I hope the various contributors don't mind, but I'm stealing some posts from another thread to isolate and focus this discussion for the benefit of all event organisers and participants.
I am interested in what some of the elite have to say in regards to ideas. As this ultimately has direct benefits to them. By getting more people keen to participate at event you keep the board brands and sponsors happy. This has an ultimate direct effect on the sponsored rider. No point being great at an sport that does not have events you can attend. Less events also has an effect on sponsors as they have no where to show there wares. Also the sponsors are targeting the 90%ers as they are the ones that pay for their boards.
So I put it out to the elite paddlers to have a think and give some in put in to what ideas can increase participation. Many of you have been to many event. Pitch some ideas that someone may take and grow it.
Sunday March 24th at KINGSCLIFF : THE AUSTRALIAN LONGBOARD OPEN. see website or Posts on Seabreeze)
10:30am BOP Beach course with lots of Buoy turns .. (All turns in the water) ...
Divisions for Pro/Amateur/Women/over 40 ... all divisions have trophies
and an amateur draw for 2 Illusions SUPs.
11:30 START 4.7k flat water river race has Open/Women/ Junior/ Veteran / 14 foot classes all with trophies. Everyone gets a bag full of the regular stuff and all amateurs go into the draw for two NEW Illusions SUPs ... ENTRIES ON THE DAY.
++ALL TIMES NSW DST . To be in the draw for the Illusions SUPs you must be at the presentation +++
SUP SURF EVENTS on Thursday / Finals Sunday. For Pro, Amateur and Women Divisions. Places still available
lots going on between the two threads.
some random thoughts
because its called a race board doesn't mean they are going to be raced.
my view. i hand pick races now. only dw races that are actually dw. this type of racing gives me a buzz.even if you get flogged you are still getting runners.
if you know your dw ing you will always do alright at it without having to be at peak fitness training 6 days a week. you can use your skills.
does anyone go- look awesome bop conditions -no
does anyone go - look awesome dw conditions- yes indeed
flat water and bop is pretty full on type racing and to be honest at my age i don't want to be that competitive anymore.
i'm not the only paddler around not frothing on doing bop races. its a bit like one day cricket all tho i do like watching them
dw ing is a poor spectator sport, but racing numbers are better. something to consider there
not enough is done to help people learn the art of dw ing imo. the elite could take more time helping beginners instead of sprinting off and leaving them with it.
no numbers, no races, no elite pro paddlers.
there needs to be way better results reporting and proper recognition for ALL THE CLASSES not just drooling over the top five elite. racers having egos if you don't reward them they wont come.
and another thing. everyone needs to stay at the race finish and cheer everyone home instead of the back markers coming in feeling like they've missed the party or something
at the end of the day i would like to see more racers, more racing but i will keep dw paddling even it goes out of fashion.
its not the end of the world if racing stops. look at surfing- millions free surf.
probably to many eggs in one basket if the industry is relying on racing for sales
So why do we race? What is so fun about keeping going when your body is screaming for you to stop? What's so fulfilling about ending up with blisters, What is it about crossing a finish line that has us replaying that moment and all the day's unfoldings over and over in our mind's eye and to our friends? It might be as simple as that it feels fantastic and definitely has to do with being involved with a great community of people.
I'm counting down the days to the next one
Cheers Jonesy
First a disclaimer - this is in no way a criticism of any particular event.
In NSW there is no shortage of good events on the calendar and credit should go to those that come forward to run them but it is prohibitively expensive to go to them all at $35 to $60-80pp which isn't affordable for families with kids or for juniors, esp. if they have other sports as well.
Insurance gets their $10 cut and events need safety boats and St.Johns etc which all adds to the cost but IMO costs are high enough that it caps numbers which in turn keeps it manageable. I realise that some of the organisers are very worthily nominating charities for their events, but there are a lot of charity events these days competing for your budget too.
The dumb thing about insurance is that I pay AOCRA, DBNSW, PaddleNSW, and Medibank for annual cover, and yet event organisers who don't want to subscribe to one of these slugs me another $10 in the entry fee.
I think if you're looking at spending more than $50 a month on your racing fix, like I do, then you need to consider what you're getting in return. It isn't just about money either, but time too. It really is supply and demand. You might like lots of people at your event, but so does the person organising the one next week.
Also, I see it a lot with other paddling sports, we put a hell of a lot of energy and time into our training and races for ourselves, it is our entertainment after all, but it doesn't leave any time for juniors. But a race series that is dominated by 40+ y/o males isn't that attractive to juniors. That probably requires a few clubs to form and take it on with all the "Playing by the Rules" and other accreditation required in this day and age, not to mention the equipment needed.
Probably the first thing this needs though is mature 'elite' paddlers willing to take on the difficult and selfless task of being a coach. Perhaps a race organiser out there can also put efforts into a regular junior only event instead - either as part of an existing series or a separate one. All very hard stuff to do.
As a separate thought, what about an event format that requires an adult and a child i.e. a sack race? I think there are a few concepts out there.
I think sup racing is pretty healthy at the moment , no need for panic just yet. But ive said it before and Ill say it again more flat water short stuff is where the numbers will be. I think the SUPSA twilight series had pretty good numbers The time trials at sunny coast seem to attract good numbers too.Handicap races would be good fun , that way the novices can race against the pros and still come within a bulls roar of them.
The time trials at sunny coast seem to attract good numbers too.Handicap races would be good fun , that way the novices can race against the pros and still come within a bulls roar of them.
Too much to read here. Will go for a paddle and come back and read it over a beer.
Did you have a quiet day at work Paul?
Grabbed this one from the other thread too. I think the bolded part is worth noting as I've heard that criticism down our way, and we aren't even 10% as serious as the QLD crews.
I also just posted in the Noosa thread but will add my 2 cents here.
Some people ride the most high tech, sleekest SUPS to push themselves, go as fast as they can and make their body scream with pain. Some people squeeze themselves into lycra and go ride bikes for the same reasons. Others paddle kayaks, run till they're red in the face, compete in marlin fishing competitions and feel the need to scream down snow covered mountains at 125km/h. These are the serious competitors.
However in each sport that represents a very small (1-2%) percentage of the total population
The rest of us enjoy getting out in nature and catching a few waves, paddling slowly along a river, casting a line and hoping for a nibble, hitting a few bumps on our powder skis or cruising along singletrack on our mountain bikes. In other words we have no desire to race or compete. We're doing these sports for a totally different reason than the competitive reasons of the minority. That's not to say the competition crew aren't loving every minute but the 2 markets have a totally different outlook on what they want from their leisure time.
IMO if SUP racing wants to build then it needs to find a way to attract a larger percentage of the majority rather than catering for such a tiny percentage of the market (who are probably going to attend anyway).
I for one would be interested in getting involved in SUP events but it would be purely to learn, meet likeminded people, have a good time without being made to feel inadequate and having a few laughs. A soon as there's a competition involved then I automatically consider it something I'd rather avoid.
Case in point - even though theres a strong SUP club here on the sunny coast I'm not at all interested in getting involved as they seem to be all about going up and down a lake as fast as they can and comparing times. That's not my thing at all - I'd rather just hook up with a few mates and go surfing.
If there was more of a focus on fun than straight out competition I reckon the participation would grow, but I guess that's not what SUP racing is all about is it? So perhaps SUP events need to evolve from 'Races' To 'Festivals' where theres something on offer for both ends of the market
Just my 2 cents. Cheers , Dave
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board restrictions- a ugly debatable topic.
a certain really really well known paddler has been known to say its probably the go.
lenght, weight,width, and the dig out factor.
the clubbies do it to keep things from going out of control.
stop the arms races i suppose and it becomes more affordable for a start.
the more you get into it the more you need to turn over boards as they get better
i have a mate who is very into the oc scene. he said it is remarkable how fast boards are getting. he used to be able to cruise past anyone on a oc1 now he has to work for it.
its just a thought
retailers wont like it of course. i expect a thorough thrashing for even mentioning it
