HI All,

Confirming there is no FR this Sunday, high tide at Woorim in a Big NE (which hopefully it will be) will produce a savage shore break, along with Bayside all set for their Big Day Sunday, we decided to concentrate our efforts now into the Caloundra event in November.

Golden beach is venue for FR 3, if we get a high tide there will be a big flat to choppy water area, Low tide offers a couple of nice speed banks and a tighter run, more Slalom course like.

It's a great spot for newbies, and the experienced and is sponsored by Dieter and the team at Sunshine Coast Sailboards.
plenty of parking, shade, toilets, shops short walk away, smooth bike path for kids, flat water for swimming, great family spot.

Normal routine, 'windy' Sunday Yep--- Windy we know what that means! Can't always pick it!, we will leave the call as late as possible to be sure.

This Saturday's forecast is looking really good currently with strong northerly's , Sunday no good until a 'late' SE change.

Happy to run FR2 this Sat Nov 1, if that's the preferred option, the next 'windy Sunday' could be some time away...who knows?

Let us know , would like to confirm either way asap.

Well for me Saturday's are a no-go sorry. I don't really want to miss a round either so my vote is to wait for another windy Sunday.

Now to track down one of those T-Shirts and Hats from somewhere.........

Cheers
Marty

Great forecast for Saturday, heaps of wind, high tide, sunny perfect! too good an opportunity to miss, especially with the high tide, understand their will be some that can't do a Saturday, but the way the season has been so far we need to capture what we can when we can at first opportunity, Sunday is a not likely to get the change until late and the long wind forecast for the following Sunday is weak also, so lets make the most of a 25-30Knt forecast!

Golden Beach, Caloundra sign on from 12.00pm , race from 1Pm if the wind has kicked to 15knts by then.

Site Features

Flat water
White sand
Crystal Blue water
Easy to sail
Grass rigging
Heaps of parking
Shade
Tables
Bike/Skate paths for kids
Toilets/Showers
Cafe's nearby
Shops Nearby
Windsurfing Shop for last minute bits 5 minutes away, Sunshine Coast Sailboards

This is possibly the easiest place to have a go at FR in Qld, perfect for Newbies, it also could possibly produce some of the fastest hours in Qld FR, pending how flat the water is and how everyone's gybes go. It's also a very family friendly location.

Spread the Word!

Our Support boat also has room for 10! Comfy Seats lots of shade, so family/friends etc are welcome aboard!, (red boat in pic)

As always enter on the day or on line at http://www.freeracequeensland.com/entry-faq-s.html

All entries go into the end of season draw to win, massive prizes including a Severne Sail, Starboard Gift Voucher, Flying object Harness, Black Project Fins

See you there.

Can you please advise exactly where you will be "setting up camp" so I can see it on Google Earth. Never been there so need to know where you go.
Cheers
Marty

This is a map link for those that haven't been to GB before, it's pretty easy to find, launch spot is not far in from the turn off from Caloundra Rd, just up from Bill's boat hire hard not to spot him with big red transit van.

There are always sailors out at GB so just keep your eye on the water (and road!) and you cant miss.

the 'esplanade' Golden Beach Caloundra.

www.whereis.com/qld/golden-beach-4551

Are you going to set up at the end of Earnshaw Street where the Toilets and Playground are? Just trying to confirm as I tend to get there early..

Hi,
I am hoping to make it up there tomorrow.
I just want to know if there is a GPS to hire and how much?

Thanks

I'll bring a spare GT31 up with me... welcome to use it..
Cheers

Yes at the Earnshaw St area, near the play ground.

Windwanderers have a couple of spare GT31's GPS units and Sunshine Coast Sailboards also have stock, The cannamore (not sure exactly where to get it) and many 'Garmin' units will also work on the KA72.com Software.

Winds are building already, going to be a blast!

don't forget your GPS unit and a PFD.

See you there

All packed and ready to roll. Looking forward to another challenging free race event.

Had a great race today. Thanks to the people who
let me borrow bits and pieces so I could enter

Awesome day thanks to all the organisers and sponsors. Had a ball duke'in it out with Dave Santos all race. Nice win mate, very consistent throughout the entire race.

Its a very challenging format and very enjoyable for anyone wanting a fun and challenging race format.

A great day in somewhat challenging gusty conditions.. Great fun trying to maintain the challenge with Scott, had to keep pushing all the way and could have gone either way..
Thanks the all the organisers, run well and a great challenging format having to push hard for the whole hour..
Cheers
Dave

Great FR Session at Golden Beach today, we got the wind and tide spot on, the wind stayed quite N which made for big gusts, but the water was smooth and flat, clear and warm, racing was fast and furious with heaps of gybes, almost Slalom like, especially the start.

It's been a 'long time' since any racing of any sorts has been seen at Golden Beach, Dieter at SCSB was stoked to see its return, great facilities at GB just need to get your tides right to make the most of it, (basically you want to a avoid a big run in the same direction as the wind)

Just how windy was it? Looking at BOM observations for the day Maroochydore had 22-28 around the time we were racing, and a 30knt peak at 2.45! and as we know in close and also near the island there were big holes, so our range must have been from 5-28knts at times!

Another challenging hour, with top speeds for the hour just under the 20knt mark which was really good for what was a shorter run than other venues, and the gusty winds even swinging direction a bit at times, made sure it was a going to be physically demanding hour.

Dave Sandos, beat Scott Farley by about 400m which is not much over an hour and Kellie Tusler hugged the bank for dear life smashing out nice speeds to finish 4th overall.

A wide range of boards, from 117ltr to freewave and most sails 7m and under, thanks for all those that made the effort to commit, Saturday's are always a harder day for most with many having other commitments, but it was well worth it today, as the elements all line up nicely.

Thanks to Dylan KA.72.com for the land support and also his brother and family for taking the SS Freerace boat over the Bribie for support, thankfully no rescues required today.

results, ladder and video/photos will be posted when available, keep an eye out in the Sunshine Coast Daily for photo's and article.

Thanks freerace crew!

www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/golden-setting-for-wind-event/2439400/ link to the newspaper article.

Was a great day and thanks to all the FreeRace Crew! Sponsors and the WindWanderers club

Well done Dave, great action shot of you in the article

Great work guys, this type of article exposes the sport to the general public and will help to grow the sport by attracting new participants.

Page 3 , nice Gybe Dave!

Inside Back cover

The Face Book postings for Golden Beach had in excess of 420 views, half of those would have been from 'non windsurfers' through Tourism Caloundra we even had a few people 'come for a look' ....it's a great place to showcase windsurfing as the action gets close to the beach, the facilities for anyone that wants to watch are great also, shade, seats, BBQ's, toilets etc and the water looks pretty inviting at this time of year.

Select to expand quote

Scotf said..
Great work guys, this type of article exposes the sport to the general public and will help to grow the sport by attracting new participants.

Thank you Scot, we appreciate the feedback. We'll keep bring this kind of event to SE Queensland. Next to FreeRace we also have our social Windsurfer One Design and longboard get together every month, Windsurfing Clinics for all levels, Burrum heads Windfest where we'll host the state title Windsurfer One Design and GPS speed comp and our new baby winter series Extreme sailing as our wave comp. A year full of exiting Windsurfing for beginners to very advanced sailors. Family outings to top level Windsurfing we are the full package.

windwanderers.org.au

Was a great day so thanks to the organisers of QLD Freerace and Sunshine Coast Sailboards for sponsoring. Let's have another event there is my vote. I had a crappy day and could manage a gybe as I think I broke my toe on the second run but stuck it out for the hour. I'll make a video later and post up. Congratulations to Dave on the win. Hope to improve so I can be more competitive with you guys and gal.
Cheers
Marty

The pain! Ouch! Bad news there, did well to sail at all!

Martin if you have video or images PM a link we can add it into the GPS replay also, hoping their will be some photo's available from the newspaper also.

There is a short video done by the Sunshine Coast Daily it's on their FB and or Website also,

www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/videos/windsurfing/24946/

Ok so I've made a video from last week's Freerace at Caloundra. I'm sorry but it goes for longer than it should but is such a nice place to windsurf I couldn't stop watching my own runs back and forth. Anyway here it is for those that want to come try out Freerace as it's a great event and it's more about like minded people hanging out together and having fun than flat out racing. Hope you enjoy.
Cheers
Marty

Great Video, hard to imagine it was gusting 25+ at times...

Also have tracked down the photos from the Sunshine Coast Daily, sadly just a few available to purchase, these ones, you need to read the T&C's on them also.

www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/photos/buy/1350118/

Very cool video Marty. You got some great planning jibes on film. Missing one of these can make all the difference in these races.

Thanks Scott but most my gybes I ended up in the drink. I couldn't put it all together out there once I stubbed/broke the toe before the race. I know I mucked up at least one of your gybes so sorry for that otherwise you might have beaten Dave! I've learnt some more for next time and hope the wind is more constant that the 5 to 25 knot gusts coming through. Was great to see you make the trip to compete in it and hope you can make it to more.
Cheers
Marty