An amazing site greeted me at the new Kyeemagh carpark around noon today. The place had been taken over by a water ski race. It was like Bathurst by the beach. They were racing from up close to the runway down to Beirut le Sands.
Had a sail down at Ramsgate but didn't like it much as the water was very choppy and I was way overpowered, over boarded and over finned. Yeah I'm crap. So basically it was a crap day of sailing on a day I was looking forward to all week. Its much easier and more pleasant sailing up at Kyeemagh rather than down with all the kiters.
Does anyone know if the water skiers will be back tomorrow? If so hopefully we get a 30 knot southerly [}:)]
They were gone when I drove past about 5, probably they have to stop when it gets too windy!
Yeah they had gone when I drove by too.
Its a pretty dumb time of year to run a water ski race there. Better to do it in winter when it will probably be calm and if its windy then most likely it will be a westerly so the water will still be flat.
They packed it in around 2. They were doing half hour races, but the last one only lasted 10 mins - it was 25 knots by then.
The race was already over and everyone was gone, so I thought when myself and someone else have almost been run over by one of the boots leaving. I was going up and the other guy down wind. We both noticed the boot in the very last second and had to jump of the board to avoid collision. I could hear the boots propeller when I was under water and thought that's it. Before you ask, no, the boot didn't stop to see whether we are still alive.
Otherwise the day was perfect, need more of those.
Yep, i was the other guy that nearly got wiped out!! total disregard for human life!!! seriuously... what a total *#%$ wit! If we had not both bailed off our gear i would say the result would have been total carnage..... I would be happy not to see them back on the bay (because of this one idiot)....was a great sail apart from that...... i feel better now 
Crikey that sounds bloody dangerous. I saw one windsurfer close to the runway when I first arrived but honestly it didn't appeal to go windsurfing close to those boats. You hear of fatal water ski race accidents so they wouldn't give a crap about a collision with a windsurfer. Plus looking at the lineup in the carpark, they didn't look like the most caring and sharing group of people in Australia.
Anyway I checked the NSW Ski Race website. The race was only for one day and the last race was scheduled for 1pm. Pretty amazing they can take over such a large area of the bay to run an activity that most people who normally go there on a sunny and windy Saturday have absolutely no interest in.
Is this an annual event?
Guys,
Put your experience in writing and send it to the Council and NSW Maritime.
If you join a windsurfing club (www.storm-riders.com.au,) or a sailing club (St George) they can put your issue to the authorities.
We (StormRiders) have to jump trough hoops to get permits from Council & Maritime for windsurfing events, including provision of risk management plans etc. We also have to describe whether we require exclusive use of the waterway, and provide evidence of third party insurance cover etc.
Council are currently reviewing the issue of permits to Cook park users as they believe that the park is overutilised by certain groups, some of which dont bother with applying for permits at all because they dont meet the requirements. Windsurfing (among others) is coming under increased scrutiny from the authorities with respect to satisfying them that we are respectful users of the park and meet their legal requirements. I expect that WaterSkiiers are the same.
JB
This is an annual event.
The bottom line is the bay is a great asset to all water sports and we have to accept sharing. They had an aquatic license and ran the event to strict rules, exactly the same as Organised Windsurfing events.
They are actually conscience of other sports and run their event predominately in the morning when there is no wind (The last race finished at 2pm).
I have no issue with their event, I have a huge issue with random jet skis tearing up the beach with zero regard for anyone. Please report any close calls with jet Ski's to the maritime authority.
Please remember that there are plenty of people who don't like the beaches being used by wind and kite surfers either.
Lets stick to complaining about the jet skiers who pose the biggest threat to life and limb.
The water skiers are an annual event and come and go by lunch time.
The number of jet skiers on the bay has increased dramatically over the past few years since they banned it on the harbour and everwhere else.
Its downright dangerous and attracts a large number of irresponsible posers, a recipe for disaster.
They are banned from many waterways for good reason.
So ring the water police if you see one of them buzzing the beach you might be saving someone from a terrible injury.
Yeah fair enough,
I didn't know that much about the water skiers when I posted on Saturday. I was annoyed they could take over the area and I didn't know they finished up around 1 or 2 pm.
However it sounds like the skipper of at least one ski boat was careless navigating around other craft on the water.
the bay is definately there for all to share, i have no problem with such events... i was having fun doing some tacks in jybes near the beach.... but... i was told by the water police that the race was all over it was fine to head out,.. it wasnt till about 45 -60 mins after the last race that the incident occured...
There's allways a bad apple in every bunch!
I was as in the car park for about half an hour during the event. I thought that the organisers did a pretty good job of continually reminding the participants on beach etiquette and even making sure that there wasn't any rubish left behind.
Overall I though they did a pretty good job and I'm happy to tolerate them one day a year even thought I begrudgingly moved camp to the other end of the bay to stay out of the way.
