Why do you Race?

So why do I race?

I mean it's not like I'm going to make the Australian Olympic team or compete in the PWA?
It!


The short answer is because I share a passion with friends, but also because racing is a great way to improve my technique, see which aspects of my sailing can be improved by watching those better than me, to trade gear and shot the breeze.

I windsurfed for 30 years before racing and to be honest I regret those years a little! I had my friends that I sailed with and against but never formal racing. But that changed when I started foiling. I blogged about my first 20 or so Windfoil sessions because it was such a new form of the sport. and my 13th session was racing at a national championships on Botany Bay in the free foil class!

During that race I was thoroughly overpowered in a big southerly with 20 knot winds and 1+!m swell running along the runway stone wall. my 5m wave sail barely sheeted in as the 8-9m formula foil crew powered past fully committed.

While at the regatta I got to talk to everyone and ask questions, get answers and listen to the skills and technique tips that I'm still trying to apply to my sailing years later.

The various state and national events are a great way to socialise with people who have a similar interest. Where else can you go and chat with 20+ people who know and love to Windsurf/foil for hours or days at a time?

The away events are good for people of all ages to. single, couples, encumbered with kids it really doesn't matter as the events are always at iconic holiday destinations and someone else there will often have similar aged kids.

But the biggest reason above all, well for me at least, is to learn! Every Regatta or big race I've been to I have learned at least one new technique, skill or detail.

At my first nationals it was how to deal with strong winds and control. At the second it was upwind angles and stability (and the importance of cam rotation. Urgh!).
This year, just last month on formula foil gear I learned a better light wind pumping technique and another weekend at a slalom race I learned how to gybe my 560 then 400 F4 foils better. (after the first few races were I stuffed a few up!). So even though I won a couple of races I still left the event with more skill than I arrived!

It doesn't matter if you're up the front competing for a bullet (windsurf speak for a race win - especially a final), mid-pack racing someone on totally different equipment or back at the rear of the fleet fighting to avoid the wooden spoon!

Racing a set course makes you focus on your technique as demanded by the buoys. not gybing when you want but when you have to. Not waiting for a gust to pump but pumping regardless because the race starts in 30 seconds and you need to be up and away now!

Tacking 3 times because the land feature is blocking the wind and to be competitive you have to stay in the wind line, and so you have to tack faster. or sail through more swell than you would choose, and maybe even gybe in swell at the mark before reaching a flatter spot on the far side of the bay. All these skills make you faster but also a better sailor so when you go out for a free ride you can enjoy the conditions more and survive anything nature throws your way.

So join a club and race. There are a handful of windsurfing and wing foiling friendly clubs across NSW that will welcome new members for regular racing. Sure it might cost you a few hundred bucks a year but it is typically less than a few % of the price of the gear you're riding. Spend a little at a club and give back to the community. Share the passion, race and most importantly, brag about your day with mates at the beach or clubhouse after.

The only other thing to add. if you know an event is coming up and you can't compete for whatever reason, small injury, hungover, damaged gear,. then please volunteer! These races are reliant on volunteers and we always need someone to help. Be it you or a friend or family member. Jobs include laying marks, timing race starts, waving a flag, writing down sail numbers or even taking photos. So please volunteer and the race organisers will find a job you can help with!


Send It!

I don't race because I want to be free where and when I sail, not waiting for someone that decides if and when a race goes ahead or even worse waiting at the starting line while others are blasting all day.

I have participated in a race once, and only sailed a few runs that day while on a normal free sailing day, I sail for hours at a time. I also don't have the need to be the fastest on the water let alone carry a ridiculous amount of gear to cover all wind conditions. Not even talking about slalom boards, heavy cambered sails, or the cost of gear.

No thanks, I'll enjoy freerace or freewave gear as much as it's lighter and lasts longer. I'm also more than happy to not sail in marginal conditions, while racing requires me to carry massive rigs for that one time a race goes ahead in such conditions.

Windsurfing to me is all about fun and freedom and socialising on the beach doesn't require an event and happens daily at our local spot as there are quite a few sailors down generally.

Love to but racing no long exists in Victoria except with Wally's. WA was a hoot last year with lots of events and many competing on free ride stuff

Racing requires a lot of commitment, the relation with your fellow racers is love-hate at best

Amen, Brother Berowne. I make many of the same points locally. I'm not fast. Compared to the young pups on the foil scene, I'm a doddering old man half their speed. But, every time I go, they graciously share their knowledge and experience and I come away just a bit better. I then take those lessons and share them with my freeriding friends and we all get better, more confident and can sail in a wider variety of conditions.

I was also lucky enough to participate in a mini local version of Le Defi and it was an amazing experience. I was in the middle of the pack which meant 90 faster than me and 90 slower. But I passed a few and didn't get passed by many. That felt cool.

Lastly, I've made some great friends, a couple of which are also seabreeze denizens. Had I just stayed home, I'd have missed out on some really fun times and conversations.

I get that it's not for everyone. I think some of it is the fear that we might suck. I've heard it more than a few times, "I'm not very good." I know the feeling. But I've come in last a few times and, honestly, nobody gives a *. They're just happy you are out there with them.

Its great to see enthusiasm ,and good to be part of something especially windsurfing, walk the talk .

I enjoy GPS events ,but have yet to race ,it does look more like a adrenaline rush ,maybe one day ,

It helped me to improve my skills which improved more in one year than 10 years of freeriding before.

The racing gear is only required if you want to be "the best of the best of the best"
I race on a Rocket and Ezzi Cheetah, Severne Turbo, Ezzy Lion. Nothing special.

Not much waiting at the beach either. Slalom races are usually multiple races in one afternoon. Get to the finish line,and immediately turn back up wind. Takes a while to get back.
By the time you are back, you welcome a 10m break.

I remember waiting a long time at the beach for a Lancelin Marathon to start, but no one stopped me from doing some freeriding while waiting.

It's usually a social event in WA. People get together for fun and bragging rights. Gone are the days of big prize money.

Because I had a heart attack at 57, and at 65 I just got a new shiny stent in my left carotid artery. It was fun while it lasted.

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Obelix said..

The racing gear is only required if you want to be "the best of the best of the best"
I race on a Rocket and Ezzi Cheetah, Severne Turbo, Ezzy Lion. Nothing special.

I like that! Aren't you considerably slower on that gear or can you still compete with the others? Also, without adjustable outhaund, the downwind runs are tricky and going upwind takes longer I assume. I think without a separate fsw discipline, it could be frustrating if you struggle to get back to the starting line and not having a chance to end up in the top 10 or so?

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ptsf1111 said..

Obelix said..

The racing gear is only required if you want to be "the best of the best of the best"
I race on a Rocket and Ezzi Cheetah, Severne Turbo, Ezzy Lion. Nothing special.

I like that! Aren't you considerably slower on that gear or can you still compete with the others? Also, without adjustable outhaund, the downwind runs are tricky and going upwind takes longer I assume. I think without a separate fsw discipline, it could be frustrating if you struggle to get back to the starting line and not having a chance to end up in the top 10 or so?

Just having race gear isn't going to get you into the top 10 in WA . Lots of fast guys on freeride gear and one of them sails Safety Bay regularly.

I like to choose when I sail overpowered in chop.
I like to use medium boards (90ltre) and racing tends to push people to use big boards in chop to even out patchy wind and keep going through the gybes.
I want to work on my gybing at my own speed and not get any more bad habits just trying to survive in overpowered conditions in big chop.
I used to like the gps segments but it's all slalom these days and generally the conditions favour foils.
These days I just want to have fun!

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ptsf1111 said..

Obelix said..

The racing gear is only required if you want to be "the best of the best of the best"
I race on a Rocket and Ezzi Cheetah, Severne Turbo, Ezzy Lion. Nothing special.

I like that! Aren't you considerably slower on that gear or can you still compete with the others? Also, without adjustable outhaund, the downwind runs are tricky and going upwind takes longer I assume. I think without a separate fsw discipline, it could be frustrating if you struggle to get back to the starting line and not having a chance to end up in the top 10 or so?

Maybe.
There is much more than the straight line speed. Turning without falling in is a challenge when you are excited, and come into a turn at full speed.
Just not falling in moves you from the bottom 20% to the middle.
Doing a flying gybe will put you into the rop 20%. Then learning how/when to start makes a huge difference. Not once I was left in a disturbed wind with no power because everyone started more up wind from you.
THEN when you get thrre, you can start thinking sails,fins, boards...

Also where you sail makes a difference. Safety Bay is a short course slalom - a flawless gybing being important. Cervantes is a long course slalom - endurance, a good start, selection of gear.

I was very bad, now I am less bad, but never once I experienced a derogatory comment from other competitors. It's always encouraging and supportive.

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Obelix said..


Maybe.
There is much more than the straight line speed. Turning without falling in is a challenge when you are excited, and come into a turn at full speed.
Just not falling in moves you from the bottom 20% to the middle.
Doing a flying gybe will put you into the rop 20%. Then learning how/when to start makes a huge difference. Not once I was left in a disturbed wind with no power because everyone started more up wind from you.
THEN when you get thrre, you can start thinking sails,fins, boards...

Also where you sail makes a difference. Safety Bay is a short course slalom - a flawless gybing being important. Cervantes is a long course slalom - endurance, a good start, selection of gear.

I was very bad, now I am less bad, but never once I experienced a derogatory comment from other competitors. It's always encouraging and supportive.

Yep , well summarised and I hope to race with you again someday

I Love your enthausiasm about racing and i,ve been competing in multi sports for most of my live. Windsurfing, Volleybal, Triathlons, SUP racing, all on a pretty decent level training 4-5times a week.
12year ago cancer. At that point it was pretty uncertain if they could save my lower leg (luckily I still have both of them) and that made me rethink my priorities. I like to train and to progress, but I don,t need the pressure of competition for that.
I realized that the stress, and wanting to be the best and the training regime needed to get there killed also a lot of the fun for me. Comps can be fun, but its also often a lot of waiting and performing at that time and that moment, wich doesnt have to be in the best conditions or when your are on your best...you just have to better as the rest.

After a couple attempts to see if I could motivate myself for comps (Supracing) again I did quit with comps completely.
I still sport 3-5times a week and love to: tour on my 14ft raceboard and doing 10-20km runs, but with nice calm weather, with 20knots I rather go winging wavesail when its good and fun , but not to pollish that single move in ****ty conditions, I can do 30 attempts and crashes in a row to learn a move with wingfoiling, but when the waves are good I wanna ride them

sup in the waves when its good (often on holidays because the UK blocks our waves) and not race at that point.

When its crap on the water I love riding my MTB..but not when water sports are on.
Without the training targets set by competing I got a lot of flexibility back to adapt to the conditions and do whats most fun in it instead of training in less optimal conditions and I should have done that years earlier.

Berowne, to win some more races perhaps you need to be reunited with that starboard formula board, "the claw". It made its way somehow to canberra, took hits in a hail storm, was about to go in a skip bin, but then we had that little thing called covid lockdown. So with not much to do at the time, "the claw" got a refurb for no real good reason!

I have been competing in both Formula and speed on a national level, but I don't do that anymore. For me the training and tuning on the water for competitions took away most of the fun and enjoyment I originally had of the sport. Perhaps I'm simply too competitive for my own good, but I now prefer to sail because I like it, and the tuning of equipment is now a big part of the enjoyment itself, instead of a choir.

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timbosail said..
Berowne, to win some more races perhaps you need to be reunited with that starboard formula board, "the claw". It made its way somehow to canberra, took hits in a hail storm, was about to go in a skip bin, but then we had that little thing called covid lockdown. So with not much to do at the time, "the claw" got a refurb for no real good reason!

Zoltan?
That looks like a really good repair. Well done!

Before:


and 24 hrs after I gave it to Berowne for foiling:




Lets say that foil racing has a smashing learning curve...

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powersloshin said..
Before:


and 24 hrs after I gave it to Berowne for foiling:




Lets say that foil racing has a smashing learning curve...

Cripes!
That's why I haven't tried windfoiling. Too steep a learning curve.
I'd love to be good at it but I'm not prepared to go around the front all the time.

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sboardcrazy said..

powersloshin said..
Before:


and 24 hrs after I gave it to Berowne for foiling:




Lets say that foil racing has a smashing learning curve...

Cripes!
That's why I haven't tried windfoiling. Too steep a learning curve.
I'd love to be good at it but I'm not prepared to go around the front all the time.

Freeride foil gear is different, I could count on 1 hand how many catapults I've had.
Mostly breaches & if you hang on to the boom they are pretty harmless.
Remember you will only be doing 15 to 20 knots.

It's great for old windsurfing bodies??

Race gear Is different??

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powersloshin said..
Before:


and 24 hrs after I gave it to Berowne for foiling:




Lets say that foil racing has a smashing learning curve...

Obviously a manufacturer's defect. He was JRA* - just riding around - when the front fell off.

If he had a boom bra this would not of happened . LOL.

As a pre-school windsurfer, 3 years only, and being isolated from other sailors, i turned up to my first race event at Myall Shores and had a great time.
I did not put the effort in to figure out what was going on and did not prepare in time to get organized or register properly. But i was stoked to see and talk to a bunch of sailors in a beautiful camp spot.
Nice to meet you Berowne.
All were legends and it was good to put faces to names i'd heard about many times online.
Everyone was cool. I am a introverted person, mostly sticking to myself and enjoying my own space, but i liked being there and talking to sailors.
There was no heavy race vibe that i was aware of.
Before figuring out what was happening, I rigged and went out. Other sailors were out and it was great to be around them pre-race on the water.
I was kinda scared that i might get in the way or something but it was made clear that that was not an issue.

I felt a bit bad that i had not properly registered and paid to support the event, life was busy and it all happened quick.
The forecast was not looking good (rain) so i bailed home around the corner again after just visiting for 1 of the 3 day event.
I regret that, if i stayed committed and joined properly i reckon way more fun would have been had. Wind came good again.
I'm sure i could have smoked some foilers on my SLW board if it was flat, but that is BS at this stage because i didn't.
I thought if wind came, chop was coming too from that direction too so i bailed.

It is all fun at my level, but there is a competitive streak. I'll be back one day with my fins and no way i'm coming home with no wooden spoon god damn it.

Doubt i'll ever foil because i don't want extra gear now that i just got fin set ups sorted, and need a few decades to learn fin first. Plenty of flat water around that my 65kg frame can get going in a fart on huge gear and look forward to attending a race in a flat-water spot some day in the future and smoke atleast one foil.

Serious races, not for me at this stage because it is too hard to reach anywhere near the top. Social, yep. Interested.
For the top guys and gals, total respect and hope that racing in OZ keeps going and gets stronger.

I learnt on RSone longboard and imagine that would be fun racing for me. I'll look into that.

Hi Mobz

Thanks for contributing.

I'm still trying to run a few more races in Sydney this season. See how it goes still limited by volunteers.

There is a race board series if you still have the RSOne

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/New-South-Wales/2023-24-NSW-Raceboard-Series?page=1

I don't race because I don't like to be around club people.

I'm glad you enjoy it and I can see that for some people it would be great fun.

The best part about being on the water for me is not being near anyone.

I enjoy all forms of windsurfing , fin or foil (mostly foiling these days) free sailing , social club racing and also compete in the organised events in NSW and Burrum Windfest. These events are aimed at all levels of sailors and thier gear. I really enjoy the racing days and focus on the fun/social side of the event, although it is nice to get a good result in some of the races . Just race at our own level and enjoy or maybe push a little harder and try to keep up with the top guys . This is good way to improve on all aspects of your sailing skills.

These events also create interest in our sport from the many onlookers that seem quite interested in what is going on. It's not very common to have 20 plus sailors on fin ,foil or wing in the one place these days.!!
There are really only a handfull of organised events these days so it wont impact too much on the much loved freesailing days.
Maybe consider attending , participating or volunteering in these events that are run for the Windsurfing/ Windfoiling/Wingfoiling community.

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berowne said..
There is a race board series if you still have the RSOne

Still got the RSOne. I took it out the other day and it felt so good.
I gotta work weekends but see Jervis Bay 18 March runs during the week so i should get to that. I don't really know how to operate it properly with center board and moving mast track, be a good place to get some tips i guess and might a get a good wooden spoon battle there while doing it

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Stewbo said..
I don't race because I don't like to be around club people.

I'm glad you enjoy it and I can see that for some people it would be great fun.

The best part about being on the water for me is not being near anyone.

I feel ya. I am probably attracted to windsurfing as it gets me away from people aswell.
But i believe that windsurfing could die due to no more gear being produced. I can't make this stuff
so i am interested in engaging with other sailors where i can to help keep it alive and create a demand for the gear that i use.
It is ironic, that such a solitary activity is still reliant on a network of people.

I am interested Stewbo, are there no other sailors around you atall? Do you use GPSTC or totally solo?

Mosdef missing the NSW racing scene--great memories both on and off the water at some of the best spots along the coast (Hawks Nest; Marmong and various other spots on Lake M; Botany of course; the Gong; Jervis...). Hope again soon, some day. Cheers mates!

I raced formula because it was, by far, the best way to improve my overall windsurfing skills. Chasing after the good racers (I was always behind them), watching what they did to go fast upwind and downwind, then copying it was the ticket to improvement. Most of them were very generous with information and advice. I found the "club" to be a fun and inspiring group.

Also, the discipline of the starting line and keeping to a very specific course was a major way to tune my skills to the requirements. It was all good.

Racing is like adding salt and pepper to your dinner, the flavour is the same.. just better.