Very keen Mitch!
What are the accommodation options?
I found the onsite motel: www.manlymarinacove.com/ for about $200/night.
Is there powered/unpowered camping?
thanks
Berowne
Select to expand quoteberowne said..
Very keen Mitch!
What are the accommodation options?
I found the onsite motel: www.manlymarinacove.com/ for about $200/night.
Is there powered/unpowered camping?
thanks
Berowne
Camping is available at RQ.
www.rqys.com.au/about/our-locations/manly/on-site-accommodation/
Note there is no dormitories at YQ any more.
Manly hotel is another option.
Plenty of stayz and airbnb
Time to get excited.
There are about 10 of us from Sydney already registered. The site is difficult to navigate and get all the compliance checks done so give yourself time and register early!!!
app.sailsys.com.au/club/25/results/series/2194/races/16315?handicap=s
Should be a good regatta!!
Good luck to everyone racing this weekend. Nearly 40 starters and a good wind forecast.
Look forward to the updates and photos.
1693712952.rsc.cdn77.org/127628/backup/1676016717357Foils-DownUnderPro-Friday10thFeb23.mp4 or rqtv.com.au/down-under-pro-australian-formula-foil-national-titles-friday-10th-february-2023/
Scotty Luxton's (AUS-2222) cannonball at the start of the video above certainly a highlight.
Looks like some great racing on day 1, with 6 course races. Shame the rest of the event was only light wind slalom ( 8 races). I thought the Windfoil Nationals were a course racing event?
Maybe they will have some course races at the next slalom nationals.
It's the iqfoil format & I agree with what was done.
The second day was quite light so the RO went for slalom & they got 8 done. It was marginal for course racing.
The last day was course racing but the RO only got one race done (in 3.5 hours) & the forecast sea breeze didn't materialise. Maybe they could have done slalom races. The RO was busting to hold a double point marathon inn the 3 days but ran out of time & wind. The NOR & SI were clear about what could happen. I think it's better to sail than stay on the beach. The 2022 Formula AGM minutes talk about "introducing new courses." www.formulawindsurfing.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2022/07/MINUTES___2022-Formula-Windsurfing-AGM.pdf
In any case, I think Formula foil windsurfing is now at best a tail on the IQFoil dog. All the women & youth were iq foil sailors with only a few male formula entrants. There were a lot of tax payer funded coaches & boats (ie AS, NSWIS & QAS) & none of them were supporting formula sailors.
There was talk of the next windfoil nationals preceding the Australian iqfoil Oceanic region Paris Olympics selection regatta to maximise attendance.
Maybe next year they need to call it the IQ foil nationals if that is the event format they are going to use. Then have the top 10 race off for the medals on the last day.Advertising was Formula foil nationals, the idea of introducing new courses has not been introduced yet.
It's great to see somebody in the world still running course racing.
One advantage with crashing while hooked in is that it guarantees that you hang on to the boom.
Select to expand quoteregal1 said..
It's the iqfoil format & I agree with what was done.
The second day was quite light so the RO went for slalom & they got 8 done. It was marginal for course racing.
The last day was course racing but the RO only got one race done (in 3.5 hours) & the forecast sea breeze didn't materialise. Maybe they could have done slalom races. The RO was busting to hold a double point marathon inn the 3 days but ran out of time & wind. The NOR & SI were clear about what could happen. I think it's better to sail than stay on the beach. The 2022 Formula AGM minutes talk about "introducing new courses." www.formulawindsurfing.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2022/07/MINUTES___2022-Formula-Windsurfing-AGM.pdf
In any case, I think Formula foil windsurfing is now at best a tail on the IQFoil dog. All the women & youth were iq foil sailors with only a few male formula entrants. There were a lot of tax payer funded coaches & boats (ie AS, NSWIS & QAS) & none of them were supporting formula sailors.
There was talk of the next windfoil nationals preceding the Australian iqfoil Oceanic region Paris Olympics selection regatta to maximise attendance.
8 races of 2 minutes... and which counted for only 4 races in the results. 
Nationals Downunder Highlights and Lessons Learnt
The Australian National Windfoiling Championships were held at RQYS earlier in February and it was great to see just how much the level of sailing has improved since 2019!
Full results here: app.sailsys.com.au/club/25/results/series/2194/pointscore?view=individual&handicap=s&division=5799
A few Formula Foil riders came up with me, Dave, Roger, Tom, and the iQ crew including Will, Grae, Amelia, Andre, Max, Henry, Nic, Rohan. There were also a few from WA including Harry... and a bunch of local sailors, but due to the cyclones over the tropcis, trips to/from NZ were cancelled, reducing the fleet sadly. Keith was over from Malaysia and Steve Allen showed up too! There was a good fleet of just over 40 across iQ Men, Women, Junior and Formula Foil.
Day 1 Upwind course racing.
We had a 15-22 knot breeze but some of the gusts felt like 25. the swell upwind was manageable and near the top mark the downwind started off quite fun. I'd use maybe 50% of available power and send it downwind. until about half way when after a series of catapults I whimped out, feathered the sail and "survived" the 1m steep and short swell to the bottom mark. Definitely not my proudest moment. The front runners were powering upwind (my best run was 60 late to the top mark!) and downwind they seemed to just eat the swell, finding smooth water and sailing fully committed all the way to the gybes and around the mark.
One downwind run near the gate I was hurtling downwind and tapped the top of a swell. then 0.1 second later the foil pierced through and I was catapulted (again). I didn't stop to watch any of the successful riders but I can only imagine they were sailing a shallower angle downwind and rolling the board through the swell. Oh and a friendly hammerhead showed me the original foil design as S/he swam past. Scary!
One start sequence (maybe race 3 or 5, I can't rememmber) and on approach to the line two Sydney regulars were pushing each other up so hard they ended up behind the start boat nearly stalled before pivoting downwind and starting late behind me... Will won most of the races with Grae, Harry, Steve and local Hamish close behind in Fleet A.
Day 2. Light wind Slalom
The bay settled down overnight and on Saturday we had a nice flat harbour with 6-12 knots. This was my first attempt at a tactical 2 gybe 3 mark downwind slalom course. and I wasn't alone as a lot of riders missed the course!
* Start on starboard Reach to round mark1 to port
* Gybe sometime later to pass mark 2 also to port (or do 3 gybes to track inside the course marks)
* Reach to starboard mark 3 and gybe for the finish line on starboard.
The course was a long way upwind and after yesterdays experience I under-rigged, 9.0 sail and 900 wide foil which proved to be too small, even with a -1? power shim.
There were 2 races with 10-12 knots that got exciting but 2 others I struggled to finish and four I abandoned. The 1000 wide Patrik is very sticky below 6 knots board speed!
The smart riders got foiling around the start sequence, rode away from the line until about 90s to go, AVOIDED the start triangle, sailed backwards towards the sand bars, gybed about 45s to go and hit the line on the foil at speed... Grae, Steve, Harry, Hamish and Will getting the best out of the day in the fleet A.
Day 3. Upwind Course Racing
Final Sunday and the start was delayed a few hours. Finally the start was called and I got a decent start flying upwind just behind the iq team. I had better angles than some thanks to the 1000 front wing and 10.0, but Dave was hot on my heels. Having him so close trying to punch above me gave me the incentive I needed to sail better! Sheeting in a bit tighter and standing the sail more upright I gained maybe half a knot and so Dave changed tactics trying to accelerate below me. After our tacks Dave found himself nearly a km downwind (his assessment) while I managed to point higher and made it to the top mark. I made it back around to the upwind mark after some slow tacks but the wind died as I rounded the top mark. Sailing conservatively I broadened up my reach and sailed far off course. past my first gybes point. past my estimate of the ideal gybe lay-line. until I had a minor gust. Gybing I fell to the water and the board stuck as I hadn't got the sail around. With no wind to refill the sail after stalling I was dead in the water. I made it downwind with 5 more pumping attempts but was over the line outside the 10 minute window (only 8 made it in time!).
According to Roger, Harry did a fully flying tack mid-race to pull out a 100+m lead over Steve Allen! So the flying tack is confirmed for a national race event and not just a snapchat meme!
Harry ended up winning with Hamish, MattQ and a bunch of lighter locals and Grae (just) the only 8 to finish the race! The wind really died in the last 10 minutes.
OpEd - My Experience
Unfortunately the Sydney Formula Foils 'team' experience at the National's was a little disappointing. Tom injured his shoulder a month or so before. Dave smacked his board into shallow mud on a warm up day on arriving in qld. Luckily I had a spare 91cm FMX which I let Dave ride for the regatta (above and beyonod!).
From disappointment comes life lessons.
The rules stipulated preregistration of 2 front wings. As we were predominantly course racing I registered 1000 wide 950cm2 and 900 wide 850cm2 wings but I regret not going for the new 850 wide 660cm2 slalom wing for the strong 20knot conditions on day 1. Not because of the wind strength but because the chop got to a maximum height of 1m and I found myself unprepared for the steepness and short period between waves.
Lesson 1.ToW with the gear you are racing on helps make gear selection decisions easier.
Lesson 2.ToW in conditions of the race venue are important. I have tended to go slalom and speed racing instead of course racing above 15 Knots so I need to seek out swell around the Downwind areas of Botany Bay to prepare for the next nationals.
Lesson3.Rig with enough power to fly in the lulls. and deal with any excess power ! But for day 1, don't be too overpowered or you can't handle the swell!
Lesson 4. Don't get the board wet. Also find the right trim setting to help get the 1000 board and foil flying in 6 knots. More power (-ve shim angle) and larger tail wing?
Lesson 5. Wear a waist harness. One thing I can easily do is a bit (lot) more practice with big swell which I'm sure would have helped on day one. Also my seat harness is probably not helping here! I'm one of only a handful of riders on a seat harness and thinking back to other extreme swell days I think it is during these rough conditions that the seat hook position just that little bit lower is pulling on harness lines in a way that is ok for smooth sailing but maybe a disadvantage for rough waters.
Lesson 6. Take a support boat. One of the formula Foilers changed wings between slalom races one day to gain a bit more lift after realising the wind wasn't as good as expected on Saturday.
Lesson 7. The start line is 5m off the start line !
Do NOT start sailing towards the boat, in-line with the pin as this is 'barging the line' and you have to give way to boards downwind of you... that would therefore send you upwind and over the line. Instead, start your approach 5 to 10m downwind of the line, and 10sec early turn upwind and get to full flying speed on the right angle.
Conclusion
So another regatta and another set of life lessons. To be good, practice and compete against others on similar gear. One design may be hard to control at the extremes but the lack of choice means it can be comfortably familiar whereas free choice gives you too many options. Practice racing in chop since few venues have smooth water in all wind directions. And don't expect to be able to fine tune your gear once racing begins. Not every race venue has a start line 5 minutes from the beach! So overall I don't think I had the right foils, sails, or setup on any single day during the competition. Too much time slalom/speed sailing and not enough ToW dedicated to Formula Foil. Oh well, there is always next time (Dec 2023 in Sydney!).
Select to expand quoteVideo on RQTV NOW playing and available for download at this
link:
rqtv.com.au/down-under-pro-australian-formula.../
Excellent review. My other minor points were Manly Qld was really, really hot, the sun was fierce, the RO will keep you out for hours (& hours) & the marine life (mainly turtles, dugongs & sharks as noted above) was prolific.
