Howdy,
The long downwinder on the 28th of Oct sounds pretty tops.
I wonder though as well as a pick up point at Swanbourne - which is roughly a 5km strech from Leighton - would it be possible to drop some intermediate type folks off at Swanny to begin the course finishing at Trigg? That way the 13-14kms stretch is reduced to around 9km-ish.
I occassionally do a 3km downy from Floreat to Brighton and would love to go longer but a 13+km might be pushing it. It would also be great to kite into the finish point (cue the cheering bikini girls, champagne etc 
)
Any thoughts?
Cheers 
Hey Get Funky, that should be possible, you'll just have to be patient whilst the bus unloads everyone at Leighton and then do your set up at Swanbourne, whilst those not going all the way pack up and load back on to the bus.
One of us WAKSA guys will give an "official" response once we confirm logistics.
Remember though the Swany-Trigg bit is the most open to swell and has some of the least accessible beaches if things go wrong.
Hey getfunky and others interested,
No problem at all if you just want to do the Swanbourne to Trigg leg.
Just stay on the bus while it drops everyone else at Leighton and then get off at Swanbourne when it goes there to wait.
We would like to stress that all participants will need to meet at Trigg to register so we can be sure everyone going on the water as part of this event is on our list. We want to avoid the situation of people arriving randomly at Swanbourne, not being on our list, and then being unaccounted for if they get into trouble.
Safety and fun, in that order, are the order of the day :)
A full briefing email with all the details to all members is pending so keep an eye out for it in your inbox.
Your WAKSA crew
In the words of that great philosopher "So very sweeeet"
Top stuff guys. I thought it might be a pain in the spinny for you guys but sounds like a great plan to just hang on the bus until after the Leighton drop-off.
cheers fellas 
i can bring that leash for you as well Getfunky. Be Awesome to have a beer with ya after. Just don't read the thread about the leash accident 
Catchya at the event.
Waksa,
On a seperate note, i've got a big ford transit van that can take a lot of gear. Give me a yell if you want to use it.
keep up the good work
Hi xtortya,
Will drop you an email regarding your van - could be a useful vehicle to use as the sweep vehicle.
WAKSA
G'day Az,
Sounds like a good idea.
Man that photo was waaaaay graphic!!
Would you believe I have to work this Sunday?!?! Man I am p!ssed!!
Good news is that I finish around 2-3pm so will bolt straight to City Beach or similar, tag onto the end of the fleet and get my missus to pick me up Trigg.
So ultimately I will be looking forward to a beer and a ctach up one way or another...
Lets just hope there is some wind
So, the indicators look like it's good for Sunday morning, but Sunday arvo is a bit iffy.
When will the call (that it's on or not) be made?
Hi Everyone,
The WAKSA team working on bringing you the Long Downwinder have been in discussion today and decided it is best to postpone the event until Sunday November 18th.
The forecast is not looking reliable enough for such a distance and at a time when most people have only kited a handful of times since last summer:
"Sunday: S/SW winds 20/30 knots at first easing to 18/23 knots by sunrise and
13/18 knots by early afternoon. Seas 2.0m easing to 1.5m. Swell 4.0m easing to
3.0m by evening."
In addition rain is possible and a forecast temperature of 18 degrees will not be enjoyable or safe.
We will plan to go with the 18th November, by then hopefully we will all have got some more kiting in and improved our 'kite fitness' and the seabreeze pattern should have stabilised.
Keep tuned and we will keep you posted,
best wishes,
your WAKSA team
Hi everyone,
I'm new on this forum (and not so much to kite surfing!)
i've been wondering about the downwinders, how good do you need to be?
To give you an idea: I started last year, was taught by Ian young, i then spent all summer trying to tame a naish torch 2 12m (worst buy ever for a beginer if you ask me) so i got battered for a couple of month!
In reasonnable conditions (ie: no big gusts
) i can go upwind consistently, turn (more or less smoothly), and venture a few little jumps (landing is a 50-50
).
I now also own a flexifoil atom 9m (SO much easier than the Torch!) with which i can hold myself better.
fitness is not bad the session at woodies on sunday (28/10) was just over 4hour on the water (half torch, half flexi)
so can i come? purrrrlease!!!
as long as you dont see yourself as a liability to others or putting yourself at risk you should be fine and on this particular one you can quit half way should you be feeling the strain.
from your description i wouldnt see any problems.
Hope to see you there
People also need to realise that they need to negotiate a shore break, which can be quite heavy at times. If you have done small downinders before it shouldn't be a problem,
Thanks
Matt
Hi Everyone,
WAKSA has decided not to run the Long Downwinder on Sunday 18th November. We will look for a date to run it in the New Year.
We really want this to be an enjoyable and memorable event - good solid seabreeze, warm weather, lots of time and no pressure.
Keep your fingers crossed for Saturday 15th December when there is a Leighton to Swanbourne Downwinder followed by the Christmas party at the Swanbourne SLSC.
And of course KiteJam is only 2 or 3 weeks away - KiteJam is a no pressure, have fun, give-it-a-shot style freestyle gathering on 1st or 8th December so that's the next one to look forwards to for now! Visit www.kitejam.org
Thank you for your support,
Your WAKSA Crew
