Mambo is on in a month! who is going?
Come on we need more sailors to out number the kiters!!!

cant wait

Sorry I cant defend my title as the missus is due in early December. Was down there last week for a family holiday. One good NEaster and a big southerly. If anyone is after accomodation, I would recommend Merimbula beach holiday park at Short Point. We had a cliff top bungalow.(Last years Mambo prize) Awesome.
Cheers

Hey Donk, Gee you pumping out the kids now.
It's about time you let some else on the east coast win a comp anyway...

Forgot to say last night that the observation deck at Ford oval is gone thanks to some dope who burnt it down. Think it would be safe to build it again? Wrong, it was burnt down for the second time so no more deck. The council has had enough.

Donk won the last Mambo?
Doesn't say much for the state of wavesailing in Australia. In the good old days he wouldn't have got close to the top ten. No offence Donk, you're good, but what's happened to the others?

think youll find donk to be one of the best competition sailors around, especially on the east coast ( which is where the majority of competitors hail from). Thats probably why he one last year, congrats donk.
Out of curiosity who do you rate as the top ten back in the "good old days". serious question so please no stupid answers. I could name 5ish but depends on how far back your good old days go.

I made it clear I wasn't having a go at Donk, it was a serious observation, so here's my list:
Last time I looked, you were considerably better than Donk.
Mark Pederson
Rohan Cudmore
Josh Adams
Brett Goodwin
Stewart Martin
Add the top few Queenslanders and Victorians.
And probably quite a few I've forgotten.
I notice you said Donk is a "competition" sailor, which is telling in itself, but the Mambo is an expression session.
It seems most of the good guys have dropped out one way or the other, and they haven't been replaced.
Sorry I nearly forgot ....
Qwerty

I asked specifically for no stupid answers, qwerty should have been at the top of the list!! but seriously now, I also would have put in Andrew Thorton and Im sure doogs would have been in there as well.
When I said donk is a good competition sailor it wasnt to be taken in negative way. Some sailors can perform consistantly at comps and others cant, doesnt make anyone a better or worse sailor. I know of plenty of really good sailors who absolutely rip while freesailing but are the first to admit they cant put it together in a heat( well actually only one admits it, the rest consistently get robbed[}:)]). Doesnt matter at the end of the day as long as everone is having a good time I guess.
I was going to comps as a grom and Im still going now, to be honest I believe the average level of sailing now is better than it was back then ( over the whole fleet ). Just noticed that every one on your list still is competing, either in wavesailing of that other funny thing with the strings, so everyones still out there in one form or another

umm..nice to meet a groupie Jetsam.
Have to agree with Dan. Andrew Thornton and Doogs ride a wave as good as anyone I've seen in person. And to perfect it while residing on the "less than frequently windy" northern beaches, makes it even more impressive.
As for Donk, he also sh1ts on most people he's come up against. He sails well against them too
Never whinges about losing either. Just slams down a beam and cola, and kicks their arse the next time.

I suppose saying that the average level of sailing "over the whole fleet" is better now, means you agree the top guys aren't as good now?
This shouldn't be confused by the moves that have been invented since the old days, or the better equipment these days. In other words, although a lesser-talented current sailor with a time machine could go back and perhaps win, that wouldn't count as better.

jetsam, who do you think you are?!?!

the mambo is a contest won by the hardest effort and the best attitude.

it is also a lot of fun! big names have often not even made the results if they were d1ckheads.

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Jetsam said...

I suppose saying that the average level of sailing "over the whole fleet" is better now, means you agree the top guys aren't as good now?
This shouldn't be confused by the moves that have been invented since the old days, or the better equipment these days. In other words, although a lesser-talented current sailor with a time machine could go back and perhaps win, that wouldn't count as better.

You obviuosly like to read into things a little too much.
I would say the top sailors of today or the last 5 years are sailing at a level better than the guys of generations past, I think they call it progression. Talking about time machines is getting abit ridiculous. Its like comparing Mike Waltze in his heyday to Kauli, pointless. I think back in the day there were still magazines and some kind of hype in the sport so the top guys proflile would be elevated thru magazine covers and the like. Where as now there is nothing really, or al the least its a hell of a lot more low key.
At the end of the day I recon australia has turned out some pretty good wavesailors past present and future , so we should be proud of them. If your young enought to sail still get out there and go hard till the body cant do it no more, when you are too old and the body cant do it any more, then its a better time to sit back and talk about "the good old days"

i forgot, ricky vandertorn would be in there as well

Yes I imagine there are a few names we haven't thought of yet.
I don't know about me reading into things too much, but you are too defensive. If you think the time machine thing is ridiculous then you missed the point, which was simply to make it clearer what I meant by "better", perhaps I should have tried a third time to explain it!
But my intention wasn't to be rude, and it's kinda nice how you're sticking up for Donk (where are you Donk, you'd probably back me up). I certainly have nothing against him, you'd think I was blaming him for winning!
Anyhow to reiterate, unless Donk has suddenly improved heaps which I doubt, it seems the standard at the top, and I'm only talking about the east coast/Mambo competitors, has dropped considerably. I'm not blaming anyone, just making observations. In the meantime I will continue to both "go hard" and reflect appreciatively on the old days. I feel lucky and privileged to have been in the sport back then.

What about q man and george oz champ.

Realistically the top 5 guys have never been that far from 50% of the rest of the field, well at least not in the NSW comps. The major difference has always been consitency.

Donk for instance, I always thought of as a good sailor, even right back when I first met him in about 95 at a Mambo (remember the roof surfing Donk??) he was what I would have classed as one of the standouts, maybe not at the top but a standout none the less. The difference was consistent results, the likes of Rowan Cudmore and Stu Martin were always on thier game and as Dan pointed out, exposure. The top guys were seen as the top because they were all thoughout the magazines of the time, this may have even biased judging at different events. Now days the guys that are winning get very little coverage so you don't know or hear about them.

So I guess what I see these days, and it may be from improvement in gear, or just time. But everyone seems to be getting more consitent. And realistically we are not getting a huge amount of new blood in the sport on the east coast, and the guys that are winning have been around a while and know what it takes to win events.

If that don't make sence...**** it, it's windy, Im stuck at work and can't concentrate.

Another thread about whether yesterdays youth are better than todays.......lets put this one to rest, it's been argued many times before with still no conclusion.

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JPD said...

What about q man and george oz champ.

we're reliving the good old days mate, not the current crop.

glen mcfarlane, park paul, scotty o'connor, carl doran, the list goes on

and Ide put dean hendrie in there as well, since hes been up aroung the top for what must be close to 20yrs!! I say full respect to anyone who has stayed competitive for that long. And if i has taken him that long to win the mambo all the sweeter the beer must have been that night for him. congrats

who is doogs

andrew gibbons

so where is the mambo

merimbula, longest continuous running wavesailing event in the world, 28 years I think.

and its also the longest drive from Brisbane. But i would love to do it

who is Jetsam to judge his peers, who are you jetsam or do you remain anon?

Donk rips

Steady Eddy. That's a dumb question. I'm tempted to answer it but modesty does not allow.

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Jetsam said...

Steady Eddy. That's a dumb question. I'm tempted to answer it but modesty does not allow.

I know who you are and here is your picture, maybe you could use it as an avatar?

Hey Jetsam,

Interesting observation is that you've only posted on Seabreeze 5 times, and all 5 posts have been in this thread.
Which means you created yourself just to respond to this topic, and your first one was to pay out on Donk.

So what gives?
Did Donk make you look like a retarded kook in a comp years ago?
Don't blame Donk. You probably are a retarded kook.

Which question was dumb?

Who are you to judge your peers? Or, Who are you?

Don't be a hater

Wow, there are a lot of silly, angry people here. If there is a psychologist here could you explain why my last post got them going?
Eddy, I was referring to your "who are you to judge peers" question because it's irrelevant, and would be even if I was less qualified to judge. Maybe I shouldn't have said "dumb" because perhaps you were just curious and didn't mean to offend.