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westhammer said..
Thanks for the insight jase, much appreciated. Could you give us a run down on what the starting line is like,Ie, queuing,wait time and how busy. Cheers. Rekon you have amped ya brother to give it a shot !
Gday Westhammer, yeah go for it, it's so doable.Yeah the start is critical as hell and takes some practice. I've made up a simple diagram below.For context, Erik Beale says says that your final recorded speed will be probably be within 2 knots of the speed at which you hit the start line!In a nutshell we have about 100m to get up on the plane and in the footstraps before we hit the "honky tonk corner" as the laconic Farrel O'Shea would describe it. There is a real mix of starting styles. Interestingly enough, wavesailors are pretty good at beach starting at this event as we are used to jumping on between waves and pumping hard to get on the plane to jump or bust through the waves. I come from the Guy Cribb school of beach starts which is super quick and effective. (I'd highly recommend attending his course if you get the chance.) In sub 25knots most of us are getting the start sorted 60% of the time. When the wind is 25knots+ then I reckon we crack them 90% first time. A lot is dependent on the wind direction too. SSW is gusty as hell and harder to start. Straight southerly is much easier to start and more consistent pressure.Some riders try and start from the waterstart position with both feet in the straps and to be frank I estimate they only crack 50% of their starts in sub 25 knots resulting in them having to do the "walk of shame" and rejoin the queue to have another crack.The wind seems to be best around 3-430pm at the moment and sometimes we have up to 8 riders in the queue waiting for a go. We all get 3mins each to get started. If anyone pfaffs longer than that then they have to go to the back of the queue so you hope for good strong consistent wind when its your turn. Only 4 people are allowed to be in the water at the start box at a time. If you breach this rule twice and enter the water as the fifth person then your next run is disqualified. Everyone lets each other know what number they are in the queue when standing on the land waiting to enter the water.IF you crack a 500m run of 51knots (males) and 45knots (females) then you are given priority and allowed to jump the queue and go straight to the front each time. This is to increase the chance of the top dogs breaking a world record. The rest of us mere minions are happy to allow them jump in to facilitate this goal.When we are waiting on the bank ready to start there are sandbags provided to pin our gear down in the extreme winds. Today I saw Magnus Rasmussen pretty much pump himself onto the plane in the lightest of conditions (literally amazing to see) so do practice your beach starts and pumping before you get here if you can. Plus I had only used my JP45cm speed board a couple of times before I got here as there was rarely the conditions to use it around Sydney. So I practiced beach starting and sailing it at nearby Point Diaz and then at the canal on a lighter day (no event day) on a so I was ready to go. I also practised on my new 40cm AV speed board as soon as wind allowed.Plus I re-watched Windsurfing TV (Ben Profitts) interview of Farrell O'Shea many times when I was in Oz to prepare for this event and he nails the description very well including where the lulls are on the course and the goddam fact the wind picks up in the finishing area when you would really appreciate it dropping so you can stop on time!!!I hope this gives you an idea
jase54
> 9 months ago, 12 Nov 2022
