Select to expand quotemathew said..
I'm going to throw my opinion in the pits of fire too... because I also am an armchair-expert.Gestalt said..
putting aside sponship for a second.
We cant do that - it is about 99% of the whole task [ of organising a competition ]. Here is why:
- Pozo is a unique place, even by the Canary Islands standards; it is because there is grandstand-seating right at the waters edge. Every other venue requires some form of temporary scaffolding. And then there is the public-facilities (food, toilets, parking, etc) For all of those people saying "we can do this elsewhere", then good luck with that.
- Any competition will require authority and insurances.... those need money to be paid up front.
- If the competition wants support staff, either those people need to be paid, or there needs to be some other type of compensation (such as free local accommodation)
- If you want competitors to turn up from locations other than the nearest suburb, then you need to provide some prize money.
- If there is no wind, due to practical reasons you cannot move the venue to another location; you probably want to provide some non-wind entertainment
... but if we really do want to ignore the source of money -->>
surely this is the approach and most likely where the pwa is headed.
find a reliably windy venue,
book a 2 week window
run slalom fin/foil, freestyle fin/foil and waves (venue dependant)
if not enough wind then slalom x just doesn't happen. you still have foil racing.
no sitting on the beach in france waiting. fin and foil are not mutually exclusive.
look at the efpt whom have solved the wind thing.
As is already stated with examples, a "windy venue" is more accurately called "likely windy venue".
I was lucky enough to have just spent 9 days in Pozo only just the week before this competition. The day before I turned up, the wind decided to show up. Pozo had not had any wind for the few weeks before that. What to do if wasn't windy during the competition-window ?
Then there is the "if the windy venue decided to have light-wind, we can just use light-wind gear". Which competitor has enough will and/or money to bring every variation in gear ? ... and that is ignoring that the PWA requires registration of your gear ahead of the days' event.
... maybe PvB can share some of his thoughts from his recent experience.
fwiw
i organised events and helped organise events for about 15 years at local, state and national levels pretty much by myself including sourcing insurances, local approvals, creating funding spreadsheets, liaising with authority and local bodies, producing safety plans, sourcing the prizes and the sponsorships, arranging media, rescue craft, volunteers and navigating local protections and community groups. I also had to cop all the "everyone else knows better talk" in the background. lol. Granted not pwa but still a huge amount of work which for some events took me 12 months and saw competitors from overseas.
I also started a windsurfing club from scratch. that alone took 12-18 months navigating state and national bodies and state laws. that club is still running thanks to others. Don't take that as boasting, just letting you know i'm coming from a position of experience (whatever that means, and not an armchair expert).
timing of events, locations and what to do during no wind is something that requires thought, testing and trialling during events.
to that extent isn't this already what the pwa is trying to do. aren't foils part of as the light wind solution.
If a forecast for a usually windy spot is very bad and more or less hopeless there should be a chance to cancel a race just in time (to save resources for next time - which might be soon).
Select to expand quoteDI7 said..
If a forecast for a usually windy spot is very bad and more or less hopeless there should be a chance to cancel a race just in time (to save resources for next time - which might be soon).
Would be good for sure
Select to expand quoteDI7 said..
If a forecast for a usually windy spot is very bad and more or less hopeless there should be a chance to cancel a race just in time (to save resources for next time - which might be soon).
Do you mean cancel a day's race or the entire event?
Select to expand quotemathew said..
....maybe PvB can share some of his thoughts from his recent experience.
We had a bit of a chat about Slalom X tonight. Apologies for the first 10 min, I had technical issues at my end.
Haha that thumbnail is classic....thanks Benny. 
I'd be all for PWA foiling being one design with the gear literally brought in a container for all the athletes.
If it's light they use it, if not they don't.
Foil suits one design better than the other disciplines when it's only for lighter wind.
Select to expand quoteFlying Dutchman said..mathew said..
....maybe PvB can share some of his thoughts from his recent experience.
We had a bit of a chat about Slalom X tonight. Apologies for the first 10 min, I had technical issues at my end.
Haha that thumbnail is classic....thanks Benny.
Select to expand quotePaducah said..DI7 said..
If a forecast for a usually windy spot is very bad and more or less hopeless there should be a chance to cancel a race just in time (to save resources for next time - which might be soon).
Do you mean cancel a day's race or the entire event?
the entire event.
Select to expand quoteDI7 said..Paducah said..DI7 said..
If a forecast for a usually windy spot is very bad and more or less hopeless there should be a chance to cancel a race just in time (to save resources for next time - which might be soon).
Do you mean cancel a day's race or the entire event?
the entire event.
Much easier said than done. There's quite often months of planning, and multiple parts to the planning that aren't that flexible. At best you could operate off long range forecasts, and hope they're not wrong. But they can be.
I know. Have been involved with that.
An event takes a lot - but most importantly it needs good/sufficient wind and the ability to also cope with strong winds so that no opportunities are lost a that edge of the spectrum.
It also often takes year for minds to change.
Most important is to quietly accept a decision once taken, as it stands, e.g. that it clearly looked as if there would be not enough wind.
Also volunteers want to do the stuff envisaged and not just sit around for days ... Sponsor usually do not mind a changed date.
Select to expand quoteDI7 said..
If a forecast for a usually windy spot is very bad and more or less hopeless there should be a chance to cancel a race just in time (to save resources for next time - which might be soon).
Right, great idea. You also cancel all the plans people have done to get there, and airplane tickets, and hotels reservations, and all the infrastructure that has been secured for the competition site, and the organizing on the ground with local authorities and permits, and then? After all the financial losses associated with the cancellations you tell people to come next week? or next month? next year? And also tell them that you reserve the right to cancel with a week advance if the forecast is no good?
Not every event is the same. Not every event has people coming by plane ...
Some are organised at clubs, some do not return entry fees, or only parts ...
For sure cancelling for is not always a good/the best solution - however it can be.
We just had the situation this year. And everybody is happy that we did so. Several years before such an option was strictly ruled out.
Select to expand quoteDI7 said..
Not every event is the same. Not every event has people coming by plane ...
Some are organised at clubs, some do not return entry fees, or only parts ...
For sure cancelling for is not always a good/the best solution - however it can be.
We just had the situation this year. And everybody is happy that we did so. Several years before such an option was strictly ruled out.
agree, each event needs to find it's own path. I have run events on call, events over longer periods, short periods, gps was good because people could do it in their own time. most of those won't work for pwa tho.
i've got withdrawls,
even with the steady flow of youtube content from my usual dealers i'm still missing the pwa stuff.
to fill the hole i have done a deep dive into best places to visit for wind. like a world ranking. found the end results a little surprising as some spots we talk about just didn't make the list and a few closer to home are near the top.
Select to expand quoteDI7 said..
I know. Have been involved with that.
An event takes a lot - but most importantly it needs good/sufficient wind and the ability to also cope with strong winds so that no opportunities are lost a that edge of the spectrum.
It also often takes year for minds to change.
Most important is to quietly accept a decision once taken, as it stands, e.g. that it clearly looked as if there would be not enough wind.
Also volunteers want to do the stuff envisaged and not just sit around for days ... Sponsor usually do not mind a changed date.
DI7, this is the PWA ... not a friendly race among friends at the local sailing club ...
Anyway: yes, there is a bit withdrawal. On to the next chapter, Fuerteventura!
Select to expand quoteGestalt said..
Am I the only one that wants to see an event at a surf ranch
That's way better than sausage!
Show us your list of places!
I can't find the footage. There was a wave pool thing years ago with redbull.
next stop green island
Select to expand quoteGestalt said..
I can't find the footage. There was a wave pool thing years ago with redbull.
next stop green island
Here is the windy spots list with graphs.
couple of things to note.
1. i can't verify any of the data
2. some stations might have an advantage due to being higher above ground or local influences.
Loose comparison only ranked in order of spots with the highest monthly average wind speeds which is what you want more so than spots with the highest wind speeds if chasing wind consistency. No surprise the Canaries have significantly higher monthly averages than anywhere else which is why they are so good. Also where 2 or more spots had similar monthly averages i looked to monthly peak wind gusts to order them.
Also, Sylt and Tiree dropped down the list. The averages are high in winter but i decided to choose the summer figures which down graded the spots. I also split the groups into 2. Places where the monthly average is above 16knots and places where the average monthly is below 16 knots.
1 Canaries
2 Canaries
3 Western Sahara
4 Aruba
5 Australia
6 Morocco
7 Australia
8 Greece
9 Bonaire
10 Australia
11 New Zealand
12 Maui
13 Australia
14 Australia
15 Brazil
16 Namibia
missing the cut 
17 Scotland
18 Mexico
19 Cabo Verde
20 Australia
21 Brazil
22 Germany
23 South Africa
24 Peru
25 Denmark
26 Mauritius
27 Portugal
28 Japan
29 France
30 America
31 My local
32 Vanuatu - Worse than my local.
Looking back at the list I think Namibia should move up a few spots and cape flattery down a couple
and in the cut group gold beach should drop below my local spot.
i can't edit the post now
Select to expand quotelao shi said..Gestalt said..
I can't find the footage. There was a wave pool thing years ago with redbull.
next stop green island
?feature=shared
Love this.
Select to expand quoteGestalt said..duzzi said..JonesySail said..
Amazing how good the sport looks when you run simple races in high wind locations! ....In those winds you'd be competitive on non race gear also, need more of this ...WA...Hawaii, Hood river, Green Island Qld, Windy wellington NZ etc etc
Not to be insistent but we have been here for the last couple of quarters of a century. Yes, there are a few, very few, locations where you can get 20-30 knots of wind quite frequently. But the problem is the "quite frequently". The PWA shows up and the wind does not, and then you end up with the 9.0s and 90 cm wide slalom boards.
The next PWA is at Fuerteventura, and it will probably work for Salom X, but do not expect a repeat in other locations ... it's not going to happen unless global warming bring in much stronger winds 
i am keen on seeing both slalom and foil racing and leveraging those 2 disciplines as far as possible. currently there are only 2 of each which is not many compared to wave events. fwiw there are more youth events in foil/fin than adult.
lets test your assertion though.
As was pointed out there are many locations that get great consistent wind.
Western Australia, Green Island, Canaries, Fuerte, Portugal, France, Brasil, Cape Town, Namibia, The Gorge, Hawaii, New Zealand, Greece, Aruba, Bonaire, Omezaki, fiji, New Cal, Vanuatu and on and on.
that's a very long list with only 12 months in a year. so the issue is not windy locations but money to finance events.
How consistent are those winds, actually?
I was racing in WA over Christmas and the "ever-reliable" sea breezes stalled for days on end. I just sailed on four days in and around the Bay Area in the USA and in that "ever-reliable" sea breeze area we spent much of every race in about 5 knots of breeze or less. I was trying to arrange a windsurf in Cape Town and the "ever reliable" wind didn't happen.
The Sail GP catamarans, which admittedly try to race in city centres but also don't need as much wind, have repeatedly been hit with days that are too light to sail.
There is little doubt that I am a wind-jonas these days, but having done half a dozen events run by the PWA's predecessor it's pretty common that whenever you schedule a windsurfing event the winds will be lighter than normal.
Best way to make the wind die is to schedule a windsurfing event.
We used to schedule these as BBQs to avoid angering the wind gods.
Select to expand quotejdfoils said..PhilUK said..
Yet foilers moan. FFS, the foil events are on the calendar, there are only 2 fin only events.
Not moaning. With waves, sausages, and beach starts the format is strongly biased towards the fin... But if you want to drive development rather than stifle it, you should leave the door open.
Unstifled development in foiling in small craft surely just leads to kites and unlimited amounts of custom kit, pit crews etc, doesn't it?
As was noted long ago, without "stifling" development there is almost no such thing as sport itself, so it's a lot more nuanced than a simple choice between driving development and stifling it.
Select to expand quotejdfoils said..
Best way to make the wind die is to schedule a windsurfing event.
We used to schedule these as BBQs to avoid angering the wind gods.
I've thought for many years that the United Nations should just pay for the PWA to have its own set of cargo planes so that it could be flown to any area that was about to be smashed by a major storm.
Not even the greatest cyclone can withstand the mighty force that causes windsurfer events to kill the wind. :-)
