There must be some great stories from the big day and I would love to know how everyone fared. Will write mine when I have a little more time.

Awesome day though!

Well didn't I get my freckle handed to me on a plate!!!!!
1st warm up run out as a shakedown on the gear, going ok Sail out 1km hit a ramp and jump only to end up catapulted into my sail, crunching my shoulder face and destroying a batten tensioner, go back to shore find out that I also lost 2 flares in the impact.

Fixed batten tensioner up with trust Gaffa tape (Thanks Bender), couple more sighting runs before start (no prangs thankfully) But shoulder and face in pain.

The race starts can't pump the sail as shoulder won't hold any load sail the first leg picking up positions in the incredible chop set up by 150 boards on the water, fluff the first Gybe (as scripted) then my troubles really started My new Elmo weedy was not suited to going that broad of the wind in the open water chop and kept breaking away every 100m or so, not fun with a stuffed shoulder pulling the board back into line only to have it go another 15 seconds later.

Around the second marker eventually after another stuffed gybe and the board is going ok heading back out, half way to the third mark and I can't hang on any more, Discretion kicked in turned the kit around and headed for shore. End of my race.

Next time (if there is a next time) I'll select my kit a bit better and train for this it's one very serious event.

Big Respects for all those who entered.

Bigger respects for those that finished.

Hats of to all the organizers and competitors, it was a fantastic event.

I had the worst start ever, Peter Volwater decided to start in front of me and Bender (which annoyed Bender who served Peter a load of abuse), then Peter started running for the water 4 seconds before the start sound. Everyone followed Peter, and I thought it was a false start so I stopped... only to realise that it was supposed to be like that. So there I am in the wind shadow of 100 odd sailors, couldn't do anything so I had to wait for the sailors upwind to get going. When I finally get on my board, two d**kheads in front of me collapsed, blocking my path so I had to stop. All of which made me stone motherless last 1 minute into the race

After that it was relatively plain sailing, the swell out the back was pretty big, going back into the shore was interesting because if the wind dropped as you climbed the back of a swell, you dropped off the plane and then had to get going again. The second inshore boat was drifting as well, so it was too deep to make the boat and had to make two extra gybes to get it. By the time I got to it they were motoring back upwind.

Made up heaps of places on the last boat, it was quite deep and most of the fleet still sailing were way out past the boat to try to get round it, I sailed well deep from the inshore boat and made the offshore boat perfectly. I made it in 1:04, Bender beat me by around 5 minutes, and we waited for Elmo for ages... he eventually turned up on the back of a ute.

Great day

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nebbian said...

, and we waited for Elmo for ages... he eventually turned up on the back of a ute.

Great day

That is sooo Elmo, cant stop laughing when I read this. (sorry Elmo, but it is funny they way Nebs put it) He keeps us well amused with some of the things that he does, and have happen too him
Well put, reckon Hardie will get a few laughs re your comment.

Arrived nice n early wind was blowing.
It never picked up at all until 130 ish when it dropped. All the others had rigged 6.6m approx so I rigged 7.8m expecting a 2pm start.

One late boat delayed the race by 30min and that is when the wind picked up

so to put it short I got slaughtered the whole was on my 7.8 RS4 and my SX Medium.


It was survival sailing all the way around.. and I dont think i landed a single gybe....


Chad

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mineral1 said...

nebbian said...

, and we waited for Elmo for ages... he eventually turned up on the back of a ute.

Great day

That is sooo Elmo, cant stop laughing when I read this. (sorry Elmo, but it is funny they way Nebs put it) He keeps us well amused with some of the things that he does, and have happen too him
Well put, reckon Hardie will get a few laughs re your comment.

Glad to keep the punters amused, perpetuating my reputation.

Can't lift the arm above the shoulder without pain and my face feels as ugly as what it looks, of the water for a bit methinks

i spent 3 and a half hours kiting and landed 2 new tricks, also saw some windsurfers being chased by a helicopter

Second time for me Ocean racing is hard... I was done in by the first mark!!!

Got to Ledge nice and early, around 10:30 am. It was windy already. Thought to myself, you bewdy, this time it’s wave gear! Rigged my 5.7 and 5.2 wave sails and my 85l wave board. Had a bit of a practice run on the 5.7 and discovered it was not quite as windy as it looked. No wuckers, she’ll be cranking by 2, I thought.

About 1:30 pm the wind dropped about 5 knots... F#$@!!! That was the end of my wave board plans. Rigged my 6.8 race sail (should have rigged my 7.5) and my 105l speed board in a MAD rush. This was something I was hoping like hell to avoid. I took my speed board for its de-flowering ocean voyage at Mullers on Friday arvo, only to discover my 33 cm weed fin is not ideal with 6.8, a little on the large side, and my speed board that hammers on flat water and in river chop, is not really suited to ocean swell! DOH!

The start was fun, I was in the third row, about half way down the beach. As I picked up my gear, I realised I had forgotten to connect my uphaul to my mast base when I let some downhaul off a few minutes before the start - oops! Wound the uphaul round the boom and threw myself into the windless washing machine... Waiting, waiting, waiting... right, I’m off. EXHAUSTED by the first mark, blew the first gybe, blew the second gybe, started to think about cold beer and the sandy beach only few hundred metres away... Nah, keep going, don't pull out - yet Made the third gybe, only to fall in 3 seconds later as I had caught the outside rail... Why is gybing SO hard in a race... Did a funny Z shape at the forth (looks like DL did as well, www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=8621 ), couldn’t get that deep, and reef on the inside meant that I couldn’t go right past the mark. Started to think about cold beer – AGAIN! Bugger it, I’ll keep going, one more mark... Made my gybes at the fifth, sixth and seventh (geez the seventh was deep off the wind as well), and it was the home stretch to the pub. My favourite leg, no gybe at the end – YIPPEE!

Oh, favourite moment was seeinig Claude hammering back into the beach on the first leg, only to see Claude go hammering past me, on... the, the, errrm, forth, third leg

My first go at the Ledge to Lancelin and really enjoyed it, though not as much as the party afterwards which was a blast. I was absolutely wasted at the end mostly because of the amount of falling off I did due to having too small a board and sail. Next time I'll definitely go for something bigger. I seemed to find every wind hole on the course and arrived just in time for a lull at every gybe mark bar one. On that one I found I'd wedged by back foot too far into the straps so when I went for the gybe the back of the board came round with my foot and I had yet another crash. I also got wiped out by a breaking wave just off Edwards island which timed its arrival for about 15 seconds after I stopped dead in yet another lull. The best leg (apart from the last) was the 4th (I think) during which I actually gained some places only to lose them again at the turning mark where I had to do 3 gybes to get around the boat and avoid the reef. I then fell off at the back of the boat uder the kite rope and had to paddle away from that to get started. The worst part was the last but one leg which was very deep and the wind ran out as the waves got big. By the time I'd fallen off about 3 times I drifted sufficiently downwind to pop a water start and sail straight in wihtout the need for any more gybes much to my relief as I was getting seriously tired by then. Despite all this I think I arrived in just under an hour. So next year, I'm going to a) practice b) user bigger kit ! Does anyone remember the name of the band - they were great!

Rigged two sets of kit; the Tabou Manta 59 (85L) with Koncept 6.6, and the Manta 74 (115L) with the 7.5, and went with the big kit looking for an advantage on the deep downwind legs. If the race had started on time the big kit would have been perfect, but the breeze freshened to a solid 20 by the start so it was all a bit of a handful - actually the sail was OK but the board and 36cm weedy felt huge.

No excuse for a bad start from possy 1, so got away nicely to be about 10th around the first mark and there was a very tight group from about 10th to 20th that I was a part of for the rest of the race. The big board was making me a bit slow, but I was making up ground on the deep legs and at the gybes.

Managed to stay on for the whole race to get to the finish in 33 minutes, however a brain explosion occurred 20 metres from the beach; I stood the board up on it's tail to slow down thinking the water was shallow, and jumped off into waist-deep water. I then had to wade in as five people sailed straight past, dropping me from 13th - 18th. Oh well...

Anyway, I was happy with the way I sailed the race. I may have gone better on the 6.6 and the smaller board, or if the race started earlier, but the whole thing was a complete blast anyway. It was just great to see such a huge fleet and such great, challenging conditions.

I should mention that this is my 21st consecutive Lancelin Ocean Classic but the maiden victory is no nearer!

Big congrats to Chris Lockwood who finally fulfilled his potential in this race. He didn't wear his GPS, but I did a run down with him and few guys on the Friday in a lot more breeze (25-28) and wild crazy seas, and he hit nearly 34 knots in the open water! Balls of steel that bloke!

The band was "Doctor Bogus" - they are awesome!

Didn't quite expect to to be so oceanic. By the time I got to the first crayboat I was ready for a rest. My brain was tired from computing a way through the swell, but I got the first gybe. Was pleased to get to Lancelin, the 5.5 was too small to go to directly each mark and I had no energy to round the 6th cray boat. Were there 6? Am amazed at how quickly those those top sailors can negotiate the ocean waves, not that I saw much of them, my caddy told me about the close finish and about how much longer I took.

A great race, must take a lot of organising. well done to the organisers. I know what to practice up on for the next one.

First time in the race for me and what a great event to be a part of and so happy to get to the Tavern at Lancelin in 53min Thought I was going to take the 4.7M Zone and 69 L RRW but after Will had been the wind dummy decided to take the 5.4M Core and Wills Goya (84L) which I think he wished he had taken but which turned out to be a very comfortable combination for me in those conditions. The practice downwinder that Nat and I did on thursday from Woodies to South Beach (6km straight line, approx 11km sailing) was the best prep we could have done for the comp (see photo in gallery for the GPS track on google earth). The worst prep I did was trying to get rid of my cough by taking cough medicine that "might have a laxative effect" That combined with pre race nerves was a bad combo. Struggled to get going at the start with so many sails around but eventually got out to the first marker ok. Stuffed the gybe at the 3rd marker and had to swim for a bit to get out of the wind shadow of cray boat but managed to get going again and got my breath back on the 4th leg. My calfs started to get a bit crampy on the last couple of legs ( I blame the cough medicine) so really concentrated on pulling off the turns to avoid any further swimming and just left enough to sprint up the beach to the caravan.
Nat had a fantastic race and I only just came in ahead of her -we had each other in sight for most of the race. Simon returned to form after his neck injury and put in a very respectable effort considering he was under instructions not to race. Will came in after Simon and for once in his life was complaining about sailing overpowered An awesome day

"Oh, favourite moment was seeinig Claude hammering back into the beach on the first leg, only to see Claude go hammering past me, on... the, the, errrm, forth, third leg"

Does anybody know what he was doing? - I couldn't believe it when he came hammering towards me on the first leg and then reappeared on the third leg...

I rigged my 4.5 NP with my 78L freestyle wave and then realized 30min before the start that this wasn't going to be enough. Simon helped me rig the 5m and I went for a quick trial. At this stage wasn't sure I was going to make it at all.
Well the start was entertaining got away okay and then just got in to groove - following the sailors ahead, felt like I was sailing to Africa... The best moment was when I think on the 5th leg Bender exploded in front of me - I sailed past only for him to overtake me again later and then explode again.... He caught up again right on the beach and we had a race to the caravan. This was my first attempt and I don't think it would have been this much fun if we hadn't done our little practice run on Thursday, helped me do the right thing at the dreaded fourth boat, that was very down wind. I did my extra gybes early and rounded the marker easy. Great Day!

Claude was about 30 metres upwind of me , and right on Jesper Orth's arse about 1km after the start when he smashed into a cray pot line and broke his boom. So he sailed back in, put a new boom on and resumed the race!

Yes, he is quick!

He is sure going through kit lately. He must have taken over Slowies role.

overall i had a great day!
i set off on a 5.5m sail and an 86 litre kombat.
the start was good, the first mark was good, no problems so far, until i got to the fourth marker boat. (close to the reef).
by the time i got halfway there i realised i was way to far upwind and tried to put in an emergency carve gybe just before the reef, but sadly, fell in and wash washed over the reef. after 10 minutes of being smashed by breaking waves, and 3 atempts to water start i finally got going again.
the rest of the race went fairly well, with small patches of no wind, but overall was alot of fun!
the party afterwards was also deffinately worth the visit!
hope every1 had a good time!

Just a reminder, if you've got a GPS track for the race, and haven't sent it to me yet then send it to lano at gpsteamchallenge d0t com d0t au.

I'm making a "regatta" in GPS Action Replay, it lets you view the race from above in realtime, just like you're in a helicopter above the race

How good was that story channel 9 did on the new's. They have to be thanked for covering the event so well! I even saw Hayden and Galvin get on there.Well done.

Did anyone get a recording of the news coverage?

Got to ledge pt early, waited and decided to rig my 5.8 with plans to use iso86. All went well on trial run. 10mins b4 the start the wind dropped. Didnt want to rush rigging my 6.4 so grabbed my Isonic105.

After giving mr Volwater a mouth full for clouting my in the head with his mast as he walked in front of me on the line and decided to pick the patch of sand in front of me to start from(he moved 50m down wind from his starting position.)
Any way that was the closest i got to him once the gun went.

Got off the beach ok. Didnt drop any gybes but had three HUGE catapaults on one leg much to the amusement of NAT.

i should have used the the 86 and my 6.4m

Still all good fun.
Cheers Bender

===== Ledge To Lancelin 2008 =====

Driving in to Ledge Point I could see that the wind was already in from the right direction, it was really going to happen. Got my flares and safety gear approved, that was a relief. Paid my money (and lent some - evidentally you can't enter a race with a credit card). No late entry fee, a bonus. Got a start number. I'm in. A free stubby holder and cold water, we're being looked after !

If this was a competition where the person who has the most fun wins I'm in with a chance.

I pretty much knew what sail and board I would be using (5.8m NP Search and 12 day old Starboard Kombat 79 ), and my main worry was that the race would start too early.

Noticed that I was to start at position 134 and the spot next to me was 132 - that needed to be sorted before 133 turned up.

Before the briefing the organisers renumbered them all and the new spot was much better !

The START:

I wouldn't have minded if that crayboat had moved a few more times :-D -

but the wind looks OK - I had planned to wait and look for a clear spot strategy but suddenly realised that the guys behind didn't want me stopping them so had to go for it. Managed to get up and sailing (people falling into each other all around) and then the expected - someone falls in front of me blocking my way - collision - he apologises - I accept - how civilized - BUT the great news it that a waterstart is easy and I'm away. And then clear of all the wind shadows and I'm planing, pointing a bit upwind to get the clearer air. Pass people who have fallen of, are water starting. Compared to the starts I remember with 200-300 people it was a dream - or maybe I have improved with age after all.

Got a bit lumpy nearer the first mark and I think a few involuntary jumps happened. Sailed clear of the tangle and the wind shadow of the mark, again lots of people in the water, got fairly clumsy jybe - but any dry one is a good one - now a bit of downwind fun, all gets very blurry after that. I dropped a jybe at one of the other marks, and was overtaken by a red rocket on one of the outgoing legs - I looked over my shoulder and there was a red sail well behind and then what seemed like seconds later he's passing downwind of me like I'm standing still.

Perhaps the wind hadn't filled right in to the coast, the first two inside marks seemed to have really light wind to me. And that reef was a bit unexpected. It was pretty hard to get that far down wind so quickly, I ended up doing some sort of zig zag.

Thought I had a good idea and got a bit upwind for the run to the last outside mark. But the guy who was next to me (maybe 444) and then stayed in closer seemed to be going great and I of course hit a lull and drop of the plane.

One of best bits was telling my mate who had taken my car to Lancelin that I would see him at South Passage, then as I'm coming in he's in front (and downwind) of me. He doesn't know I'm there as he's pulling up into the wave I drop in and shout out. Then its just run down to the orange gates and try and find the finish line. Thats easy, just look where all the sailboards are.

Keep out of the wind shadows of the anchored boats and run in fast and flat. Then walk / run up the beach to the caravan. Go looking for my car and then for my board. Have a beer and chat but Car was at the jetty and board on the north end of the beach. And carrying looked too hard. So decided to sail it back, to get that far upwind ended up going to south passage, steal a tiny wave and back to the car park. Derig - more cold beer.

Can't really ask for more than that on one day !!!

I forgot to mention "your race director, Barry" - who once again did a fantastic job.

Without him and all the other people who help out these things would never happen. So Thank You

I just hope that from now on they will all be at least as windy as 2008.

someone mentioned copy of news coverage - i managed to record Nine news last night on hard drive and can burn a copy of segment if you send me your details

jc

Yes awesome day!! and many thanks to all the organisers etc..

a very slow race for me, plenty of time swimming and trying to see over my life jacket which ended up around my chin.... but I was stoked to be a part of it

and the party afterwards was epic!! the fireworks were fantastic

hi all

seems the footage is popular so i will get together with someone who has volunteered web space to upload a copy of the footage onto the web for all to download.

watch this space, hopefully tomorrow or soon

What an amazing event, it’s a real credit to the organisers. I had a fantastic sail up to the last marker boat when my boom broke. I can not express how frustrated and angry I felt/feel! Only after being pickup by a Cray boat (700m from the finish line) did I realise that with a bit of PIY I could have sorted the problem out enough to have sailed in but unfortunately the crew wouldn't allow me back over the side, which is fully understandable. I guess the majority of my frustration is with myself rather than my gear braking as I think I was all too quick to give up. Other than that small hick up what a fantastic day and what a night. Band was amazing.

Started off nicely but there further out I went the harder it was to control the SX with the slalom sail.
By the time I reached the first mark I had about 4 savage wipeouts.
Realised I may of been fast but didn't have the legs to keep the board under control.
Made it back to the beach where a friendly fisho took my number and offered me a lift in the back of the ute to Lancelin. I refused the lift as I was only about 800 metres north of the Ledge point groin !!

2 sore legs, 1 bruised ego

Well done to all who made it

Thank you Lancelin

Next year for sure

I went along to watch the start of the 2007 L2L as I had just had my second "lesson" from Werner and I was interested to see what was possible on a windsurfer and what a pro winsurfer looked like. Needless to say, I was impressed by the turnout and the concept of sailing such a long distance, and I wondered if I would ever be good enough to compete in it. At the time I would not have believed it if someone had told me that one year later I would be able to compete in and finish the event successfully.

Before the start I rigged 5.3m and 84L freewave as the announced wind speed was 20-25knts. I went for a test sail at 13:45, only to find it was more like 15knts and I could hardly get planing. With only 5mins to go before the start of the race, I rushed to the car and grabbed my 104L JP Super-X as I had no time to rig a bigger sail.

Waited 1 hour until the start of the race.

The first leg was full of weird chop and by the time I made the first mark I was already exhausted. My right thigh was killing from pushing against the fin and absorbing all the bumps, and when I went to gybe I didn't have the strength to sink the leeward rail. I stacked the gybe and my left calf cramped when I tried to waterstart. I thought that this would be the end of my race, but I decided to try to at least make the second mark and then sail into the beach.

Luckily, by the time I got to the second mark, the cramp had somehow worked itself out and I was able to continue sailing.

By the end of each reach away from the shore, my left leg was in utter pain, but the downwind runs back to shore were sufficient time for my leg to recover.

"Five legs to go. So by the time I complete on more leg, I will almost be halfway. One more leg after that and I will be over half way. Over half way means that I have already endured more than half the pain. Therefore, if I can survive the first half, I can survive the second half."

I had a huge stack on the second last leg when a large whitecap smashed into my feet as I was trying to ride the swells to get downwind to the mark.

The last run into the finish line was awesome. It wasn't as deep as the other legs, and once I got in past the reef it felt like a millpond compared to the swell and chop on the second last leg. I finally was able to really crank on the power and blast into the finish.

I didn't come last, as I was expecting

All in all, it was an excellent experience and I am pleased to be able to have completed what I previously thought was impossible. Can't wait till 2009!

PS: there was a guy who started next to me (Matt, #91) who had only been sailing for a few months. If anyone knows him, I would really like to know if he managed to finish the race.