This is a call for feedback on a proposal (not by me) for a 5 day competition/event/jam to be held at Woodmans Point Reserve over the 2009 Australia Day Weekend.
Information about the event is limited but is to be an obstacle based freeride event similar to the slider and kicker jam of last year but much bigger featuring many international riders (Andre Philip (DR), Ruben Lenten (HOL), Aaron Hadlow (UK) and many other pro riders). The event will be along the lines of the Redbull Kitepunks and Real kiteboarding tripleS Invitational.
The event is not WAKSA organised but looks to have the support of the WAKSA committee. The events organizer is Toby Bromwich (UK) of core online magazine.
The event has been known to WAKSA for some time. I believe it is important for the event to be known by the wider kitesurfing community before it is too late for public concerns to be addressed.
I have my own personal feelings which i will put forward in a subsequent post.
i think it would be awsome! i think that they should go ahead with the event, watchin pros lay it out like it shud b on sliders n kickers wud b sick n 5 dayz of free riding would b awsome
"event similar to the slider and kicker jam of last year"
its not similar to the slider jam of last year it IS the slider jam.
I cant remember if you went last year dave but it was a bloody good time and just mind blowing and a good learning opertunity to see such good riders showing us what can be done with a kite and a rail-kicker so if we can get some of the best kiters in the world to come over and do it again this year then i think its awesome!! the best thing to ever happen at woodys!!
Woodys is not a secret spot dave and it hasnt been for years!! i dont see what the problem could be??? it is only for 1 day after all and at least they will take thier kickers home at the end of the day and not leave the smashed up bits of wood and pvc sitting on the beach like someone els we know ay
"I have my own personal feelings which i will put forward in a subsequent post" why not just come out and say it??
I will be honest. I am not fully behind the competion for a number of reasons that I will state below.
The event will attract world wide attention exposing WA and specificaly Woodmans point as the fantastic kitesurfing location it is. The event has the potential to significantly increase the number of kiteing tourists arriving on our shores. If this occured it would obviously lead to increased numbers of kiters out on the water. Kiting tourists have also been notoriously bad for relations between kiters and the wider public (however waksa is addressing this i believe). Yes, woodies isnt a secret but it has never been thrust in to the spot light like this competition is threatening to.
It is great seeing other people on the water having fun. However the consistent drive to promote the sport will hurt all kitesurfers in the long run. I know that no one has 'ownership' of a location but i believe defending access for a few is better then no access for everyone.
I believe the governing bodys of kiting in Australia need to redirect their focus from promoting kitesurfing (to increase memberships?) to demoting kitesurfing to cull the growth and mantain control, location access and PR of the sport. (This is a seperate issue i wont go further into it here, i am getting sidetracked)
The area of woodmans point is a CALM nature reserve. There are several limitations placed on the area such as zero dog access as a means to protect the wildlife on the reserve. Recently CALM have installed the first bin at woodmans point a plastic bag collector. Apart from this there are no bins or disposal facitliy at woodies as well as no toilets. I am concerned that the organisers might underestimate the possible influx of riders and spectators and therefor calm underestimating the impact of the event. While i do have concernes for the environment i am more concerned about the possiblity that we trash the joint and calm have some negative reaction torwards kitesurfing at woodies.
My final concern is the commercial nature of the event. Similar to last year the event will be a 'Core Magazine' event. It will be used to promote the Core Magazine (to attract readers) and for magazine content. I think it is a good idea of Tobys and have nothing against him trying to make a buck. However in a nature reserve and at the possible expense of West Australian kiters it leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
Now, I do see the positives of the event and for sure if it wasnt in my backyard i would 200% support it.
It would be awesome to watch some of the finest kitesurfers in the world go about their business. It would also be great to get exposure to some of our local talent and personally i would love to enter it and session hard with the locals and internationals. However I think we must also look at the potential problems of such an event especially at a critical time of the sport in Australia.
I may just be over reacting. Give me some fair arguements to convince me.
Carbine a notorious tourist hater, kook hater and anyone who gets in his way hater. Rode in the previous season less than I would say 90% of the locals, and I think most people would agree apart from a few riders that Woodies in the previous year was better crowd and behaviour wise than in years before. Carbine has in fact taught lessons at Woodies for his own personal gain and is just using whatever leverage he can get to make his arguement.
The organisers last year went through all the appropriate authorities (CALM and WAKSA) before holding the event. Probably spending around 750$ plus on building materials and permits and I would estimate about 80 hours plus putting it all together and getting in down and back. The feedback from CALM was really good, they rang the next day to congratulate him on holding a very professional event and leaving the beach spotless clean.
Now the event is already in the pipes awaiting approval and once again the organisers are going through the appropriate channels (CALM, DPI and WAKSA) to get the go ahead. Going through this process will include thing like hire toilets etc. if necessary.
Ironically it is Carbine bringing Woodies to the attention of the entire seabreeze community again telling them how "fantastic" a location it is. Also threatning to complain to CALM to get the event cancelled. Why bring negative attention to your own sport at your own spot, are you begging for a ban.
Fact of the matter is that Woodies is a metropolitan beach in a capital city of almost 2 million people. It is hardly a secret. You can never protect it from the ammount of people coming to ride. You can however act on the issue of riders not showing much respect to the rules of how the place runs.
Having talked online about the issue with Carbine I offered him Toby's email address to bring it up with him as Toby was online. Carbine refused to talk to Toby about his concerns and try and reach a comprimise, instead opting to bring it up on a public forum.
So I will let you guys decide, does it really sound like Carbine is interested in resolution of his percieved issue, or is he more interested in the conflict?
all for it last yr was wicked fun...
i agree with bindings only though as it reduces the level of kooks
maybe a few more obstacles this yr round as there was a lengthy line up especially for the kicker!
will be gd to see a few more top crew hittin it up
im sure woodies has already got enough attention as a top kiting destination that this can't do much more damage...
sounds fantastic, hope it goes ahead..
there's one thing perth has lacked for the last 12 months and it is kiting comps!
must be a slow night, getting way off topic. If there is one beach that would be the most suitable for kiting in perth it would be woodies,
no people
no other users
miles from anywhere
apart from kiting, why would you walk all the way over to the north beach?
this gets the "kitecrazzzy supports this event" tag, for those who do not know what this really is; i hate everything and everyone, it comes from years of trolling in the wake of my idol the great seabreeze troll [not you relli/waveslave/spacecadet] ; charl. now that i have said something is good Australia is open to even more unlikely events to happen, hell common sense or a recognition of individual intelligence may prevail in government legislation but maybe we shouldn't get too optimistic.
bring on commercial kite comps with no entry fee and open entry!!!
I do here your concerns Carbine however I do think some of them are worst case scenario. With regards the holding the Event over a five day period with rock star kiters, media and rent a crowd. I think Perth deserves an event of such gravity as I and so many others had an absolute blast at last years Slider Jam. (Cheers guys)
The negative takeaways from last years event for me where the lack of structure on the water in the first few hours which led to overcrowding on the obstacles, tight riding area and a generally stressful experience.
Perhaps it would be better to send people out in slots just like the Safety Bay Jam which reduces traffic, lessens the pressure and give you more space to get loose.
Finally what would really piss me off is that Woodies where to become the reserve of the Pros and friends during the five days. I would hope that it would be mostly open to all those wishing to take part (Except for any competition format of course).
Cheers
Hey Carbine,
appreciate your concerns, but not sure that its your place to reveal this scoop just yet.
There's planning and money behind these things that organisers put in months in advance, they release the details when the time is right, usually when all the details are worked out, formalities, permits and insurances etc, to prevent reactionary responses, and to provide a big news release. The surprise is dead now.. 
I think we should let the organisers do their thing in peace, they did an amazing job last year to put on the best kiteboarding event that I have ever seen.
When they release the format and details, then let the fun police get in and have their say...
i still cant see what your problem with the kicker jam is carbine????
you talk about rubbish disposal and dogs on the beach why don't you just have the balls to come out and say you don't want anyone ells kiting at your beach!??
All of the other things that you have listed are totally unfounded. Last year there where no problems with any of the things that you have listed in fact CALM called Toby the day after the event and congratulated him on running such a great event. They actually went down there the next morning and had a look around and what do ya know no rubbish and no dead wildlife from dog attacks if CALM are happy with the low impact of the event on the reserve then once again i don't see what your problem is???
Just how many people do you think are going to come to this event??? You make it sound like just because a few big names are coming over for it there are going to be 1000s of other kiters coming too. Ok it is going to be a bit bigger than last years event but not nearly as big as you seem to think.
remember dave it was you only a few seasons ago that it was you being that noob kiteing like a twat at woodys and cutting people off and pissing the locals off!! i know you where only kiting like that because you didn't know any better and you did pull your head in quickly but you are still a relative noob down there and i don't think that you have earnt the right to call yourself a local there yet but that is a whole different discussion. Now you are trying to stop an event that all of the real locals are really looking forward to because you seem to be scared that more people are going to start kiting at woodys and you might actually have to share the beach.
I have found with most of the problem kiters if you just take the time to talk to them and explain how to kite at woodys and how to avoid cutting people off then they quickly pull their heads in and then they can actually be allot of fun to kite with.
I am not trying to have a go at you i am just trying to understand why you are trying to stir **** for toby and the kicker jam
i think you should just lighten up, accept the fact that kiteboarding is going to continue to grow no matter what you do and if you are concerned about over crowding and beach restrictions then you should focus your efforts on educating kiters on how to prevent these sorts of problems instead of being the tourist hating beach nazi
if CALM are happy with the low impact of the event on the reserve then once again i don't see what your problem is???
so how could you see the slider jam negatively affecting kiting at woodys??
personaly i think if we can hold an event there that is done so well that CALM feel the need to call the event organisers up the next day to congadulate them on holding such a great event then that is only going to do good things for kiting at woodys in the future.
nothing is being done "secretively" and it is NOT a WAKSA event and it is still in the planning stages so why would the event organisers put out a statment a press releas yet???
like spacemonkey said you should speak to toby if you have any concerns. have you tried to contact him yet?? you have been given plenty of oppertunity to! or are you just trying to start conflict??
anyway its windy over here and i am going kiting now
Sounds like he is having a bi%ch for the sake of it. Rest assured carbine that because there was no "negative impact" from the last one there won't be any for this one.
It's pretty silly asking WAKSA to comment on an event that they are not organising and have basicaly minimal control over when it obviously has not been finalised by the event organisor. ( Otherwise they would have released the details themselves. )
I say "hats off" to any private individual or shop who deliberatly go out of their way and put their time and effort into creating these events. Rather than take the piss, you should be out there supporting the event or in the future there won't be any....
"private" events are the future of the sport like it or not.
Just take a look at surfing & wakeboarding. we will never be as big or sucessful, but if we are to have any resembalance of competition that's where we will and up as ASKA and the state groups are non profit, volunteer run and will never be able to "grow" enough to cater for a specific a cause as the comp scene requires.
Yeah, Da Choppers got it,
there's no obligation for an organiser to inform the public at this stage. the gravity games didn't consult you before it went ahead, or the red-bull air race. As long as the organisers follow the approriate process, they don't need to raise discussions with Jo-public.
Most of the time people are stoked to have something organised, it makes for a more vibrant city, active community, etc...
As for financial gain, well once again Da Chopper has it, I can't think of a major event that isn't owned by a sponsor. Someone needs to pay the costs, and if there's promo and money to be made, all the better.
Its a win-win situation from my book, a top level comp run in our backyard, the worlds top riders, I'm with Damo, how can that be bad?
Woodies is no secret, most of those riders have ridden at Woodies plenty of times before, they know where it is, the secrets out wether you like it or not.
Yep, considering Woodies is listed on the WAKSA websiter and on kitebeaches I hardly think its classified information. In its favour though, its not the easiest place to get to without a car so that would work in its favour.
While I can understand some of where Carbine is coming from, epecially the comment about some tourists. I think it's a bad thing to generalise and lump them all into the one group. The only reason that tourists often get seen in a bad light in general is because we usually only hear about the bad ones.
As for the rest of the agruments, I agree with Damo, especially if the one last year was such a success. Get behind it and have a ball.
D
LOL
You guys, seriously, you are classic.
Tell you what, bugg3r WA, bring the event to Victoria.
LOL
carbine if ur so worried about kiters comming to woodies, localise the spot like surfing see how far that will get u!
What say we limit the number of kitesurfers to a specific spot. We could form small niche clubs, force people to pay a joining fee. They would then have to be approved by a elected group of officials. Now they can pay a 5 day kite member ship fee. After a couple of years they can qualify to kite 7 days a week. Even better if they are woman we won't give them full membership rights and classify them as associates.
Anything that promotes our sport in a positive light is great.
Don't dwell on the negative. Excentuate the positive ......
Interesting post all round.
As background info WAKSA would like to explain that last years Slider Jam event was planned and almost ready to execute when we advised Toby of the need for permits and approvals etc. When it was explained that a process needed to be followed for his own protection, that of the riders and to ensure no negative impact on future use of the area Toby immediately followed through with obtaining every approval necessary. It was then that he learnt that, as for any kiting event in WA, to be legitimate it really must have WAKSA backing. This is simply because councils and other responsible bureaucracies insist on having the indemnity our nationally approved insurance provides.
WAKSA was approached by Toby some time ago regarding WAKSA becoming involved with his proposed Slider Jam event for this year. An inquiry we responded to positively with offers of assistance of both equipment and manpower. The Core-on-Line Slider Jam will be a WAKSA endorsed event. An equal part of the 08/09 WAKSA events calendar. An event just like we hope to see every other event this year being; ie member initiated and run with backing of the waksa machine – ie contacts, procedures, gear and volunteer hands-on-deck as needed.
With regard to the negative potential of issues like over-crowding, promotional aspects etc.
Forum readers need to be aware that WAKSA promotional policy has undergone a fairly recent change of emphasis. Originally one of the aims of WAKSA was to ‘promote kitesurfing’. At the direction of the membership itself we now only promote ‘membership of WAKSA’ to existing or intending kiters. It is sometimes a fine line between ‘promotion of kiting’ and ‘promotion of WAKSA’ but we believe that the Core-On-Line Slider Jam is very clearly on the side of ‘interest to existing kiters’ only. As a tool for getting the WAKSA name and message to existing/intending kiters; and to encourage them signing up; we see it as very much a plus for WA.
... the WAKSA team.
Hi Team. ^^
WAKSA, that's a great mission statement you've got there......
"To promote Yourself".
I like it.
lol.
Such a selfless cause.....not.
*The membership drive onwardly marches on.
WAKSA, if you want to pimp for members....
you need to offer something, anything.
You need a gimmick.
Like maybe some kind of encouragement scheme.
How about a free t-shirt every year showing length of membership and kiter ranking ?
1st year member : Newbie
2nd year member : Greenhorn
3rd year member : Kook
4th year member : Gumby
5th year member : Rookie
6th year member : Ripper
7th year member : Local
What do you think ?
Apparently private comps like Kitejam need WAKSA....
because WAKSA knows how to fill out all the necessary forms.
WAKSA knows what boxes to tick.
You see, if WAKSA doesn't get involved with successful comps like Kitejam....
there's a big chance that WAKSA will become irrelevant, as well as being impotent.
ok, WAKSA has korporate KITESTOCK.
Pay your money to demo kites.....
then go have a crayfish lunch.
Nice. 
