Hi All

Having attended the last 3 regattas I confess to being a little disappointed with the format (length) of the marathon event. As a result I offer a couple of suggestions for consideration.

Before going into detail I should stress that I understand the format, route and length of the race is entirely dependent on the sailing conditions on the day. However if conditions allow I think it would be good to plan a longer and more complex course.

My suggestion is to set a marathon which uses as much of the lake area as is possible given the sailing conditions on the day. To do this effectively we would need to require all yachts to carry a GPS and be able to follow the GPS?s directions through a series of waypoints.

Prior to race start competitors would be given a list of waypoints they are required to pass in a specific order to complete the race course. We would place marshals at each waypoint to record the time each yacht passes.
If others think this might be a good idea, then closer to the event I can put a call out to Kambalda residents asking for volunteers with quad bikes to assist with marshaling on the day. I am confident we could round up at least 3-5 quads to assist.

Other considerations would include; requiring all yachts to carry a couple of liters of water and a mobile phone in case of emergency, and provision for the quads to tow yachts home if damaged or becalmed.

The map below shows the sort of course I would like to see. Point to point the polygon I have drawn is 53km in length.

Please give me some feedback on this, if others think it?s a good idea we can do some more planning closer to the event.

PS: This is Sylk logged in from work on my alternate account.

Great idea ....but....salt water proof phones? more stuff to carry? I'd use my three seater with passengers and maybe rig up to film it.
Logistical nightmare but would be fun searching for lost souls. Need some decent sized visible markers. portable wind machines

youve set a course into drill sites, bogs water outflows , youve assumed that the lake and wind is perfect,the volunteers know waht to do and the competitors can all use a GPS ,which would stay clean and working.
realistically we set the biggest best course we can on the weekend. In previous years the complaint we had was that all we organized was a marathon, so we started organizing the other racing.
even when we set a course as far out as the island(5kms) the non locals struggle to find their way each lap.
can i suggest turning up at the lake and timeing the course youve set, cutting out much of the northern area,as we try to stay away from your drill rigs/exploration.
watch out down south as the area on the west gets very boggy ,very suddenly