Hey Guys great comp, You cant do anything about the wind or tides.. On the day, so well done for pushing everything into a few hours when the wind came in..
A couple of things that could make life heaps easier is, get speakers on the beach so that every thing is heard down there, so much easier, Also the falgs need to be own on the beach as well or in a spot where you can see them. With a good flag system you will be able to get the time between heats dropped right down..
Lastly a bit bigger advertising, so we get more public having a look, there looked like heaps of people there, but most where just walking on the beach and stopped to have a look.. but after a while of having the comp on the same weekend each year, poeple will remember and rock up to watch..
But sick job guys, i know how it is, its a massive effort..
Next one is Robe easter comp, 4 days of riding action..
PS Bigblock, is coolto have a say, but repect the locals and what they have done over the past years to make sure that you can kite on our local beachers.....
I thought this comp was amazing, everyone involved with putting it together did a great job and should be proud of themselves. The spot there at grange is a good spot i reckon, its a good setup there with the sailing club. As for the conditions being a flat water rider myself, i liked how it was something different using the waves as little kickers, its something new to try and even though it didnt really work out for me i still enjoyed myself. The judges i thought did a great job, they really sat back at the end of each heat and really thought about who they thought rode the best in there heats. The way i see it, Its a good chance for everyone to catch up have some fun, go out for a kite and just enjoy thereselves, if you win your catagory its a bonus. The comp is never going to be perfect, nothing is ever perfect but on that note the comp this year was just amazing and once again congrats on a great job and i cant wait for next years comp.
Hey All
This was the first comp I have attended, and thought that it was very well run. I have competed at state titles of several other sports such as surf lifesaving and swimming carnivals, and this was run much better as far as knowing when heats semi- finals and finals were on.
The display board and running schedule gave a good heads up as to who which heat was on. Another idea apart from flags could be to use a megaphone siren to let competitors know when their heat had started and finished.
I agree with action_ms69 that speakers on the beach would be a great idea (if you can find a way to protect them from sand) as this would allow people on the beach to hear the commentry, and it would probably also draw more spectators in.
In regards to the competition zone, i think that it would make it more attractive for spectators to watch if the kites on the beach were kept upwind out of the way, beacuse it would draw their attention to the riders in the competiton zone. It would also make it easier for riders when they are trying to run back upwind.
I hope my input was constructive. looking forward to next year's competition!
Cheers
So the winners didn't get a prize that really blows, at this level of riding especially in opens you would think a cash prize of $500-1000 would bring the better riders out, and help them pay to go to the Nationals etc.
Another idea for how you could run the comp next year,
You could do it the same way they organise the motorcross, run more than one event, pick one flatwatter spot and maybe you could chuck some sliders in the mix, one spot that has some flat and small surf and one that is just choppy and ****ty(joking) like grange( to run the finals). and run a series. That way you make it accessible to most riders to attend one or more events and the better riders can follow it around and chase the big cash prizes to make it worth while. While the other riders may still go in to a draw or something for novelty prizes.
With advertising, and extra crew to help organise each event, sponsors and riders would get a lot more out of it, more competition breeds riders with a more competitive attitude and better riders develop causing the sport to grow.
Just a idea, that im sure could make the SA titles the best in the country. Plus if one event doesn't get a result, there is already others in the planning so you can be guaranteed a result at the end of the year. One other bonus of running multiple events is that with the results from the first event riders can be seeded to make the draw a lot easier to organise.
Ideas for spots,
-Whyalla has come up a lot in this thread, for Flat water?( haven't been there so don't really know, sounds like they would do a lot of the organising)
-In Pearth we have some good spots where there is some surf and dead flat water between sets, is there any where like this in SA that you could hold a heat at. possibly south or east of Adelaide. somewhere where there is a kiting community?
-Grange, SA state titles Finals, make a show of it, invite some international riders etc maybe as guest judges, live bands etc.
If it proved to be successful you could add more spots to the calendar.
All just ideas, don't know if any of it is possible but you can be sure if SAKSA organised this style of state titles and pulled it off, you would be the best in the country and a benchmark for the other states to try and reach.
I think they were the best state titles we've had .
Some of the improvments sugested are worth thinking about but as long as it's improved each year we can't ask for much more.
My gripe is with the Grange Sailing Club. I was a member of GSC for at least 20 years so I think I'm qualified to have a go at them.
The club has been struggling for years and I think they missed a prime opportunity to benefit from us and the spectators that were there.
1) They could of had some sort of shop down stairs selling drinks, ice creams, Beer, Food / snacks they could of made a killing with a bit of thought put into it.
2) They could have had some sort of membership drive even if it was just for a social membership. If they had some sort of insentive to become members of the club make it hard for us to refuse (Half price Schooners for every paid member) somthing like that but they didn't even try.
I suppose this is what happens when too few are doing too much, they run out of steam!
Although I'd like to see the states continue at GSC, lets hope they can do more for us next year and more for themselves in the long run.
Cheers
Nugget
only thing i could pick SAKSA, was the wind direction at grange, i dont kite there often, but the comp would be more efficient and easier for riders with a more cross shore dirrection, something like largs, where you can tack 90 degrees to the beach. it would be much easier to stay between the flags and keep track of the riders.
i understand the weather changes from comp to comp, so next year the dirrection could be different.
also grange sailing club is close to the water which makes in a good venue in that aspect.
what ever you guys do with the comp, its always a pearler. good work SAKSA crew. keep it up.
Comp was well run in my opinion.
the public caused a few problems by swimming in the comp zone. dont know if the council would allow you to erect signs on the beach/road asking the public to respect our comp zone and swimming outside the the kite zone. For there safety and ours.
hey guys wasnt there but heard all went well and was good wind not shore what small cock is sooking about but where there is wind there allways will be chop sounds like a very unhappy person and doesnt realise the good work SAKSA does for the sport HTFU
Hey all,
Some of this feed back is spot on and had alraedy been thought of by jordan and myself on the day so it is sweet most of us are on the same page. With the judging, Tim Clark, a local wakeboarder who has riden for years was the head judge, sitting their through every heat and final. So the judging was the best i reckon I've seen. There isn't that many riders who are prepared to not ride in the comp. I came third in opens last year but opted to just commentate and help out which I think really helped. So big props to the others like Troy and Jordan who did the same.
Realistically, what are the chances of getting international riders and judges to a local comp. Common, we don't have the budget for that unless we charged $500 to enter. I think as long as we all have a cracker time, get a result where the best rider on the day wins and are keen for next year it is a winner.
Keep practicing people and i look forward to riding in next years comp.
Johnny 'Chops' Sellar
Well said Chopsie i totally agree. Havent heard any bad feedback from anyone who competed on the day. Seems everyone had a great couple days and as long as everyone is enjoying themselves and keen to come out and compete again next year i think thats all you can ask for from a small comp like this. We dont have the budget or time to run an event to rival a PKRA style event.
Awesome work by everyone involved and who helped out on the day.
Cant wait for next year already.
