I wish to apologise to the GTC community for my handling of the Secret Spot business. I urged, encouraged and supported the exploration of new secret speed spots, I got a lot of fun out of doing it with my great mates, and I became obsessive about it. When I realised that this had upset many people, that people felt excluded, and that it was against the philosophy of the GTC, I became extremely conflicted & so stressed about it, that I felt my position as leader of the GTC was untenable. And therefore I had to sack myself from the GTC. (Which I have to admit hurt like HELL
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The windsurfing community has given me the whole of Australia to explore, getting friendly with interstate windsurfers has been a joyful experience for me. Any GTC windsurfers that come to WA I am happy to share all my spots. I love windsurfing, I love travelling, I love the windsurfing community, I love meeting windsurfers all over Australia, and want to eventually meet all GTC windsurfers in Australia!!!!!!!
Hi Hardie, if you ever make it to Sydney I'm happy to show you the flat water spots here. You can borrow my van and the gear inside.
What Ben and yourself have done and achieved with the GPSTC is amazing. You have nothing to apologise for because you have done more for windsurfing than any other windsurfer.
Hardz ya bloody bone head, go unsack ya self 
Goodness Hardie you've got nothing to apologise for at all! If anything it just fired up the community to go exploring and push the envelope that bit further.
Man I'd love to try my old stomping ground (Illawarra) on a windsurfer, 9 years there and I didn't know how to windsurf.
easy solution to secret spots
if the spot cannot be identified then the tracks dont exist
Ditto Decrepits comments. Hards you've been loosing sleep over nothing. It sorted itself out.
By the way Hardie and Ben, the Aust (other team) of W44 surely should be France ?
www.windsurfing44.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=34&start=0
Yoyo, there is no French map (yet) for the homepage so there is a new map / country being sorted out. Coming soon!
You guyz are so supportive towards me its very humbling
Look, I can put things into perspective, I didn't commit genocide, I didn't murder anyone, or sexually molest a child, or steal or commit fraud, I just made a couple of bad judgements as a leader. Though I am feeling publicly shamed and personally guilty, but I will get over it.
Hopefully, this is closure for me. Then I wish I could just ShutTFU for a while coz I'm sick of seeing my comments publicly as I'm a very private person. In the wider scheme of things these events are just TRIVIA compared to the real tragedies that are happening to some people in life, and in our community.
Anyway, I should be very thankful that I'm not Japanese, or else it would have meant the Samuri Sword & Hari Kari
Phew!!!!!
I have also been reminded by very supportive friends, that I have left a Legacy for the windsurfing community which is the GTC and that is an AWESOME achievement to be very proud of! So I need to keep reminding myself about this.
I also think the GTC has been left in GREAT COMPETENT HANDS and its up to them now!!!!!!
Lets all keep enjoying ourselves windsurfing, and i look fwd to meeting some of you buggers in the future!!!
So unless someone responds to this thread controversially (This is not an Invitation BTW), I'm not going to respond further, as I want to sink away into the background for a while, and say thanx in advance to anyone who wishes to make a supportive comment towards me.
It is posted on the GPSTC home page now , better fill in the survey while you are at it
Tricky
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You are a good man Joe and I love you (no I am not gay!), thank you for the change you bring in my life.. really.. and all the great moments we had and will still. No one is perfect no doubt!! I myself **** up all the time 
I am like a kid, cannot help it . But to admit it thats the challenge that not too many can do. So a big bravo for doing it 
Thank you Hardie for kicking off the GPSTC. Iv'e participated for quite a while and when my life was torn assunder I received tremendous support from this fine bunch of people. Hardie, you should be proud and not at all ashamed.
It is a strange entity this GPSTC. It is almost a pure community of like minded enthusiasts who share a common passion, but it also must include an administration component to drive it and make the website it is based upon live. Hardie has been the perfect ideas man and benevolent dictator to run it. Nebs the technical brilliance behind the interface to make it all happen. They also have ownership of the GPSTC website and copyright.
It is a big change to go from benevolent dictator to something else and brings with it many potential pitfalls. Things that could possibly change it's whole identity and impact on the very essence of what makes it such a great success.
I think it deserves a very open community discussion. There has been some discussion in the original thread 'GTC 2013: The Need For Renewal', but the way I read it, that was more about asking for who want's to take over, a very open question. There were lots of great offers to become involved but no discussion about structure.
It appears that there has been some discussion and planning in the background since then but it seems most of us are unaware of the substance of that and some may be feeling left out.
I would like to suggest that we contemplate something along these lines:
-The GPSTC become an Australian Incorporated Association.
-It has a statement of purposes that is true to Hardies original founding philosophy. (Inclusiveness, Participation, Fun, Building relationships)
-It has a constitution that supports that philosophy and the structure to maintain it.
Further, I would suggest:
-Keep it Australian based, warmly welcoming participation from elsewhere.
-Have a very modest joining fee ($20?) and annual membership (maybe $10?) to fund the website and other expenses necessary for the running of the GPSTC.
-Have the committee of management based on elected reps from States and flexible enough to include people with special skills to support the GPSTC and its philosophy.
Some reasons:
There is obviously going to be money involved for running the website and competitions/challenges. An Incorporated association has a structure to deal with accounts and accountability.
The original principle of inclusiveness: Lets have the best way possible to get the needs of the community represented and met.
The organizers and workers of the GPSTC can be properly protected from liability and legal issues.
Having suggested all this, I must admit that I don't know how this would affect Hardie and Nebbian, the owners of the copyright of the GPSTC website. Such changes would absolutely have to have their agreement.
Sailquik, in an ideal world I wholeheartedly agree.
But... having been involved in an incorporated association involved with windsurfing for some time, having a structure makes everything so much more work for the small group of people involved.
The beauty of the GPSTC as it is and why I am for a community donation funding approach (think wikipedia) is that there are no requirements to have AGMs and minutes and constitutions and accounts and meetings etc.
Do the users of Wikipedia demand to know how the donated money is used?
Members of an organisation are much more demanding.
A running total of funds would be sufficient.
I do not support commercial involvement in order to keep the independence of the GPSTC.
The panel that have been invited to advise on the way forward have used e-mail, collaborative cloud based documents to discuss the main issues and now a survey to gauge the communities feelings on these issues. Some would probably like to read those documents and if they want access should e-mail the info@ address but most people are happy to remain unaware as long as the GPSTC continues. If others want to join the panel get in touch.
The whole beauty is that it should be crowd sourced and crowd owned and free of the constraints of formal competition. The community runs the GPSTC and so if skills are needed the community skills can be accessed and advisers can come and go without the shock of losing/ finding a president / secretary / treasurer.
I have stated before that the GPSTC's greatest asset is it's social community and formalising it will radically change how it works.
The GPSTC allows for a whole range of interactions within the existing structure without organisation.
I may be a dreamer but for Windsurfing.... I have a dream!
Well, apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, What have the romans ever done for us
Thanks Hardz, you and Nebs have given me the chance to meet like minded people and rejuvenate my interest in wind surfing. Don't beat up on yourself, you've done a brilliant job.
If you can get to FNQ , would be good to meet you. As goes to all windsurfers.
I'd prefer to see the GTC remain as uncomplicated as possible and definitely keep lawyers away from it. They make the world to complicated and don't make anything except money.
Thanks again for giving something that has got me to buy more gear, a slow GPS and meet some incredible people.
forget this crap Hardie you got a PB............... must say you are the most happiest person I have ever seen after getting a PB.
+1 with Lao.
As a sports administrator for a large state sporting association, the formalised approach leads to work. It needs staff to deliver. If a community organisation can protect itself and deliver what it sets out to then no need to formalise.
We have a different expectation of an organisation to a bunch of mates.
I expect from the new committee as much as they can manage using the limited resources, and maintaining their joy for the sport.
I expect to contribute my comments and they may not be answered, but I am sure they are considered.
I expect to pay something, 'cos nothing is free, and am sure the committee will decide that.
I rest this all in the committees hands and am sure that any new initiatives will be fiercely debated and I support their decisions.
Hardies original founding philosophy " Inclusiveness, Participation, Fun, Building relationships" is the compass on this ship.
forget this crap Hardie you got a PB............... must say you are the most happiest person I have ever seen after getting a PB.
