windfest 2013

Oh and a big big thanks to the King and Queen of Burrum for putting me up the first 2 nights and the Lemon Cordial Windfest get together bash

some more pics

some more pics

feestyling


kids lessons


from the barge


from the barge


supping


longboard races


longboard races


father and son


flat water too boring?


part of the course

brother and sister

Nice Vid Andy

Burrum Windfest 2013 end of event thankyou,

this year's Burrum Windfest was one of the closest Windfest's to date on the water. With 36 competitors joining in the fun and managing to sail on 7 out of 7 days we were able to complete the speed sailing component of Windfest in only 4 days in winds varying from 20-30 knots thanks to cyclone Sandra.

days 1-4

As it turned out, both day 1 and day 4 of competition had the strongest winds of 25-30 knots and the final results contained a mix of speeds from both those days with days 2 & 3 seeing 15-22 knots.

Each day, we held briefing at 11am in preparation for the afternoon low tides. the good winds and white caps tended to come in early each day allowing pre briefing high tide sessions for the keen and provided a familiar windy back drop for those just wanting to watch while rigging or tuning for the speed sailing to come.

By 12-12.30 we were ready to run. the safety boat would head out to the course for a live wind update while the barge was loaded with spare gear and spectators. Each year a barge assists with the event and again this year, we had the MV Burrum River Quest out on the course providing competitors access to facilities and spare gear and providing a vehicle to help move spectators out to the action each day.

By late afternoon each day, and with the rising tide, the course was closed and competitors headed back to have their results updated at Speed HQ , Burrum Sands Holiday Units, where Dylan and his KA72 software were maintaining our shore based control centre and check point.

day 5 with 4 solid days up our sleeves and speeds in excess of 39 knots on the board, day 5 was called as a rest day. 15-20 knots had come in across the course so most competitors headed out to work on their team challenge results and have some fun.

day 6 was a light wind day. a longboard race was held with the barge as the gybe mark. it proved a difficult race for those involved with light offshore winds at the start and a late 90 degree wind direction change leaving the end of the race with a broad reach back to the beach after the front runners had no choice but to tack back to the beach finishing their race prior to the change coming through.

post race had us enjoying a beer and using the barge as a fishing platform.

day 7, everyone was getting tired from so much sailing. we had a lazy morning planned and decided to start the presentation at lunchtime, we fired up the bbq and began preparations, that is until one final sailing session occurred when 15 knots of wind came in. so the decision was taken to have lunch, go for a sail, then hold back the presentation ceremony till early evening with a second bbq, presentation and drinks.

All up at Windfest this year we had 80+ family and friends in and around Burrum during the event and even with the great winds there was plenty of action off the water during the event. family and friends all enjoyed trips to Hervey Bay, fishing, Windfest dinners at the local hotel, ongoing parties and the end of event on the final day.

The Neil Pryde JP trailer was also present and thanks go to Geoff and the surf fx guys as well as dieter at sunshine coast sailboards for making the trailer available. it was in continuous use allowing us access to gear during the week and also providing the opportunity to run longboard races at high tide or to go for a quiet sup.

2013 results.

This year resulted in many sailors posting personal best times. we would like to congratulate all of those who did.

winners are grinners


Open Division.
the open division was tight. early leader and previous winner Glynn was king of the course on day one posting a 39.052 knot 2 sec peak and 36.543 knot 5x10 speed which until day 4 looked to be this years winning speeds. luckily for vando, day 4 produced enough winds to allow him to move into first place and take the title for 2013.

the NM open category was owned by phillip nott taking pole position on 3 of the 4 days.

top 5 results for open division were.

2 sec peak

1. Michel Van Der Pligt - 39.868 (beer prize)
2. Glynn Merritt - 39.052 (beer prize)
3. Phillip Nott - 39.032
4. Jason Rzoska - 37.623
5. Geoff Ringe (legends) - 36.535

5x10 sec

1. Michel Van Der Pligt - 37.132 (trophy + burrum sands holiday units accomodation prize)
2. Glynn Merritt - 36.543 (fin quiver bag from jordan's boat hire)
3. Phillip Nott - 36.225
4. Christopher Remington- 33.912
5. Geoff Ringe (legends) - 33.846

Nautical Mile

1. Phillip Nott - 36.049 (trophy + 25cm select casper fin from sunshine coast sailboards)
2. Michel Van Der Pligt - 36.015 (harness lines from surf fx)
3. Glynn Merritt - 31.916
4. Geoff Ringe (legends) - 31.210
5. Brian Hooper - 30.530

Legends Division

Legends Division (over 60) is a highly prized windfest category. this year ongoing champion Geoff Ringe, who also mixes it in open division, stamped his authority once more.

top 4 results for legends division were.

5x10 sec

1. Geoff Ringe - 33.846 (trophy + mast bag from windsurfing sales)
2. Greg Banks - 29.595 ( uphaul and boom bra from sunshine coast sailboards)
3. Ray Wilson - 27.748
4. Peter Nitchke - 26.793

Nautical Mile

1. Geoff Ringe - 31.210 (trophy + gear bag from windsurfing sales)
2. Greg Banks - 27.490 (fin quiver bag from jordan's boat hire)
3. Ray Wilson - 25.034
4. Peter Nitchke - 23.157

Womens Division

Womens division saw Kellie Tusler throw down the gauntlet improving on her speeds from previous burrum events and one of many competitiors to post pb's during the event.

top 2 in womens division were

5x10

1. kellie Tusler - 31.137 (trophy)
2. Anne Lewis - 27.352 (mast bag from windsurfingsales)

Nautical Mile

1. kellie Tusler - 31.137 (trophy)
2. Anne Lewis - 27.352 (harness lines from sunshine coast sailboards)

Youth Division.

Last year Windfest was won by local youth Bradley Jones. During that event local Scott Hansen wanted to enter but was asked to wait 1 year to allow enough time for his sailing to improve enough to meet the event requirements. well 1 year later and scott was back and ready to show what he could do. both bradley and scott exchanged speeds right through the event and up until the last day by which time Scott had gained the upper hand and taken out the comp for 2013.

5x10

1. Scott hansen - 25.809 (trophy + 29cm select casper fin from sunshine coast sailboards)
2. Bradley Jones - 25.652 (gear bag from windsurfing sales)

fun race

the longboard race was held on day 6 and had some serious tactics happening along the course. race winner was Peter Nitchke on his series 2 one design.

1. Peter Nitchke
2. Kellie Tusler.

lucky draw prizes.

Last year Youth Competitor Bradley Jones won a boom for first place youth then went on to win the major lucky draw prize of a KA sail from KA which he used during the event this year. So when the Major prize of a board to the value of $2000 from NXS/Caloundra Wind and Surf was up for this years lucky draw the bets were that youth Scott Hansen was a front runner. However, luck of the draw was to play a different game and this year Bradley Jones was once again the very happy winner of the Major prize.

So well done bradley!! now you have a board as well!!! a deserved winner. Bradley was on the water every day during the event and was always humble and keen to receive advice from other sailors.

Troy Neilsen was the lucky winner of the Neil Pryde boom from Surf FX
Peter De Laet improved his dvd collection winning an addicted to ride dvd
Phillip Palmer scored a pair of tie down straps from sunshine coast sailboards
Wongi walked away with a copy of addicted to ride on dvd
Ron Mulligan scored a boom bra from sunshine coast sailboards. we believe it was a strapless one.

full results can be found at
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1x2w3oz14PwU_Odo3Espf8kDh-t3vGwGkEjvroQ2qGpE/edit?type=view&gid=4&f=true&sortcolid=4&sortasc=false&rowsperpage=250

Thankyou and sponsor Thanks.

there are a lot of people to thank this year. an event of this size relies on many people joining together for it to be a success.

firstly the sponsors.

thanks to gold sponsors

Peter at Caloundra Wind and Surf/NXS for the major lucky draw of a board to the value of $2000.
Brooke and Macca at Burrum Sands Holiday Units for the accommodation package prize plus for allowing us to use their beautiful grounds as speed HQ and as venue for the end of event bbq and party

thanks to silver sponsor

Dieter at sunshine coast sailboards for his ongoing support of the event and contributions to the prize pool plus helping organise the JP Neil Pryde trailer

Ian and Michael at Surf FX for their ongoing support of the event and contributions to the prize pool and helping organise the JP Neil Pryde trailer

Padi at Surfconnect for his ongoing support of the event and contributions to the prize pool.

Bud at Windsurfing sales for his ongoing support of the event and contributions to the prize.

Mark at Jordan's boat hire for his ongoing support of the event and the prize pool contributions.

Dylan of KA72 for his time keeping software which is so smooth it's hard to even noticed we have computers at the event.

i would also like to thank KA sail for their support of the event over the past 7 years where they have provided a sail as the lucky draw prize every year. KA were also instrumental in planting the seeds for the event along with caloundra wind and surf. this year i decided after much thought to seek a new major sponsor for the event moving forward in an effort to open up new avenues and stopped short of cementing KA sails support for this year. it was a tuff decision for me on a personal level as i have a lot of respect for the guys at KA and use and love their sails.

it was great once again to see the majority of sponsors at the event and out on the water joining in the fun and partying hard with the rest of the crew.

Thanks also to the race committee and WindWanders inc, Dylan for manning Speed HQ each day, organising supplies for the bbq, setting up the online pre event registration and everything else you were constantly helping with including the presentation night. Kellie for sorting out the trophies, organising the hotel nights, helping organise the presentation night.

thanks to haircut for his excellent photography work

thanks to Andy, Jill, Yvonne and John for their incredible efforts providing the rescue boat and manning it whenever competition was on.

Greg and Justin on the MV Burrum River Quest for their no problems attitude, friendly demeanour and no problems attitude and attention to detail and service out on the water.

thanks also to Geoff Ringe for helping with the JP/Neil pryde trailer, getting it to the event and for joining the race committee for the 2014 event.

finally, i hope i have thanked everyone, the last hanks goes to the everyone that attended the event. it is the people that make the Burrum Windfest what it is. an awesome event with a healthy dose of laughter and good times wrapped around some serious, and not so serious, windsurfing at a fantastic spot.

great vid andy!