personally, I was very disappointed with the way NSW racing and a few other members handled the Aus4 situation, big deal, a competitors aspirations spill over to frustrations and that results with the long term member,( a magnificent supporter of windsurfing and racing) being ridiculed by other racers on seabreeze, perhaps some form of disciplinary action is required if Aus4 is considered guility of breaching some guideline, NSW racing should condemn the behavior of the members that publicly tried the case via alot of innuendo, negative character assassination, Aus4 is a great guy, has been a great supporter of racing and windsurfing and those involved should remember that before trying to humiliate a guy, a true statesman of nsw racing and sailing, ha, thats not suggesting Aus4 isn't guilty of some minor infraction but please treat the guy with some respect,, in my experience these race days are usually poorly run, starts seem to depend on who's ready as opposed to whats fair or what the agreed time was, hopefully NSW racing will accept its probably added to the competitors frustrations with its ambiguous versions of race starts,,,, Good luck Aus4, your bigger than NSW racing man
It's not just what happened at the race. It's his behaviour on Seabreeze that concerns me. It has been going on for years. It is against the Seabreeze rules to have multiple logins. And the comments he makes to other members have been discouraging and often rude.
thats my point, NSW racing shouldn't open the door for a member to take all this crap, if his guilty of some poor behaviour at the weekend race meet, and yeah, his guilty!!, so be it , he should be judged on those actions alone, not as well as you don't like him, oh and he has upset some people with posts on seabreeze, whats that got to do with anything,,,, I find it disappointing that NSW racing has done this do a member, its unfair, and undignified that poor ol Aus4 for simply not meeting the expectations of participation has now been thrown to the wolves,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Aus4, Wood Duck, whatever, he is no way the most offensive person on seabreeze, and his not the only one with multiple logins, its not compulsory to only post praise on seabreeze, again, NSW racing has treated a member poorly here, even if disciplinary action is warranted, you shouldn't have treated a member like this, in my opinion,,,,,,,,,,,,,one of nsw race organisors posted me privately asking if i could take this down, nah, it can stay, NSW racing is made up of a lot of good people, that includes Aus4, and as an aspiring member i choose to publicly share my disappointment with the way this situation has been handled, also hope they will treat all members who show frustration the same as the few meets i've attend Aus4 isn't alone it letting it hang out, he isn't alone in thinking if others can get special treatment, eg wait for them to be ready to start a race, then why shouldn't he be afford the same privilage, NSW racing has grown this monster with unequal treatment of all participants,and then to throw it all on a member for showing frustrations within that format is poor form,,,,,good luck Aus4
I just wanna make it clear, i know heaps of great people that make up the NSW racing scene, nice people, ferocious sailors, im not gunna let those facts get in the way of pointing out i feel as an organisation most of this is your fault, if your suggesting that the format is not bent to please people sometimes then your lying, then raises the question why wasn't the format bent to suit Aus4, is his frustration not warranted, whatever, the reason i didnt join is because it looks like it is simply there to appease a few members, ive been four times, 200 dollars, one race, one of the great racers miss timed the start by a mile and was about 300m ahead before the flag was changed, i told the guy in the boat after the race, he told me, who cares, yeah, i can see if i cared how i could get frustrated with NSW racing, an unfair platform will bring out frustrations in those that approach that platform with high aspirations, so was Aus4 frustration warranted?
Milsy,
I agree with most of what you said. I know Aus4, he is a gentleman, an opinionated gentleman, but a gentleman nonetheless. I dont know what happened at last weekends event, but am sure it will be dealt with fairly.
However, your comment about race organisation has vexed me a little. Having organised and run quite a few events, I can say that race days are run with the best intention in mind ALWAYS. The job of race organiser and race officer is a thankless job, they dont even get to go sailing.
The event organiser deals with getting boats on the water, ensureing there are people to lay marks, man rescue boats, run races on the water. I have never seen people dissipate as quickly as when a volunteer to run a race is required ;-)
When I helped out, I was delivering rescue boats to the ramps at 7am, trailers to the event site at 9am, making many phone calls, checking weather forecasts, arranging licences and permits with councils (months beforehand) etc.
The Race Officer has to deal with the running of racing on the day. Races cannot start until there is enough wind to race. The lightweights hit the water early to demonstrate to the RO that they can plane, the heavyweights sit onshore to demonstrate that its not windy enough to race. Each has their impression of how the RO is doing. The RO will try to be fair to everyone. Agreed times go out the door if the wind doesnt behave as expected. Courses may have to be set, reset and reset again. If the wind swings 10 degrees, does the RO abandon the race and reset the course? If the wind drops during the race, does the RO abandon the race as being unfair? There are guidelines, but believe me, every sailor has a different interpretation as to what is fair - and their position at the time usually has a bearing on that.
In general if a race is abandoned a new start will be scheduled asap afterwards, but what if three competitors were at the top of the course when it was abandoned. The RO has to decide whether to wait for them to return, whcih could take some time. In the meantime other racers are buzzing the boat, asking why the holdup.
Its a thankless job, long hours, and you get a sore arse from sitting on a gunwhale all day, not to mind the sunburn, beer shortages, and you always seem to offend someone with every decision.
Everyone has an opinion on how events should be run, but it is very hard to find anyone to run races. They deserve tonnes of respect, gratitude, beer, bacon, applause and foot massages.
Jaybee - beer, bacon Yes.....foot massages......errrr not unless its your (much) better looking sister
Milsy...."NSW racing has grown this monster with unequal treatment of all participants".... mate thats a huge statement....
But I defend your right to make the comment
yes, the RO, volunteers deserve admiration, not abuse from competitors, including Aus4, i've said it a quillion times on this thread, I dont think Aus4"s actions should have resulted in NSW racing public condemnation of the member, especially a condemnation freefall, which appeared to be the case,,,, as you've eluded too, racing windsurfers can be quite frustrating for participants, and maybe a level of frustration should be expected,,, maybe Aus4 punishment is to be RO for awhile
Select to expand quoteMilsy said..
I just wanna make it clear, i know heaps of great people that make up the NSW racing scene, nice people, ferocious sailors, im not gunna let those facts get in the way of pointing out i feel as an organisation most of this is your fault, if your suggesting that the format is not bent to please people sometimes then your lying, then raises the question why wasn't the format bent to suit Aus4, is his frustration not warranted, whatever, the reason i didnt join is because it looks like it is simply there to appease a few members, ive been four times, 200 dollars, one race, one of the great racers miss timed the start by a mile and was about 300m ahead before the flag was changed, i told the guy in the boat after the race, he told me, who cares, yeah, i can see if i cared how i could get frustrated with NSW racing, an unfair platform will bring out frustrations in those that approach that platform with high aspirations, so was Aus4 frustration warranted?
The job of the RO is to be completely impartial. At big events, the RO will not speak to a competitor on the water, not answer any questions, not even acknowledge their existence. Their job is to run the races. If someone is over early - they get DNS's, if someone starts too late, thats their problem. They manage the course, the starts, in general the finishes. Their job is not to enforce the rules (other than those regarding the organisation of the race). If there is a breach on the course - the competitors have to lodge protests. If someone starts on the 3min gun - the RO will have a laugh, but will continue with the countdown. They cannot inform the competitor or they will breach the outside assistance rule themselves. If the horn doesnt work - thats irrelevant, the flags override it. If the competitors cannot see the flags - thats their problem.
The RO's job is to run the races, withing the rules and agreed conditions, to their best ability.
Select to expand quoteMilsy said..
yes, the RO, volunteers deserve admiration, not abuse from competitors, including Aus4, i've said it a quillion times on this thread, I dont think Aus4"s actions should have resulted in NSW racing public condemnation of the member, especially a condemnation freefall, which appeared to be the case,,,, as you've eluded too, racing windsurfers can be quite frustrating for participants, and maybe a level of frustration should be expected,,, maybe Aus4 punishment is to be RO for awhile
Best.idea.ever
Select to expand quoteBen 555 said..
Jaybee - beer, bacon Yes.....foot massages......errrr not unless its your (much) better looking sister
Milsy...."NSW racing has grown this monster with unequal treatment of all participants".... mate thats a huge statement....
But I defend your right to make the comment
yeah. the statements too big and over the top, rick is someone i like, and my four races have all been slalom, not formula, ( which is something that appears to be done more seriously at the race level), they all were mainly abandoned because of poor wind strength, leaving me a bit bitter towards racing, ha, thats were that stupid comment was born,,,,,my only concern was Aus4 was getting burnt with what appeared the support of NSW racing, im not suggesting Aus4 hasn't behavioured poorly and NSW racing should deal with it,,,,,,,,,,,,but, whatever, chris christian jumped the gun by a mile when i raced him at botany!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What happened to the good old days... when you were frustrated you would just punch a hole in your brand new sail ...BJ12 style ;-)
Milsy
Attacking the racing organisers is attacking me personally and I take offence to it.
In any other sport if you swear at the referee you get red carded and 3 games off why should we be any different. It is windsurfing NSW decision from now as to what happens next.
I have never in my 17 years of racing had anything like this.
I agree that this should not be publicised but you are the person that started this thread?
We are a friendly close knit bunch that just want to windsurf and race at a higher level.
It is all about fun that?s why we do it.
There are multiple volunteers that make the racing scene the success that it is.
The slalom event we ran last year was designed around fun to get people that don?t currently race involved. The wind was light and it was hard to organise the racing that?s windsurfing.
To criticize our racing when you have never attended a formula regatta is bizarre and ill informed.
Oh man, its killing me not being able to say some stuff as well,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Good luck with it all Aus4
