Surely BOP racing is about meeting the challenge of racing in the Ocean, which means taking on whatever the Ocean dishes up?
It is up to the organisers to make a call on safety and individual competitors to asses their own skills in light of the conditions.
It was the rocks popping up in the vid that shocked me but I am told that they were to one side and were not a major issue as there was a marshall directing competitors.
Most people I have spoken to said that you are only seeing the carnage (clean up sets) and everyone had the option to pull out.
I am yet to speak with an Aussie paddler who wasn't stoked to be taking part in this event.
I know at the paddle to Battle MS a few years ago everyone was stoked to take in heavy conditions.
If you have the skills to handle these conditions why dumb down the event to the lowest common denominator?
Yeh I guess the " video highlights" focussed on the "carnage" when I would prefer to see how the elite handle the waves so we can all learn, I agree also that the video has a narrow focus and given that I'm in the building industry where OHS regulations are designed to cover the complete range of responsibilities and intellect, self responsibility quite often is lacking and I guess with bop racing it's no different but for officials to start an event when an a approaching set is looming maybe is something for consideration of change when the risk is greatest, as with all liabilities it's about minimizing the risk. Hopefully there is a video available on the event that shows the best aspects of bop racing...
