Ledge Point, WA, AU

Gezz That was alot more difficult than I had expected.

AS this was my first LOC I am not sure how the conditions rank but I am sure they were almost perfect, a nice early seabreeze and things looked good. I rigged the 7.0 expecting to need a slightly bigger sail as its flatout down wind, well the first mark was easy enough but a soon realised that I would have been much more comfortable with a 6.2. the swell and chop was pretty scary and I was greatfull for the bigger fin I had as at least I had something in the water some of the time. After the first mark it got more exciting trying to stay deep off the wind and riding down some steep swells. after the 2nd mark it just became a slog for me and I was starting to get bad cramps in my calfs, luckily I made it to each mark but could not complete a gybe and was more than happy to take a dip and have a rest. At the 5th mark I decided to sail into the beech as I needed to have a rest, after a few minutes standing in the waves and able to see where the finish was I was off again and was very happy to make the last turn and head for home. The last leg in was rather tricky as I could see breaking waves and as I got closer could see what looked like exposed reef so needed to do a bit of lane changing to get a smooth ride in and boy was I happy to get into the smooth of the bay.

Speedster 100; 7.0; tribal WS 35

2 categories

Coodanup, WA, AU

I think you'd call that a skunking. Expecting alot more wind but didn't quite eventuate. Good to get on the water with Woody, Jonski and a whole lot of crabbers.

FF98, Evo9 7.0m, Swspd 28

1 categories

Pelican Point, WA, AU    That was fun......

WindTech 57, Ka 6.3 , 28 normal fin

1 categories

Coodanup, WA, AU

Waiting for the big blow that never arrived but got a few runs with Tim and Jonski before a few cold beers. Not all was lost. Manta 66 Vapor 7.1 wp 26

Ledge Point, WA, AU

LOC 2019. Got to Ledge around 830 to get a good parking spot near the beach. Seabreeze started early in the morning and started to build as the day progressed. Looked like it would be a windy day but the wind seemed to plateau as it got closer to the 2pm start time. Went for a test sail on the 6.2 and 85 litre board but was a little underpowered as it was a struggle to sail upwind. Changed to the 125 board and stuck with the same sail which was the first time to use this combination. 

Not much room on the start line. The run to the beach was hectic with barely enough room to beach start. Dropped the sail at the inside markers a couple of times as the bagged out sail had too much power after the sail flip. The big board was not so comfy in the chop and swell and a smaller board would have been much quicker. The chop proved difficult for many and I saw Hooksey have a big off a few metres infront of me. He recovered pretty well and finished ahead of me a few places. 

Finally got to the last mark and headed for the finish line. My arch nemesis Tom Radis was baring down on me with heaps of speed so we hit the shore at the same time. Sprint to the finish and I slip and fall on the sand to the amusement of the crowd. Tom crosses the line in victory. We always seem to finish 1 position apart in all the races so he now refers to me as "the bane of my life".  

I finish at 41 minutes, my goal was 45 minutes and it took 59 last year so i was stoked with the result. 

6.2 reflex, 125 patrik f-race, 38 vector weedy.

2 categories

Ledge Point, WA, AU

Finally after the last 2 years of not finishing the ledge to lancelin the monkey is off my back, The vibe was differant this year a credit to the orginisers true to word a 2pm start. Rigged the 6.3KAR first and went out before 12 to test, felt super comfortable and enough wind for normal sailing,nearly stayed with this combo hoping for a few more knots before the 2pm start. By 1pm it didn't look that the strenght would increase so decided to derig and go for the 7.1KAR, would have prefered the 6.3 as I have this sail dialled in not so for the 7.1 but with the legs being broad for both port and starboard needed the extra sail area. Only thing the guys from LOC need to work on is the spacing of the sailors as it as congensted. Thought I had set my harness lines correct as it felt okay when I tested the 7.1 but soon found out the Port side was way too far back for the broad reaches.

Start was hectic had Bastian in front of me and thought yep should hit the water without an issue, well first mistake well not really a mistake but did not see that as soon as Bastian headed off and just as I put the board in the water a small wave swamped the board and flipped it around, sorted this out and now in a wind shaddow, took the first 50m to get going, and once on the plane was settling in, could tell straight away something was wrong as I did not feel comfortable on the first leg, still managed to get to the Mark and all was looking okay apart from having a bit of arm pump. Rounded the first Mark no issues and started going for the Inside Mark, this leg was the first of the broad legs and as I found out all legs Port and Straboard where broad. Couldn't see where the inside mark was as I was concentrating on surfing the waves down but knew I had to go broad, kept going thinking I will have to throw in another jibe to make the Mark, but as I turned I could see the Mark as I had overshot the first Leg by quite a bit so headed for the Mark on Port tack. All good second jibe no issues and making up places, left arm now is really feeling the arm pump but thinking to myself all good until my harness lines bumps out off the hook and the front hand just can't hold the boom, sail flips to leaward wrong way round and the first of three where I had to swim the board and sail around to head off to the outside mark. Normally this does not happed but as the leg was broad I did not have the harness line far enough forward on Port so payed the price as I kept loosing time being in the drink and having my energy sapped from having to swim the board and sail around. Rounding the last inside Mark thinking only 2 legs to go and will the left arm hold out, well the LOC decided to test that once more but this time with an oh shit moment, on this mark I went deeper to try and reduce the angle to the last outside mark because of the harness line setup, bad move was in the wave zone and as the LOC does presented a nice half mast high vertical wave, no chance to avoid so up I went and as I was looking down for the landing spot thought Jeeze this aint goint to end well, landed tail first but still held on just, last Jibe mark well the arm is shot jibed okay but went to grab the back of the boom absoulutly spent on the arm coulndn't grip it. Held on with the front but was in the drink, had to wrap my arm arund the boom and managed to get on the board and trying to hook in before I even attempted to grip the boom. Eventually hooked in and the final dash to the line, thank god this was flat so sailed hooked in with no pressure on the back hand, you would think this was the end of it but oh no LOC one final attempt to thwart the race right at the end. A yatch moored just befor the finish line and a yellow bouy so thought thats fine go leaward of the bouy and it will be okay, well you should have seen the next oh shit moment a thick yellow rope floating leaward of the bouy and here we go no chance to avoid and I was preparing for the catapault just 100m from the finish line all this in a split second, thannkfully lent right back and belted it with the back of the board rising but held on. Yep a great race finished in 39 minutes and will be prepared better for next year, and my award to star of the day Tailwind bloody awesome first time in the race and persistant to the end, bloody great sailing Andrew, and laugh of the day to Kenny was great watching you and Tom heading to the finish line.

Ledge Point, WA, AU

LOC 2019.

For a change we had pretty good conditions this year, and the breeze was in early, so we had plenty of time to get our gear sorted.  Still, it wouldn't be a true LOC if we weren't running round like headless chooks half an hour before the start, and that is what transpired in my case. 

I rigged my 7.6 and 7.0 TR9s, and had both the M137 and M112 ready to go.  Test sail on the M137 + 7.6 combo at 1pm revealed I was pretty under-done, so I raced back to shore and rigged the 8.4 TR8, and swapped out the 38 weedy for a 42 in the M137.

No time for test sail, but I use that combo a lot so I thought I had the harness lines set pretty well, and the sailed was rigged fine.

I entered late, so I had a rubbish start position, three quarters of the way down the third row.  Massive congestion at the start, not helped by the starting positions on the beach being very narrow.  At the start I just had to wait for the sailors in front of me to clear out, and when I had some clear air I was away.

Junky chop on the first leg, but I was pretty powered up, and I was thinking "Mmmm, maybe the 7.6 would've been OK?".

Second leg, still really powered up, but I was sailing well and starting to overtake some other sailors.  However, I realised I was under-finned, and I started losing the back end regularly, which was hard work to correct in the sizeable swell and chop.  The 42 works fine for regular sailing, but deep off the wind the big board clearly needs more fin.

Third leg was looong (over 4 kays on my track!) and by the end of it my right calf was starting to cramp up, which wasn't a good sign 

The rest of the race I was pretty much in cruise mode.  I couldn't contract my calf without the cramps returning, so I was sailing my back leg straight and my foot on the leeward rail, which isn't a fast stance.  I started stopping at the gybe marks to rest and give the legs a break.

Pretty happy just to make the finish this year.  I came in 68th at 45 minutes, well shy of my previous best result of 48th back in 2012, but when the cramps set in I was done for.

So not a particularly enjoyable experience, and on the beach immediately afterwards I was swearing off LOCs for good, but who knows, when the memories of the pain and discomfort have faded I'll probably be back for more punishment!! 

I do wish they'd add a few more legs / gybe markers.  Sailing those ridiculously deep angles is really not enjoyable, and it wouldn't take anything away from the challenge to make the sailing angles more conducive to speed / fun and less conducive to board spin out and leg cramps!  Compared to the downwind courses at Leeman and Cervantes the LOC course is stupidly deep.  Maybe I'll just do Leeman and Cervantes next season 

Carlisle St, Safety Bay, WA, AU

Lancelin Ocean Classic Marathon.

Third day sailing in a row, and the big day. Best forecast in some years, though the wind didn't quite deliver the promised 21-23 during the race. Swell was low and breeze was in early. Couple that with a sensible 2pm start, and we were in for some race!

Arrived around 10 (late), registered and rigged the 6.3/98 first, but after the briefing, and a quick test run, found out that was quite undercooked, so raced around to rig the 7.1. Quick blast on that and we're looking better, better get back to the start to dump the kit at the start pos.

Went to put the 6.3 on the dunes out of sight, but in those few minutes, 42 and 44 (I was 43) closed the gap around my gear in the first row, effectively squeezing me back into a pseudo-second row. Mike White sandwiched in behind me. One of the guys was doing his first LOC, which didn't fill me with confidence about a clear run....

Start siren went, and wasn't nervous this time funnily enough, more annoyed that I was in the front row and STILL stuck behind people somehow. The hopes for a clean start behind these guys were fleeting too, as I was swamped by others from the back rows, all stuck behind these 2 guys trying to beach start. By the time I got up and on the plane, there were probably 60 sailors in front of me on the course. Just a wall of sails. The race for a top spot already over before the first mark.

The race itself went without a hitch. Probably the best race I've sailed here. Nailed every leg, wasn't spinning the fin (go the Tribal!) was cautious around the boats (not gybing too close, and running over by a few hundred meters to make the next leg easier), and didn't drop one gybe (had to have a couple of entry attempts at 1 with low wind, but nothing serious). Was picking off sailors the entire way, and don't think anyone passed me, which felt awesome, but the start just killed any real chance at a top 20. For example, after rounding the first marker, and looking out for the second, I could see the leaders out heading for the third - proving that getting a good start is absolutely crucial!!!

I had the perfect finish too, closing a 50m gap on Claude and Haydn Law in the home stretch. Caught Haydn, and narrowly missing out on pipping Claude on the line in a dive finish which windsurfing tv and the official photos covered quite nicely! "We're in for some carnage with these 3". Managed to run right off the board onto the beach this time without any over the handlbars moments!

Across the line in 33:42, 28th overall, and 3rd in the open division!!! Stoked with another podium finish, but can't help but wonder what might have been with a better start. I really hope they use a little more of the beach next time instead of leaving the north end unmarked and letting it turn into a kite rigging zone.

On a positive though, I'm glad the event is back with competent management, after those clowns who were running it the past few years. The course itself was clearly explained, with easy to spot boats, good angles, clear finish, and a great village area on the grass. No debacles with category results this year either....well, unless you're one of the 26 kiters who false started

And so ends another epic Lano weekend. Just so many good times over the three days.
Back again next year? Absolutely

Xfire98, KAR7.1, Tribal WS 31