We have a bloody good location for windsurfing at Inverloch and it would be a great place to set something up.
A few of us had discussions about a possible club down at Inverloch on Sunday and I would like to float some ideas to see the interest.
Obviously 14 people attended on Sunday for the free clinic by RPS which suggests to me people are interested in lessons.
The thoughts are:
1) We form a club( I have had experience in doing this) and charge a membership fee. The club may or may not be affliated with Windsufing Victoria depending on insurance matters. We charge a membership fee and volunteers provide member services to the members eg club training days, club race days,newsletter, promo clothes discounted deals etc. On club training days guest instructors are paid to run clinics and those attending pay for small group lessons that are booked in advance. The Angling club/caravan park are approached for storage and the use of facilities on club days which they would be paid for. For this to work we would probably need a membership of 20 people, as a minimum, paying a membership fee of $120( a guess) pa plus tution/ storage/ facility use.

2) Infromal association of like minded mad bastards and bastardess( sorry got carried away) windsurfers that organise our own clinics and split the fee. This would work with a smaller number of people.

All thoughts and suggestions would be greatfully appreciated.

I'd be happy to come down and run a clinic sometime next spring / summer if you want / need.

Should have my instructors ticket then as well. Off to Vass for a couple of months - keep me posted on what happens. Should be back September at the latest, all being well.

Great initiative OldSalty...

The informal option for me....

-Maybe a couple of get togethers during the warmer months, BBQ's, etc.
-Like the idea of the clinics.
-Race days would be great but IMO there's just not enough room due to the sandbars, other water activities, etc. Maybe a slalom type course on the "other" side of the main sandbar? Around a marker and back? Or possibly a speed based comp. would be more appropriate on the current side of the bar we sail?

Either option, it would be nice to see more windsurfers come down. it's a great place to get into the sport and progress. And on the right conditions great for the intermediates and more advanced.

Hey Flicky love to get you involved. I forgot to mention that I can see Freestyle, wavesailing and slalom/speed all happening under the one umbrella.
Ejmack - maybe the informal thingy to get things going first and build up a ground swell

Might be the best option by the look of things....

President Old Snorey

great ideas...I've often wondered why there is'nt a stronger scene down here (ie like the boardriders clubs in Sydney.) I also reckon that it would be a good thing to have a bit of a collective voice when it comes to future use and protection of the Inlet.
I'd be happy to join, help out, do whatever (maybe even sponsor an event or two)

Let me know if I can help out
cheers,
Mick

Great stuff Drift will PM you

I would like to be kept informed on any proposed club, with interest in joining.

The lessons for beginners to intermediates would be helpful.

I couldn't teach anyone anything about wavesailing, but beginner - intermediate stuff (beach start, water start, carve gybe) plus early freestyle (duck gybe, vulcan, upwind 360, helitack etc) I can teach.

I have no idea how to teach how to get into the harness and footstraps, but hopefully when I come back I'll be able to do that - it's just a long time ago for me and I learnt by trial and error.

If that fails I think Matt is a bit of a master at teaching that area of things...

Keep us posted...

Good call Old Salty. You're not a convener for CFMEU as well are you? I'm in - Inver's become a 2nd home over the summer months and there's clearly a like minded group that would like something 'more'. Not necessarily kisses and cuddles or wifeswapping, but maybe the odd barbie/beer.It was great to see so many people out on Sunday - many of whom had made the journey out from the city. There would definitely be a market for some local instruction.

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FlickySpinny said...
...If that fails I think Matt is a bit of a master at teaching that area of things...

And I'm happy to give a helping hand!

Just on the club-thread... You guys do realise the there is a Victorian windsurfing club called "Windsurfing Victoria"? it even has a website: wv.org.au

There are numerous events for each season - although, there hasn't been a "beginners" thing in a while.

Oh, and I definitely think that there is scope to get the 'other halves' involved in this. There are quite a lot of (mainly female) beginner windsurfers who are keen to learn to windsurf but they're not on the forum, and they're only access into the windsurfing scene is through their partners.

I can name four or five off the top of my head who would be dead keen on lessons and learning, who have already had a go and want to do more. Inverloch / SP clinics would be just the go to get them more involved.

I'd love to see a bit of social stuff...maybe a few fun events...a bit like Mambo at Merimbula but with any skill levels. I reckon the Angling Club would be a perfect base. The other thing would be to try out the yacht club for storage etc altho' being further up the Inlet might be a bit of a bugger.
Mick

Matt - Love to get you involved in the teaching and may be a speed clinic - we are aware of WV.
Flicky - There will always be some freestylers out there needing guidance. Once they see you strut your stuff there might be a few others out there that want to have a go also.
Drift/Flicky - love your ideas just keep them rolling
Carbonart 62 - will keep you informed. may start with a few informal things first to test the water and roll from there
Croweman ahh the cfmeu - could have been in another life
Jman - you are the snoring nazi! Public warning. Do not sleep with this man
The best thing we can do to get this going is spread the word and get people to respond to this post so we can guage the interest.

Allright..I'll kick things off....

Inverloch Speed Challenge
Running for the month of April, I'll put up a $150 SHQ Voucher to the fastest speed recorded at Inverloch.
To make it open to anyone, any day and any conditions, we'll set it up so that it is a ratio- recorded board speed divided by peak wind speed. For example, if you can crack 10 knots of board speed in 15 knots of breeze, your ratio would be 0.667

Any one interested???
mick

Good stuff Mick

How do we determine the time was done at Inverloch? Photo of GPS in front of the Angling Club sign?

I'm in.
Who's up for it?

Jman, bring the Russian down and Bondy and lets see what we can do.
Ejmack - looks like you are going to have to get a GPS

Here's the creative bit
To be eligible, I reckon we should get a photo of sailor, rig/ kit, GPS and the daily headlines/newspaper on the day @ Inverloch Angling Club.
The other cool thing is that Salty and the rest of the crew will more than likely be there to verify results.

We'll post results on seabreeze as we go....
(If there's enough interest, I am open to having a category for young' uns and chicks as well. Also open to setting up some sort of fun category ie like oldest board/ rig combo, fancy dress speed demons etc so we can have a bit of a laff...what do you reckon??)

mick

Looks like the nail polish and the leopard skin dress is coming out!!

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Old Salty said...

Looks like the nail polish and the leopard skin dress is coming out!!

do you mean to say that's not your normal high speed set up????

Thats a pretty decent donation drift... If you do the ratio thing, you might find 25kn in 10kn of wind is possible...

Hi Matt,
I am happy to put up the $$$.
I ve been windsurfing (not greatly, mind you) for over 2 decades....I have got so much back that I don't mind chipping in for something that brings like minded people together at a fantastic spot.

My only problem...(appreciate ideas here)...how do we log the peak wind speed @ Inverloch.
The closest real time BOM station is at Wonthaggi which can be a bit different to the Inlet. I could average between Wonthaggi and Wilsons Prom..but it might not be 100%
Short of setting up a weather station @ the Angling Club, I don't expect someone will volunteer to sit on the shore all day with an anonemetre!

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mathew said...

Thats a pretty decent donation drift... If you do the ratio thing, you might find 25kn in 10kn of wind is possible...

Agree'd, that's awesome.......

OldSalty - looks like a GPS is on the cards then. This windsurfing sure is a bottomless pit of expenses isn't it!

Hey Drift,

Pound Creek - is that real time??

Pound Creek or Wonthaggi are the ones to use -> the Wilson's Prom dial doesn't measure up with what we get on the water, unless it is blowing easterly. eg: in a SW'er it can read up to 30kn higher than what Shallow Inlet actually gets.

As for metering-the-wind... its possible to setup an anemometer on one of the sandbars, to average the windspeed throughout the day - just need a good anemometer... and someone to volunteer to set it up, etc.

I have just set up a wireless wind station at home...it was a piece a cake and relatively inexpensive....I wonder if we could approach the angling club about flinging one above their roof??
mick

Sounds like a great idea to increase the fun factor and encourage new people.

I particularly like the idea of encouraging women. I have been struggling to get my partner hooked. I reckon that lessons from one's own partner can be a recipe for disaster, so a group lesson just for women might be a real success. I know they have regular womens/girls surf days at Smiths Beach on Phillip Island and I have been amazed at how popular they are.

Maybe an arrangement could be set up with one of the windsurf shops to bring some sets of learner gear?

I confess to sharing a room with Jman and the KGB at last years cup week at Sandy and the KGB vastly outsnored Jman!

Hey Drift,

Happy to help out with wind station. Have we got a local windsurfer that could approach the Angling Club? We could sell the concept to them on the basis that they could use it also.

Placing the wind meter on the club, would result in wind speeds measured that weren't representative of what we get on the water...

You'd need to place it in the middle of one of the sand banks.

Sooo Matt - are we talking a temporary pole we put up whenever we are setting up for the day. Like how do you boys run that at Sandy Point. I cannot remember seeing anything set up when I have been there.

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Old Salty said...

Sooo Matt - are we talking a temporary pole we put up whenever we are setting up for the day. Like how do you boys run that at Sandy Point. I cannot remember seeing anything set up when I have been there.

thats correct!

The reason that only the MI guys bother to set them up, is that no windsurfers can be bothered to loose the sailing time. Sometimes we do go out and take the odd measurement though.