Jan 2013 8:07AM
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Any idea of scheduled start time from Ledge? I'm leaving work (in the city) around 1PM so was hoping start will be around 2:30 so I get to see it on my way to Lancelin.

Juddy
WA, 1103 posts
11 Jan 2013 8:22AM
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briefing @ 12, race meant to start @ 1.00pm (wind dependent) according to the email I got....

Chris6791
WA, 3271 posts
11 Jan 2013 9:44AM
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Good luck all.

oceanfire
WA, 718 posts
11 Jan 2013 9:50AM
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Yeah, good luck guys!
Wish I could be there, looking forward to hearing about it.

airhead
WA, 814 posts
11 Jan 2013 11:01AM
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Juddy said...
briefing @ 12, race meant to start @ 1.00pm (wind dependent) according to the email I got....


bugger! see you at the finish line bar then...

BoardGirl
QLD, 248 posts
11 Jan 2013 2:40PM
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Good luck to all those entered.

Can't wait to see the results and read the stories, hoping for some video action as I hear there was a decent swell running.

tightlines
WA, 3486 posts
11 Jan 2013 3:56PM
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Mmmm this is going to be interesting!!!

bermand
WA, 247 posts
11 Jan 2013 8:34PM
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Great event, good fun, obviously marks were hard to find but well done to Ian Young for persisting, I was about 500m off the prescribed course looked for marks but only made marks 1 & 3. I gather that most of competitors had similar issues. It was a treat to have such great conditions, my 11 m Peter Lynn Fury worked well. I am sure everyone will learn from this year's event and next year will be bigger and better. Thank you to organiser's, sponsors and WAKSA volunteer's.

SugarQube
WA, 490 posts
11 Jan 2013 8:59PM
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52 racers and only 2 run the actual course.

all the rest are disqualified those are the facts, I guess you could discuss this to death, all the times have no relevance because its impossible to say what course the other 50 took....

Still, big thanks to WAKSA and LOC for putting on the race.
Congrats, Ian for winning and persisting to find those elusive markers.

Im alresdy looking forward to next year

bermand
WA, 247 posts
11 Jan 2013 9:03PM
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I Don't think 50 were dq, I heard that Marty still won something for 3rd position!
So it appears that he was penalized for not making the marks but not dq?

LouD
WA, 641 posts
11 Jan 2013 11:26PM
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I managed to find the boat.

Chris6791
WA, 3271 posts
12 Jan 2013 12:54AM
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Which mark was missed? Fence reef or out of south passage?

bermand
WA, 247 posts
12 Jan 2013 1:01AM
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After talking to Ian Young, I decided to put waypoints into my watch for next time. Shock horror, I went around 2nd mark correct side whilst 120m away from it without even knowing it was there, than I went around the 3 rd mark the wrong way thinking it was second mark. The 4th mark I missed by around 800m, thinking it was much closer to South Passage than it was.Now I have the waypoints bring on next year.

picker
VIC, 431 posts
12 Jan 2013 4:30AM
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How do you put the waypoints in your
Watch? Online or dial them up with the watch itself? I have a sunto. Thanks dudes?!

bermand
WA, 247 posts
12 Jan 2013 1:45AM
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My watch is Garmin 310xt, before this event I did not realize that you could put them in, just directly into the watch, it has a goto mode and then you put the lat and long in. Any competitors with watches might find that the actually went around more marks than they thought.

tightlines
WA, 3486 posts
12 Jan 2013 3:38AM
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Chris6791 said...
Which mark was missed? Fence reef or out of south passage?


The course was changed from what was originally posted and there was actually 4 marks, some people missed 1 mark, most missed 2.
The first was a boat that I believe everyone went around, the second was a couple of k's out from Fence reef which I think everyone missed but Ian Young and Russell Curtin went back and found after first rounding the 3rd marker (fence reef) which I believe most people rounded the wrong way thinking it was the second marker.
Then also nearly everyone but Ian and Russ missed the last marker out from South Passage, I found it eventually but doing so cost me any chance of third place.

Anyway thanks to LOC and WAKSA for the holding the event, it has the potential to be a great event and congrats to Ian Young and Russell Curtin for finding all of the markers.
I just hope that if this event goes ahead next year something can be done about making the marks easier to find.

I thought it was great that when I couldn't find the 2nd marker that the chopper hovered over it, it is just a shame that it was actually the 3rd marker and I (and everyone one else) still hadn't found the 2nd one.

If cray boats or bigger brighter markers aren't available it would be good if the chopper could just hover over each marker until the leader has reached it because then everyone would be able to follow.

kiterboy
2614 posts
12 Jan 2013 7:39AM
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Ah so it was a treasure hunt race.
Next time they could hold it at easter and put eggs out for everyone

Juddy
WA, 1103 posts
12 Jan 2013 8:09AM
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A simple thank you to the crew @ Lancelin Ocean Classic for getting kites back into this event (last time was back in 2003 or 04 apparently).

Bit of confusion on the water, but hey, first time an event is run there's always "something"....

Thanks to the guy from Lancelin Sea Rescue for the demo about flares & for the on water support, thanks to Drew & Steve from WAKSA, and what a surprise, Ian Young & Rusty walk away with the prizes....good work guys.

Can't wait for next year.

JohnnoKeys
WA, 551 posts
12 Jan 2013 9:09AM
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How my race panned out -
A few ideas for next year & feed back.

Super pre start organisation & team to enter & sort us out was AA grade

Pre start briefing was again top notch

The 1/2 hour change of race course route was a big mistake? At the time I thought this was going to make finding marks ( small white waist high bouys in) IMPOSSIBLE at 25knots on a race board in head-high open ocean swell & with my wind meter just reading 24 to 32 knots 1/2 an hour before the race. IMO running race closer to beach as 1st planned was a far better & safer route to Lancelin.

The start was set and run perfectly with 52 racers on line not an issue. 2 x safety boats following fleet down wind all good.

1st mark a 60 ft police marine boat 4km off shore - you could see from beach. At start everyone was smoking 3x racers feel off near me in the windy and very choppy side swell but they were going for it.

At the 1st mark boat 6-8 of us passed as a group and I raced off with another racer on Port tack and all the others gybed to startboard ( not sure why as the 2nd mark was about . 6-8minutes down wind directly).

With most of the pack 500m to 1km down wind of me after 3-5minutes I was trying to spot the mark at 20knots of speed and saw nothing - Every time I tried to look for the white 2nd mark I almost stacked it as the ocean was so rough. All of the other racers were weaving around and looking lost - While still trying to find 2nd mark at speed & totally lost I had 2 HUGE crashes and was lucky not to drop my kite - infact got a pretty sore neck this morning from my crashes. At this point and totally lost, I saw the front 3 guys below me had turned towards the beach and where heading around a mark ( at last someone has found that small white pesky mark) 2 km East. At the point I decided to chase the pack as another 6-8 riders were passing down wind towards this mark, I thought I must have already passed second mark and not seen it - Oh well I thought, try to catch the main 3 riders as they were now about 1000m in front . I reckon I was within 500m of second mark but it was impossible to see in that wind and head high rolling swell.

Johhnoo smashed across to 3rd mark and passed upwind and tacked to beach as I thought the other bouy may be closer to beach but nothing so I changed to port tack and pulled up to full speeddd skirting the beach 800m out and had an amazing high speed down wind run to try and catch 6-8 leaders at least 1km ahead by now. The big green kite at the front was my goal. I run behind heaps of bommies with surf and found some fantastic smooth water and just avoiding the waves, with about 4km to go I hit a bommie just as it broke at full speed and got launched at least 30ft into the air and landed at speed more than 50m down wind ( the highlight of the race what a scary blast). With 3km to go the main 3-4 guys were 200m in front and I was trying to get a 3rd place.

2km Out past South passage looking for the mark and I saw all the front guys had turned towards the finish line and were now about 800m in front again and they were all chasing the big green kite. I thought once again I had missed the 4th mark ( johnno what a stuff up) and gybed toward the finnish line and smashed the last 2-3km at full speed and got to line 4th or 5th I think.

The end race line was cool and worked welll with 52 kites. Jumping off board and jumping onto the blue finish line.

On the beach everyone was pretty HIGH and everyone started chattering about marks and not seeing any marks - I said I thought you guys had seen the marks. It was obvious everyone had been as lost as I was during the race.



A few thoughts
IMO - If marks do not have a boat on them they will be impossible to find if racing- if your goal is to find the marks add another 20minutes to race and call it an kite orienteering race -

IMO - If no boats available - Have the 1st mark and then just race to finish - no other marks. Very easy cool.

The Ledge to Lancelin has the potential for a another GREAT WA kite race & is an amazing stretch of pristine, blue open ocean water.

Full praise to the LOC organisers - WAKSA Steve & Drew - the windsurfers who ever they may be - Lancelin sea rescue & police all all the GREAT LOC crew who helped out on day.

P.S - Super, super fun day - great kiting crew and lots of smiling faces - great that everyone is getting into ocean racing and all loving the kites, boards and tech. And those 4 beers at pub after the race were as good as it gets!


SaveTheWhales
WA, 1877 posts
12 Jan 2013 9:46AM
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Yeah definately a big big thanks to the organisers n volunteers

I didnt find the last 2 marks... but what I did find was awesome fun event & met lots of great people as well as learning (from watching others skip past me) how to kite straight downwind on a small twin tip.

Remembering a few years back doing the windsurfing race... they used single line kites over the markers which could be seen from miles away.

Its quite clear from mass confusion bar 2 - that a race wasnt being held - but a Orienteering day was lol I failed that at school too (please dont make the race turn into a 'Gadget' race and keep it close to the beach) oh well lotsa fun anyway

tightlines
WA, 3486 posts
12 Jan 2013 10:26AM
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bermand said...
After talking to Ian Young, I decided to put waypoints into my watch for next time. Shock horror, I went around 2nd mark correct side whilst 120m away from it without even knowing it was there, than I went around the 3 rd mark the wrong way thinking it was second mark. The 4th mark I missed by around 800m, thinking it was much closer to South Passage than it was.Now I have the waypoints bring on next year.


Trying to navigate off a GPS watch would be near on impossible whilst racing in those conditions but do you know what the co-ordinates for the elusive second marker were because it wasn't shown on the original course.

I'd just like to know because I had a GPS watch on and was out wide with Johnno and reckon we must have been pretty close to it, maybe we even rounded it without knowing as well.

Super disappointed because I had nailed the start and led for most of the first leg, think it was Phil Rowlands on the North kite that just pipped me before rounding the marker boat, but I wasn't that worried because there was a long way to go and I was feeling pretty good about my chances until the search began.......


Chris6791
WA, 3271 posts
12 Jan 2013 10:28AM
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Be interesting to hear why the late change. Poleys have had trouble finding 60 foot crayboats in the past when the wind and swell are turned on, marker bouys would have been a bitch to find!

Sounds like everyone had a blast, looking forward to getting back to town tonight and hearing how the Lano crew went.



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"LOC Kite Surfing Downwind Marathon" started by LancelinOC