Due to lack of interest, this event has unfortunately had to be cancelled.
Everyone who has been involved in the attempt to get this event up and happening is extremely disappointed by the lack of interest in what could have been a premier, well funded windsurfing event for the east coast of Australia.
All the community on Lord Howe Island was so supportive of this event both financially and with inkind help. There was offers of freight relief, accommodation mega discounts, prizes, free boats & fuel & also free catering for several nights. The event was to be funded over three years by a community grant.I was really devastated to have to tell the community that this was not going to go ahead.
Also i would like to thank Brett Morris & Sam Parker for their encouragement.
I would be interested in peoples thoughts as to why this idea did not come off, especially those that are normally involved in racing in Australia.
I wish the AWA luck in holding the event somewhere else.
Stay tuned for some sort of more generic windfest on Lord Howe in the future.
Yes unfortunate to have to cancel Tim. Apart from recruiting Israel Folau I don't know what more you could have done. I'd thought given the chance Lord Howe Island had the best prospects of any place on the east coast of becoming a recognised host of national slalom competitions.
Maybe just not enough of us on the east coast fancy ourselves as slalom racers. It is a long way to travel from WA.
That's a bit sad considering the amount of effort you have obviously put in to make it a going proposition.
Asking here for input as to why few racers were interested is a good idea.
Isn't it the off season at the moment? Racers sold their gear waiting for new kit at a guess??
Each year I am aware of the Slalom Nats, and note where they are to be held.
This year I just felt that Lord Howe Island was just too far and logistically too difficult to get to. Mind you, even a mainland event on the East Coast is a stretch for an SA racer. I thought that maybe Lord Howe is a regular spot for east coast sailors so it was a realistic location. For me, it felt like another country (sorry).
Personally, I can only really get away for one or two 'big trips' a year. I have family and work responsibilities etc, so the time is just not there to do every event I would like to. This year I did the LOC, maybe next year I can do the Slalom Nats? There must be at least one trip per year to Sandy Point too.
Maybe its SA's turn to hold the Slalom Nats. We are in the middle of the country so theoretically should be good for both east and west coast sailors? As the president of Windsurfing SA, I'll put my hand up. 
Thanks to the organisers of this year's event for their efforts, and a pity for the Lord Howe Island community.
I might hazard a guess that to book travel and accomodation for something like that is a big committment to make, and risk there being no wind.
There has been good wind down south this autumn, but up here in Qld it has been an abysmal season.
Both the Burrum Windfest and the Currumbin Wave thingy saw very light conditions wiht a few guys heading out for the sake of it, and most people left on the beach.
That kind of thing makes people a bit hesitant about making anotehr big commitment. I know I was thinking about a FNQ trip, or a trip to LHI, but have cold feet over either idea as I don't want to do a ton of travel for nothing.
Add to that, that windsurfing is essentially a non-competitive sport for most of us, and a National Slalom Title suffers disinterest.
Economically, man peopel are being conservative too. The building trade is still very quiet for many and retirees are watching their pennies too.
I haunt this place a bit too, and have not seen any mention of it, nor was ther eanything on the LHI web-site when I was researching a holiday tehre, nor was it mentioned in any of teh correspondence or ads for windsrfing trips to LHI.
Kenho, the Slalom Title was promoted on our site up until about 5 or 6 weeks ago when we found out from Brett Morris that there was practically zero interest from sailors after the AGM's, both the NSWWA AGM & the AWAAGM. We stopped any sort of promotion from that moment.
It sounds like we should have put the word out a bit stronger, i had thought that if Brett Morris, Sam Parker et al knew that it was happening all you racer types would be talking and it would be firmly on the grapevine so to speak. Herein lies the lesson.....
Never fear about not having wind on Lord Howe, it will always blow. The good thing about the island is that it is only 1 hr 40mins away by plane & you can sail on the day you arrive and the day you leave....conditions permitting. With any 'luck' you will be stranded as so often happens and you'll get another day due to strong winds!
Thanks for your comments.
the wind thing is always a perceived issue. i think the reality is that the guys who compete understand and have a range of gear to take advantage of things. but what are organisers to do.
even when events are held at windy locations in the windy season mother nature will have the final say. usually the saving grace is the social atmosphere makes up for poor wind events.
at the end of the day events need support regardles of wind. no support means no events.
don't give up LH, the windfest sounds like a goer! it's a shame you have run into a dead end this time round but sometimes it takes more than one attempt to get things off the ground. sometimes it's just a gamble that pays off, and sometimes it goes pear shaped, but there are always those that will appreciate your efforts.
Maybe I missed something, but despite being a regular reader of these forums, I had never heard of any such event being proposed.
How was it publicised?
I have just done a search of "National Slalom Titles" in this forum, and the only mention is this thread?!
You're very right Gestalt...it is just the joy of having lots of people around who won't be bored by 'another conversation about windsurfing'.
The impetus around this event was based on the thought that this would be just that, racers could bring their families, and whether it was windy or not a great time would be had by a bunch of likeminded people.
In talking to Brett he had emphasised that the social side of the event was the thing that a lot of people had been enjoying.
Looks like a nice place to go, but logistically tricky for interstate competitors.
Cost is a major factor for most of the slalom guys. Its quite taxing just flying over to a contest with all your slalom equipment and rent a van/sponge off mates.
But from what I gathered the planes arent big enough to carry slalom gear to the island. Which means it needs to be there a week or so early to ensure the boat can take it (weather etc). So unless we want to sit around for an extra week each side of the event (on the island or Sydney), we'd have to arrange freighting of gear to/from Sydney which requires a lot more preparation in making it "freight-proof" compared to just turning up to the airport with a couple of bags of gear. It also means being without your equipment for a good chunk of time either side of the contest while it is being freighted, and theres a greater risk of it getting trashed somewhere on the way.
So overall it becomes mission "too hard basket" unless you live in Sydney or dont mind being without your gear for a month.
Slowboat, all those are very valid points. I suppose we thought that as it was in the off-season, people might not mind so much being without their gear for a few days either side of the planned week.
Aus1111, it was definitely announced on seabreeze that LHI would be hosting the Nationals.
Perhaps we also need to investigate how information is disemminated through the National Association..? It was on the AWA site that the Nationals were going to be on Lord Howe. Do you WA guys talk to the NSW/east coast guys?
i personally had a great SEQ season, we've had the best northerlies prior to chrissy for a couple of years and some late unpredicted southerlies.
it's just unfortunate that the planned events fell on windless days, and generally no wind on weekends
can't say i heard anything about a lord howe event either 
though i've never looked for an events timetable etc. if its not in the windsurfing General or SEQ section, I'd probably never read it
I'm told that airfare and getting your own gear over to lord howe is quite pricey considering it's only a spit & a dribble away, and there are possibility of delays if it goes by boat? could this be the issue for some people?
i'm sorry to hear it didn't happen too
very sad to read the news
although we were 90% not coming either, so also guilty - killer for us (although probably not valid) is that a island off NSW in the middle of winter didn't seem like a overly warm place to go in the off-season.
Dragging family around in summer is sell-able - cause at least its warm but to back it up in the middle of winter and drag them to a non-warm destination was a hard sell.
but the photo's of the site looked amazing
there was some stuff out there publicising it but i reckon get even more in your face - post reguarly in the lead up and sell it on what the family can expect etc
hopefully we can get there yet...
i'll look after the trophy for now.....
That's a pity - Lord Howe Island would be a great place for any kind of slalom comp - would actually rival or better any place in the world in my opinion.
Maybe if you've got the energy Tim, you could approach the LHI Board and go for the a stimulus package / World Heritage grant and have a PWA event there?
Having competed ages ago in world cup slalom and course races in Brighton UK, La torche and Almanare France, Paros Greece, Tarifa Spain, Aruba, British Virgin Islands and New Caledonia I reckon Lord Howe Island has the potential to better any of those places!
As far as being photogenic; a place to promote and keep the tourist dollars flowing; a place for slalom racing - throw in a long distance race around Ball's Pyramid, some DSE helicopter footage and a brewery sponsor and it would go down a treat.
Wind is almost guaranteed in winter and spring and the water is surprisingly warm - it has some of the southern most tropical coral in the world. If weeds and rats can get mega bucks thrown at them - why not something that has some excitement factor?
