Hi all, I don't really have my finger on the pulse these days but I thought we had credible results in Techno and RS-X classes the past few years but no slot on the Oz team for the Olympic test event?

Boo Australian Sailing...

Select to expand quote

Jethrow said..
Hi all, I don't really have my finger on the pulse these days but I thought we had credible results in Techno and RS-X classes the past few years but no slot on the Oz team for the Olympic test event?

Boo Australian Sailing...

We have had credible results in the techno but when it comes to RSX there is nobody at or near the top from Australia. Also Australian Sailing has sort of "given up" on windsurfing so unless there is someone that is absolutely amazing and winning everything, we are not gonna have a windsurfer from Australia in the Olympics at least until 2024 or even 2028. Kinda upsetting but it's the reality and unless Australian Sailing starts caring again it's not gonna happen really.

I don't really get that. Why don't we send our best, even if they might only be mid field finishers. They might have a great day and win......
It seems a silly defeatist attitude from Australian Sailing

BRADBURY!!!!!!!

Can you imagine with how big Olympic windsurfing is in the media if they send an Australian and he doesn't win? Everybody in the world will talk about it.
No country would ever trade or even have diplomatic relations with Australia.
Yachting Australia is acting in the best interest of the country. The development of the sport can come after...

I think you have to be in top 10 in the world to get Australian Sailing support or something like that and it applies across all classes. Is that right someone will know or have I misstated it ? You need to be very dedicated and have loads of money to get there.

Select to expand quote

RichardG said..
I think you have to be in top 10 in the world to get Australian Sailing support or something like that and it applies across all classes. Is that right someone will know or have I misstated it ? You need to be very dedicated and have loads of money to get there.

thats what ive been told. only way to get there in windsurfing is move to europe and do the circuits there.

AS are definitely only interested in potential top class Olympians. On the other hand, they have limited funds and the fleets in Lasers, for example, are huge. When the dinghy sailors and their clubs work so hard to create numbers and top-class competitors, it's reasonable for them to be rewarded with the lion's share of attention.

The problem is compounded by the lack of big fleets of RSX in Australia, well in WA we never see them and there is not any fleet here aside from the WAIS boards kept at RPYC which I have never seen on the water. Not sure what it is like in the rest of Australia. If clubs in all states were racing the Olympic windsurfing class this would be better for developing Olympians- problem is RSX is expensive and unpopular in the windsurfing in WA. Lasers and other Olympic classes have local fleets. The biggest windsurfing classes racing in yacht clubs here are Techno and LT. The foilers participate in club racing from time to time but are yet to develop numbers and do weekly class racing in the club system.

Select to expand quote

RichardG said..
The problem is compounded by the lack of big fleets of RSX in Australia, well in WA we never see them and there is not any fleet here aside from the WAIS boards kept at RPYC which I have never seen on the water. Not sure what it is like in the rest of Australia. If clubs in all states were racing the Olympic windsurfing class this would be better for developing Olympians- problem is RSX is expensive and unpopular in the windsurfing in WA. Lasers and other Olympic classes have local fleets. The biggest windsurfing classes racing in yacht clubs here are Techno and LT. The foilers participate in club racing from time to time but are yet to develop numbers and do weekly class racing in the club system.

You're spot on about the limited fleets and to my knowledge this is not just the case in WA, instead across the entire country. The RS:X has been a complete failure in Australia, the only place that really had a fleet was RQYS, but even that was only small (<10) at its largest and has since diminished as sailors have moved to Raceboard or Formula. That said we do currently have two youths (M & F) competing at the upcoming World Youth RS:X event (good luck Hamish and Amelia) .

The best course racing guys and girls in Australia are racing either Raceboard, Windsurfer Class, Formula or Foil with the youth on BIC Techno. When you consider the best sailors are spilt across those 5 classes and rarely race against each other its no wonder Australia are no longer a competitive force in world windsurfing.

Back in the 1980's and 1990's when the Windsurfer and Mistral One Design fleets were hundreds strong we had the best of the best all pushing each other and learning from each other. That level of competition in Australia is long gone, where in Europe it is very strong (80+ competitors at the 2019 European Raceboard Championships, and I expect the World's this month will be even bigger).

Without regular top level competition our top sailors will continue to struggle to reach the elite level of the sport. Turning up at an international event without experience in starting and sailing in such big fleets puts you behind from the very start, and very few if any are fast enough to make up that lost ground on world class sailors with board speed alone.

Our only real hope is if the recent return of large numbers to the Windsurfer Class continues to sustain the numbers saw at last year's nationals (107 entries) so that our elite guys get the experience they need to sail against the very best in our country, in large fleets, just then they may succeed overseas.

Unfortunately any hope of getting the top sailors from the Formula, Foil, Formula, Techno and Windsurfer fleets all sailing against each other on the same equipment is unrealistic, given the cost and equipment requirements to make that happen. The only possible chance of this is the Windsurfer Class, but I can't see too many Formula or Foil guys interested in this.

There is a plan in motion for a Team's Endurance Relay event in Sydney this summer (most likely Botany Bay but the location is TBC). The event plans to include one board/sailor from each of the following fleets :-

Raceboard
BIC Techno
Windsurfer Class
Possibly Foil, Formula or even RS:X (numbers dependant)

Teams complete 1 lap on one class of board at a time (10-15 minute laps) then hand over on the beach to the next sailor in their team who uses a different class of board. This continues on a rotational basis for a set time period (5-6 hours). At the end of the time period the team with the most completed laps is the winner.

Our aim for this event is as follows :-
Bring all our course racing fleets together for one event.
Put on a display to the public of the many variations our sport has to offer.
Give our top sailors a way to compete against the best in the country.
Potentially make this an interclub or State event over time.

If successful we hope to make this an annual event, we could even invite international teams.

If anyone would like further details about this event please let me know.

Promoting our sport in our local communities is our best chance to build numbers and make the competition strong like it used to be.

Select to expand quote

AUS817 said..There is a plan in motion for a Team's Endurance Relay event in Sydney this summer (most likely Botany Bay but the location is TBC). The event plans to include one board/sailor from each of the following fleets :-

Raceboard
BIC Techno
Windsurfer Class
Possibly Foil, Formula or even RS:X (numbers dependant)

Teams complete 1 lap on one class of board at a time (10-15 minute laps) then hand over on the beach to the next sailor in their team who uses a different class of board. This continues on a rotational basis for a set time period (5-6 hours). At the end of the time period the team with the most completed laps is the winner.

RichardG said..
The problem is compounded by the lack of big fleets of RSX in Australia, well in WA we never see them and there is not any fleet here aside from the WAIS boards kept at RPYC which I have never seen on the water. Not sure what it is like in the rest of Australia. If clubs in all states were racing the Olympic windsurfing class this would be better for developing Olympians- problem is RSX is expensive and unpopular in the windsurfing in WA. Lasers and other Olympic classes have local fleets. The biggest windsurfing classes racing in yacht clubs here are Techno and LT. The foilers participate in club racing from time to time but are yet to develop numbers and do weekly class racing in the club system.

You're spot on about the limited fleets and to my knowledge this is not just the case in WA, instead across the entire country. The RS:X has been a complete failure in Australia, the only place that really had a fleet was RQYS, but even that was only small (<10) at its largest and has since diminished as sailors have moved to Raceboard or Formula. That said we do currently have two youths (M & F) competing at the upcoming World Youth RS:X event (good luck Hamish and Amelia) .

The best course racing guys and girls in Australia are racing either Raceboard, Windsurfer Class, Formula or Foil with the youth on BIC Techno. When you consider the best sailors are spilt across those 5 classes and rarely race against each other its no wonder Australia are no longer a competitive force in world windsurfing.

Back in the 1980's and 1990's when the Windsurfer and Mistral One Design fleets were hundreds strong we had the best of the best all pushing each other and learning from each other. That level of competition in Australia is long gone, where in Europe it is very strong (80+ competitors at the 2019 European Raceboard Championships, and I expect the World's this month will be even bigger).

Without regular top level competition our top sailors will continue to struggle to reach the elite level of the sport. Turning up at an international event without experience in starting and sailing in such big fleets puts you behind from the very start, and very few if any are fast enough to make up that lost ground on world class sailors with board speed alone.

Our only real hope is if the recent return of large numbers to the Windsurfer Class continues to sustain the numbers saw at last year's nationals (107 entries) so that our elite guys get the experience they need to sail against the very best in our country, in large fleets, just then they may succeed overseas.

Unfortunately any hope of getting the top sailors from the Formula, Foil, Formula, Techno and Windsurfer fleets all sailing against each other on the same equipment is unrealistic, given the cost and equipment requirements to make that happen. The only possible chance of this is the Windsurfer Class, but I can't see too many Formula or Foil guys interested in this.

There is a plan in motion for a Team's Endurance Relay event in Sydney this summer (most likely Botany Bay but the location is TBC). The event plans to include one board/sailor from each of the following fleets :-

Raceboard
BIC Techno
Windsurfer Class
Possibly Foil, Formula or even RS:X (numbers dependant)

Teams complete 1 lap on one class of board at a time (10-15 minute laps) then hand over on the beach to the next sailor in their team who uses a different class of board. This continues on a rotational basis for a set time period (5-6 hours). At the end of the time period the team with the most completed laps is the winner.

Our aim for this event is as follows :-
Bring all our course racing fleets together for one event.
Put on a display to the public of the many variations our sport has to offer.
Give our top sailors a way to compete against the best in the country.
Potentially make this an interclub or State event over time.

If successful we hope to make this an annual event, we could even invite international teams.

If anyone would like further details about this event please let me know.

Promoting our sport in our local communities is our best chance to build numbers and make the competition strong like it used to be.

This is a great initiative. In WA we had a different format with one 25 km course in the Cock of the Swan at Mounts Bay Sailing Club and we had the windfoils and LTs all racing in teams of 4 against other classes like Foiling Moths and Mustos over that long course in 15-20 knots. In your event, it would be cool if there was a division for an entrant to do all classes. This might be expensive but you dont need the best boards and it would be like a triathlon and I think it would be fun. I have an LT, Foil and Mistral IMCO OD (for raceboard) no Techno though. It would also allow those with Equipes, Lightnings, IMCOs etc to get their gear out as well and reinvigorate classes by cross usage. Outside NSW and Qld there are not many raceboard events for example.

As one of the bic techno sailors down at Rpyc there are at least 7 and counting bics and 4 including myself that are competing in the events.
But as I see it there should be at least one RS-X sailor from Aus doing the test event I know in WA there is at least 1 RS-x sailor among us who I sail with on a basis. And I also think that the marathon idea would be good to have in Perth. At the moment Rpyc does a mini-marathon around the bay once every year which was good fun leading but did the wrong course apparently a missed mark an extra 1 lap doesn't make up for it.

Select to expand quote

Aus.955 said..
As one of the bic techno sailors down at Rpyc there are at least 7 and counting bics and 4 including myself that are competing in the events.
But as I see it there should be at least one RS-X sailor from Aus doing the test event I know in WA there is at least 1 RS-x sailor among us who I sail with on a basis. And I also think that the marathon idea would be good to have in Perth. At the moment Rpyc does a mini-marathon around the bay once every year which was good fun leading but did the wrong course apparently a missed mark an extra 1 lap doesn't make up for it.

Hi Richard and AUS.955,

BIC have done a great job worldwide in developing the Techno youth fleet, but with the RS:X fleet in Australia near non existent there's no clear progression for the youth fleet when they outgrow the Techno. As a result they filter into all the other classes which ultimately weakens the overall competition for everyone

Should any of the WA sailors be interested to attend a Raceboard Australian titles, next year is at RQYS in January which is a fantastic venue, I'm sure the NSW/QLD sailors would be able to assist with loaned equipment, it may not be the latest and greatest, but it'd get you on the water and it'd be great to have a few of you join us. I know a lot of NSW Windsurfer Class guys will be coming to the World's in Perth if that event occurs.

Same goes for the Relay event, I'm sure we could fit you into a team if anyone wished to participate in the event and you wouldn't need to bring a board or rig.

If the relay event is successful, perhaps you could adopt the format for a similar WA event.

Select to expand quote

RichardG said..
I think you have to be in top 10 in the world to get Australian Sailing support or something like that and it applies across all classes. Is that right someone will know or have I misstated it ? You need to be very dedicated and have loads of money to get there.

Yep. Very sad state of affairs. And totally against the original spirit of the Games.

Last weekend the GRSC on Botany Bay held the East Coast championship regatta. There were 4 Technos. There were only 4 of the younger Techno kids, the others have all moved up to RSX. Hamish and Amelia have been Training on the RSX for a while as they are our reps for the Aussie team at the youth worlds this year in Poland . They will be well looked after there as they will be reunited with there coach Max. Hamish has won the last 3 youth regattas so is in great form and Amelia has been training with Jessica Crisp and knows what to expect as she was our girls rep last year. So 7 on RSX is a great step forward. There are a few others about to join in next season and Alex will be finished year 12 and getting back into racing. There are also at least half a dozen more from QLD with 4 super strong Ladies. Thats not looking too grim.....

It is a pity that these two groups of RSXers are 1000 km apart . If they could all sail and train together as a group and feed off each other the performance level will rise rapidly. At least for the NSW team

Akim Halank's son Sebastian ?? is a potential contender. He's been getting pretty good results lately.

There are a couple of young adults in Qld, my eldest included that are keen to go the the RSX Worlds in Auckland, They have been racing a mixture of classes over the last few years but all within course racing plus some slalom to mix it up.

Pursuing an Olympic campaign in a massive undertaking, I know my advice to my son was get your apprenticeship finished before thinking about going hardcore into the racing scene with all of its commitments and expenses, I know one of his mates is full into uni at the moment but loves the rsx and raceboard and may well pursue elite level racing when uni etc is over. I am sure he will keep racing either way.

Whilst we a have fragmented fleet among classes we also have a number of young sailors that can move easily between them and do sail multiple classes over a year at different events and they primarily do it for the enjoyment of racing windsurfers. Its important I think to keep them engaged and active in the sport as they move out of the junior classes into the senior classes. There's lots going on in their lives in late teens and early 20's as they find their feet as adults. Going full into an Olympic campaign may just be a recipe for burn out. Most of the medalists in windsurfing are late twenties or early thirties so time is on their side, plus campaigning for 3 or 4 Olympic cycles is unrealistic for most.

I think the skill level of racing in Australia will continue to increase as these young adults and youth end up on the same start lines. We just need to keep new blood coming in and doing our best to retain as many youth as we can as they move into senior classes by keeping it interesting a fun.