My preparation consisted of buying the sail I thought I would need last February then deciding I would not enter as I did not want to put in the preparation I knew was essential for me to have any chance of succeeding.
The evening before the LOC I saw the forecast was for 14-15 kts so changed my mind and decided to go for it.
My post from last year noted I need to prepare for this race so I did not
Wind was light in the morning as per the forecast so went for bigger kit, 7.0 Tush Lightning, SX L (120 l, 75W) 40 choco. Alternative was same sail or 6m tush rock on 100 ltr freeride. I was convinced I would not plane on this and up till 13:45 I think that is true.
Couple of test runs and when sail was tuned I was ready, felt ok on trial reach and broad reach. Then the wind picked up and we started. Round first mark about half way down fleet, really happy now, big board going well, yeehaaahhh so much better than last year, tried to bear away and then had some problems. Max speed was on second bear away followed by crash, third bear away saw me crash and hit nose and top lip on mast, loads of claret felt as though nose may not be broken but the idea of flaoting in the water adding lots of blood gave me some concern
. decided to carry on Next top speed on 4th bear away followed by another huge crash. No way could I go down wind along the course on this set up.
Sailed back to start via reef where I remodelled my lovely choco 40 weedy
On the beach I met 2 frineds who had also called it a day early, thanks to you both for helping me up from a pretty cheesed off state. (2009 DNF 2010 DNF)
Seems the change in conditions made it tricky for many of the people on big kit which makes me feel so much less bad.
Huge congats to anyone who finished, Awesome effort Ado, Corey did really well in his first LOC, great time from Nebs and as for Mark on a battle ship
Note to self: stop trying to do the LOC, it is not what I enjoy nor is it worth an entire day and the $ to do it! nor the pain, injuries and time off the water due to all of the aforementioned.
2 days later and I have a fat lip with a large bruise on the inside and a swollen nose. At least by returning to the start I did not have my kit bumping around in the back of a ute for an hour.
I recently saw the comment 'flat water show pony' : can I get the tee shirt somewhere
?
Ok here is my account of the day...
Went with a 7.8 and a 69 manta and a 34 weedy but should/ could have been on a 7.0... Even a 6.2 and the 62 CA slalom.
As so many have mentioned before, the hr before the start the wind was quite light and consequently a 7.8 was the choice and tested well.
From an hr out the wind slowly built however about 15 mins before the start there was a very brief lull in the wind that convinced me the 7.8 was the go..The other thing stopping me from rigging a 7.0 was the thought of having to run around and organise a fresh set of stickers.
My estimation of the wind on the course was 15 to 22kn but mostly around 18kn...this speed being over the limit for use with a 7.8 and my weight normally.
As usual i managed to jag an awesome start position...mid line and 3rd row back...dohhhh! It’s never going to be a fast start when you’re waiting for dozens of sailors to clear the way.
Eventually i hit the water as i spied sails accelerating off in the distance- several hundred meters out to sea...oh well here goes the slog- which results when a hundred sailors launch at the same time immediately upwind of you...this would be an experience i would enjoy watching the elite try and negotiate!
After what seemed like minutes i managed to get planning (think this was around where the reef was)
After the vacuum of the start the sensation of planning with some steam was a relief and so i settled in to trying to reel in as many sailors as possible.
It wasn’t long before i realised that i was in for a serious work out with my biggest gear! By the time i had travelled half way to the first boat i was seriously considering pulling out!! The sea was growing and the manta was starting to fly off the tops of the swells, this was when i realised i probably should of done some practise sailing open ocean as it was my first sail in open ocean since my last effort in 2007.
When i got to the first boat i decided to keep going as i felt the board/fin combo was working ok, and it was mainly the sail size that was the problem this could be remedied by locking out the arms.
I Made all the gybes and crashed twice (into a water start position) getting air off the tops of swells on the way out. i did have trouble finding the right bit of water to gybe in and consequently went wide on most of the boats allowing several sailors in at a time. Had one hairy moment sailing on starboard and discovering a reef break about fifty meters in front of me and some sailors wallowing in the white water, managed to gybe and thread my way through the sets...this was fun! Some nice speeds are to be had if you can link up the troughs of the swells!
The last run to the last boat was a highlight running down wind through the swells awesome stuff!!!. Went wide on the last boat (allowing sailors in again)this was a piss off until i realised where the gate was and watched the same sailors run into the back of the reef break forcing some to gybe or run square to escape it and find the gate.
I Hit the beach a couple of meters behind Tom Radis who managed to stumble in the wash, setting up a sprint up the beach to the finish with my younger legs just getting the edge on Tom!! Sorry mate!!
So that was that, i was stoked to finish and really enjoyed the challenge of sailing the wrong gear in difficult conditions...it made me realise i don’t often sail out of my comfort zone.
The worst part of the event for me was discovering that i was officially listed as finishing in 76th!!!! I originally guessed somewhere between 35 and 40 as i had noticed some of the sailors in front and behind me. Tom was eventually credited with 37th which would confirm my guess! Wtf!!
How the f**k can they stuff that up???????? Yeah i know..I lost my ankle bracelet (but so did others!!)
(did the organisers seriously think all of these gadgets would make it to the finish???)
i had 3 officials!!! Greet me (and Tom) at the finish tent where they took my details down!!!
Oh well s**t happens
Well done to all that started and congratulations to all that finished.
Just a suggestion for all you slalom and race board sailors that want to do the LOC for the first time and want to enjoy it and finish rather than struggle, hate it, and have to retire......
Long ago (late 1980's) I did the LOC a few times. Haven't done it in recent times, as I moved to Gerldton for some years then moved to yacht racing and wave sailing for fun. Back then huge fins didn't exist, and slalom boards were usually very narrow. A 7.5m sail was about as big as sails got.
It wasn't uncommon for the average Joe to enter the LOC on wave sailing gear with a largish wave sail (or what would be termed 'freeride' now). Wave boards (and their smaller fins) are only too happy to bear away on the deep reaches that you find the LOC. They also make getting through the short chop and occasional larger wave found along the course a lot easier, and often a very enjoyable experience (great air-time to be had). Flying also picks up less weed ;-)
For all of you thinking of doing the race for the first time, perhaps give some thought to doing it on wave or free-ride gear, especially if it's going to be windy. Having the latest and greatest wide-arsed race board isn't what it is all about if you can't even finish the race, - being in the event and FINISHING the race whilst having fun along the way is the primary aim of the game, and there can be some awesome fun to had along the way if you aren't fighting with your equipment. When you have some experience of the race conditions under your belt and know what to expect, you can then start to focus on improving your time and position by using more race oriented equipment.
There seems to be too many stories in this thread of people with little LOC experience having a crap time in the race due to gear that won't bear away or handle the water conditions. What works for you at Pinnaroo or on Melville Water isn't going to work a long way offshore on a big downwinder in steep seas amongst various random reefs, unless you have a lot of experience.
Just my 2c towards everyone having a good time......
Some sage advice there Dip916, but I think the main issue this year was the increase in wind strength shortly before the start.
I had entered the LOC twice previously and not finished due to light winds, so this year I was determined to not be undercooked. I think a lot of other sailors were of a similar mindset.
My preferred kit was my Futura 111 + 7.5, which is very manageble in 18-20K and I would've had a ball on this combo. Alas Hughie's sleight of hand had a lot of crew struggling with too much sail/board/fin.
I reckon the organisers could have postponed the start by 30 minutes so we had time to rerig for the changed conditions, but I understand that with heli's buzzing around etc there is pressure to stick to the script.
yes i think alot of us were caught out. 30mins before the start my F2 SX63Wx95L was too small with my 7.8m. So i switched to the F2 SXXL 80Wx135L and it felt sweet.
If i had known it was a goiong to fill in so much i would have stayed with the smaller board and it would have been a sweet race for me.
I was really pissed off with myself but i'm slowly getting over it, no thanks to a certain SRM member on saturday night who was happy to console me and tell me all about how he finished
.
I cant complain too much 3 finishers out of 4 starts is ok
