Hi everyone
Well the off season has been busy with lots of discussion between Myself, Simmer Style WA, WWA and SBYC.

Good news is that Jesper with Simmer Style WA is keen to sponsor the sailing again next season.
Jesper has been doing a lot of work with the Slalom and Junior fleets and is keen to promote windsurfing in WA so get behind the Shop that gets behind Slalom in Perth.

We've proposed some preliminary dates for racing at Safety Bay but there is some chatter among some that we may bookend the series with races in Geraldton. Initial dates are as follows:
Oct 20 Geraldton/Dongara
Nov 10 SBYC
Dec 01 SBYC
Dec 22 SBYC
Jan 19 SBYC
Feb 02 SBYC
Feb 23 SBYC
Mar 16 Geraldton/Dongara

WWA and SBYC are talking memberships and affiliations. Basically I am promoting all racers to join SBYC as full sailing members. This membership will also include the WWA/AWA insurance and affiliation to WWA so other events can be entered as a member of WWA. SBYC Membership will see free racing to all 5 or 6 Simmer Style WA rounds held at SBYC. If you choose not to be a SBYC member the normal WWA membership and ticketing costs apply. (Racing fees will increase from $12 - $15 per race with $25 fees for on the day registration)

There will also be a bit of tweaking with the scoring system next season. We will continue to see the heats seeded throughout the day. The first heat (historically not scored) will now be scored and seeded. So the winner of each 1st heat score 0.5pts, 2nd place score 2pts etc..
3 completed heats will constitute a completed round. If 4 or more heats are sailed then there will be a provision to drop the worst scored heat of the day. Hopefully this alleviates the big fluctuation in points if we have a bad first heat and will level the scoring out across all fleets.
Round/Series points will remain the same and based on the current PWA scoring Format:
1st place = 2100;
2nd place = 2067;
3rd place =2034 and so on in increments of 33 points.
Any sailor who registers for the racing but doesn't attend will score the lowest competing sailors score minus 33points.
So anyone looking at becoming a member of SBYC or WWA members buying all-event ticket packs will be included in this scoring system.Ticketing and membership purchasing is still being finalised by the Crew at WWA so hopefully soon we can roll this out officially.

On a personal note, I've really appreciated all the kind words and feedback I've received around the racing. Good to see so many new faces coming down but would be great to see more women participating.
To all the girls who did sail last year, well done, but if you have partners, friends or family who windsurf or are looking at trying, we will always welcome and accommodate more ladies on the water.
Also, I've volunteered some of my time as the Rear Commodore of SBYC for this season.
Hopefully this will give the Windsurfing members and larger Safety Bay windsurfing community a voice on sailing in the area through the club structure.

Look forward to seeing all of you back out on the water next season.

Stay tuned...