Dust off the cobwebs and start practicing your hours!
This season FR series is being packed into one action packed weekend in January, one very windy weekend with lots of sailing, presentations and fun at the LCSC and the PUB on the Saturday night, great excuse to get up to the lake and stay for the weekend.
Will be a fun weekend a chance to sail and compete with all your friends and enemies all on the same patch of water at the same time, at the end of the weekend we will know who is who in the pecking order of One Hour Sailing!
This leaves room for all the other Wind Wanderers activities lined up throughout the season; Social Days, Swap meets, Clinics, Intro to Ocean/Wave sailing and more.
February : SURF CONNECT Jetty to Jetty ...with an added challenge TBA later,
March: Burrum heads Windfest
Looks like there is something on each month starting shortly, check out the Windwanderers Website to find out more about what's coming up.
windwanderers.org.au/
Great idea to hold this over one weekend in January, looking forward to it.
Gonna be a mad rush for accomodation or camping pitches though.
We are pleased to announce that we have the following industry sponsors on board again this year supporting us,
Andy @ Windsurfing Gear, Chris at Black Project Fins & Ian and the team at Flying Objects.
More announcements to follow...some good looking forecasts coming up over the next week or so also to nail some hours!
Great to see such a great turn out for the Board Crazy 1Hr on the weekend! Hope that gives a bit of taste of what to expect on the 1hr State Championship Weekend Lake Cootharaba in January. 4 x 1hr's over a weekend , dates TBC by Green arrows on the chart, but it will not be the 1st weekend of January.
Behind the scenes we have been securing sponsors to ensure the event costs are covered and its great success, the more sponsors the better the burgers will be on Saturday Night!
the latest sponsor is a bit of a first a 'non industry' sponsor,
Healthworks Fitness Centres.
Healthworks are low key no stress gyms that have fitness classes, crèches and PT trainers etc and have quite a few coastal and city locations, and they are cheap, staff are all friendly and super helpful!
They have a couple of deals on currently that are worth checking out, to learn more visit their website.
www.healthworksfitnesscentres.com.au
List of clubs are:
Deagon Deagon Market Square Braun St.Deagon
Peninsular Bluewater Shopping Centre20 Anzac Avenue Redcliffe
Aspley Shopping Village 605 Robinson Road West Aspley
West End 33 Vulture St West End
On the River 1/39 Vernon Terrace, Teneriffe
Gasworks Gasworks Skyring Terrace,Newstead
Ipswich 30 workshop St.Brassall
Mooloolaba 2 Pangarinda Place,Mooloolaba
If you sign up to go to one make sure you tell them your a windsurfer, any business that supports windsurfing is our friend!
*if your business or any other business would like to be a sponsor the fees are very low, and all sponsors help, email us here through Seabreeze.
Great idea guys and well done on securing an external sponsor, I am sure may of the sailors do off the water training so hopefully a few of them gravitate across to healthworks.
If I am reading it right you will just make a notification before a weekend that looks promising?
I just got a work out plan from my old training guru Ashley Walker (Ash) at Healthworks Cleveland and Victoria point - too far away for me to use as a daily gym. Made the effort to go and see him to work out a special windsurfing slanted program which is awesome. First time this morning - I will be making the pilgrimage once every couple of months to work with Ashley and rework my program.
Thumbs up from me
Cheers
Morgan
Select to expand quoteScotf said..
Great idea guys and well done on securing an external sponsor, I am sure may of the sailors do off the water training so hopefully a few of them gravitate across to healthworks.
If I am reading it right you will just make a notification before a weekend that looks promising?
Yep, soon as we see a green arrow weekend in Jan, normally Jan is pretty good for some strong SE winds.
The sailing club have a big regatta on the 1st weekend of Jan so that's out for us.
Russel at Lake C has confirmed that the club house will be opened for Drinks on the Saturday...we will do some Big Gourmet Burgers for dinner (Zane are you reading this...2 Chefs are better than 1!) and also the sailing club will have their boat available for us for safety etc..
So really hoping to we get a corker windy weekend and big turn out.. fair to say the pub could get kept busy later in the night... last time I was up noticed the store now has 'real coffee' so Sunday morning looks good!
Having a 'flexi' date makes it hard to book camping, but it should ensure we get plenty of wind!
Hopefully there may be some spots free at either Boreen Point or Elanda when the time comes, I saw a pic of Morgan's new Van and camp trailer, I'd say he could sleep about 22 in that get up! 
Select to expand quoteDwbh said...
I just got a work out plan from my old training guru Ashley Walker (Ash) at Healthworks Cleveland and Victoria point - too far away for me to use as a daily gym. Made the effort to go and see him to work out a special windsurfing slanted program which is awesome. First time this morning - I will be making the pilgrimage once every couple of months to work with Ashley and rework my program.
Thumbs up from me
Cheers
Morgan
thats great that you already are a customer of them! I'll make to let Kelly at HW know!
Good feature with HW is that you can use any of their gyms in the network, so in my case if I'm stuck in Brissy for work i will often use the West End gym as part of my Mooloolaba member ship., although haven't been going enough lately, something to do with wind
More Great news for the Freerace Weekend next month with Ezzy Sails getting on board as Sail Sponsor,
As one of the original sponsors that helped the series get started its great to their support.
On line entries are now open, follow the link here, it will take you to the Windwanderers Event page and secure Pay Pal Transaction service.http://www.freeracequeensland.com/entry-faq-s.html
We have a limited amount (*approx. 20 limited stock) of the great quality Freerace T Shirts available of various sizes, first 20 or so entries in will receive a FREE SHIRT*, so get on line and enter quickly .
Again the dates, will be the first 'windy weekend' Sat & Sunday (green Arrows) forecast from January 9th, updates here, face book and by SMS if you have registered for that.
4 x 1 hrs over 2 days, drop worst result, Race / freerace/ Newbie Class** and Juniors/Ladies, so heaps of sailing to be had in possibly one of the most easiest and safe locations to sail in Australia and perfect for cranking up good 1 HR PB's in a strong SE wind which we normally get some of in January, lots of fast fun sailing in low key low stress environment, make sure you tell your mates so we can get a great roll up, more the merrier!
** we are working on some special incentive prizes for this class as well
Gourmet burgers (No Charge for competitors, we can cater for family and friends also , small charge just let us know in advance) and beers (buy your own!) at the Lake Cootharaba Sailing Club on Saturday night, presentation of last years winners trophies
Can I bring a raceboard?
If so, anybody wanna form an unofficial longboard class - we won't be competitive overall of course, but bragging rights are up for grabs.
If there were enough 'race boards pre entered' to form a class sure, we could consider it.
Its a 15Kn+ event so no advantage for RB's, unless there were big lulls in the middle, and for that reason they then would have 'massive' advantage over short boards so would need to have their own class.
One of the initial philosophy's of FR and still is , was to 'avoid the equipment war', keep it really simple, FR is about it's windy, lets go sailing, grab your fav board and sail chuck it in the car and go, be in smooth water, rough water whatever, and see if you can sail a fast consistent 1HR.
It's also been about minimum gear, that is all airline and car friendly also, throw 1 board 2 sails on a plane, go compete at other events with minimum fuss, for many people 1 board 2 sails is what they use 90% of the time it also is often all that some people own.
The reason why we have the 'race class' and 'freerace class' is that the race/speed sails/boards do have a few knots advantage over more versatile user friendly freeride/race kit, so it encourages the use of recreational fun gear and be competitive with like equipment, whilst letting the dedicate speed/race equipment compete on their level also.
If a heap of long board crew wanted to do it we would welcome that and we could organise a class for them....so drum up some numbers and see how it goes.
Select to expand quoteFreeraceQLD said..
If there were enough 'race boards pre entered' to form a class sure, we could consider it.
You'll note my use of the word "unofficial". All I had in mind was an informal, bragging-rights comparison of longboard results in amongst the overall entries.
Select to expand quoteIts a 15Kn+ event so no advantage for RB's, unless there were big lulls in the middle, and for that reason they then would have 'massive' advantage over short boards so would need to have their own class.
Would be an interesting comparison averaged out over a gusty 4 hours.Select to expand quote One of the initial philosophy's of FR and still is , was to 'avoid the equipment war', keep it really simple, FR is about it's windy, lets go sailing, grab your fav board and sail chuck it in the car and go, be in smooth water, rough water whatever, and see if you can sail a fast consistent 1HR.
Excellent, my fav board is my '90s F2 Lightning. My equipment war cost me 400 bucks for the board :-) Not too fussed if it's windy or not, but my Lightning in a decent blow, with a 7-point-something raceboard sail slid into the back of the mast track, is a real giggle.
Select to expand quoteIt's also been about minimum gear, that is all airline and car friendly also, throw 1 board 2 sails on a plane, go compete at other events with minimum fuss, for many people 1 board 2 sails is what they use 90% of the time it also is often all that some people own.
My board is Ute friendly...airlines, maybe not.Select to expand quoteThe reason why we have the 'race class' and 'freerace class' is that the race/speed sails/boards do have a few knots advantage over more versatile user friendly freeride/race kit, so it encourages the use of recreational fun gear and be competitive with like equipment, whilst letting the dedicate speed/race equipment compete on their level also.
If a heap of long board crew wanted to do it we would welcome that and we could organise a class for them....so drum up some numbers and see how it goes.
Cool...how about it centerboarders...feel like a drag?
Freerace weekend update, no go for this weekend (8/9th) with a light breeze forecast.
All eyes on the forecast for next weekend 16/17th, keep an eye out for green arrows.
If we were laying bets, Australia Day long weekend could be windy!
Up dates closer to the dates here and on the Facebook page.
Update, 8th Jan
Still to early to call for next weekend 16/17th Jan..nothing exciting is showing on the long term wind forecasts yet, plenty of time for that to change.
If there is no wind then, simply will aim for the following weekend, it's the 'Pantene' effect.... 'might not happen overnight, but it will happen!'
Don't forget you can register on line in advance and score a FREE High Quality T- Shirt. (limited stock 20)
enter here; http://www.freeracequeensland.com/entry-faq-s.html OR www.windwanderers.org.au/Events/FreeRace/OnlineEntryFees.aspx
Also on the Saturday night we are going to feed you gourmet Burgers in the Lake Cootharaba Sailing Club, as part of your entry fee, BARGAIN!
So its super helpful if we have catering numbers in advance, an easy way to 'register interest' before hand is via the Facebook page , 'event section'
www.facebook.com/events/1002320359809845/
Also KA72.com is the Freerace Software for the event, you will find that that the list of suitable GPS units is much greater than the old standard GT31, if you need to confirm if your GPS is suitable drop Dylan an email via KA72.com page...think you can even use the Phone GPS App, which is a cheap as chips way to access GPS technology.
If you are struggling to get your hands on a unit post here on Seabreeze, I'm sure there would be someone able to loan a unit for the weekend.
If you are not sure what Freerace is all about then check out the info on our Home page for details, www.freeracequeensland.com/home.html
It's low key, high speed, timed windsurfing in good winds where everyone sails on the same water at the same time in the same conditions, race like but without the hassle and pressure of gybe marks, courses etc, its also very forgiving if and when you blow a gybe, come off or need to tune your gear etc, as its over 1hr there is plenty of time to make up for mistakes...at the end of the event the results speak for themselves, no dirty air bad starts, group pile ups at markers or claims of amazing speeds achieved in perfect conditions v's not so perfect everyone, as the opportunity to sail in the same conditions, it's about as fair as you can get!
And unlike some races...We don't give the Pro's a head start!
Lake Cootharaba is a great 1Hr GPS location, massive long runs, flat water, chop, gusty at times, no hazards and shallow on the edges for quick water starts when you come off! There are Two camp grounds available, Pub, Shop, Toilets, Sailing Club, Great for kids to ride bikes, swim and explore the bush.
Now all that is required is a Windy Weekend!
Hi All,
Forecast is starting to look promising for the weekend, depends on what weather site you are looking at as to what time/day the SE change will come through and how long it lasts for...(other sites currently have a better forecast for Sunday than the SB graphs) all in all very promising for some decent wind so get ready!
Update later in the week....
Still looking good, especially Saturday....could be an earlier start than normal on Saturday also, next and final update will be Thursday.
entry online is preferred option, http://www.freeracequeensland.com/entry-faq-s.html
follow the link to the Windwanderers event site, for secure Pay Pal, if your having issues registering try, clearing your 'cache or history' on your internet browser...also try google chrome as the browser.
We'd like to feed you on Saturday night also! So use this 'event facility' link below to register your interest via FB event Calendar, so we can have a better estimate for catering, this also included family/friends that may join you at the Club that would like a Burger ...small charge extra for them.
www.facebook.com/events/1002320359809845/
what time are you expecting first race to start Saturday?, keeping in mind some of us are driving up from Brisbane Saturday morning
Can we sail all day and hand our GPS in at the end for processing or do we need to attend briefings before and after each race. Preferring the first option if thats possible 
Select to expand quoteHaggar said..
Can we sail all day and hand our GPS in at the end for processing or do we need to attend briefings before and after each race. Preferring the first option if thats possible
+1
Looking to have a crack at doing a PB distance and stopping is not an option.
That's typically not how it works. There is a briefing and advised start time. Sometimes it's a beach start so everyone leaves together depending on size of fleet and venue. At the end of the hour you head for shore asap and hand your card in for the file to be downloaded. This is race 1 complete. It's not about peak numbers in any category but simply the most distance traveled in 1hr. This means you have to be great at all categories as an average.
I think just going to a venue and windsurfing all day then handing in your file is not quite what it's all about. Apart from the "race" there is a far more social side to attending these events.
This is how I've seen it work in the past and I'm not on the committee so happy to stand corrected on this.
Cheers
Marty
Hi Ausmoz and Hagger, it should be pretty easy to manage. Just need two GPS. The first 1 hour start time means you probably would hand in around 12 ish when it concludes. If you are on water by 6am for distance then you may need a break after 6 hours and shouldn't affect your distance attempt. Then a couple visits in at 2 ish and 4 ish when other 1 hrs concluded would mean you could register all the 1 hour scheduled sessions.
Good luck with the distance PB.
It is good catching up with everyone after a freerace on the beach and having a chat as Marty says.
Think most of the above covers the all day question. The issue is we need everybody to start together to make the hour fair, sometimes the wind is a bit lighter at Boreen Point and the otherside of the lake can be howling, you can imagine the difference between sailor A starting on the windy side v Sailor B waiting for a gust at Boreen point, it's massive within the first two minutes!
Once the race is underway both sailors get to sail wherever the decide is best for them.
We also need to get people to 'sign back' in at the end of the day for safety reasons.
Will go through the finer points on the day.
Obviously, weather forecast is still great so it's all go!
first briefing in front of the Sailing club at 10am with an aim for 11am first race.
If you can't make the morning session don't worry there will be plenty of sailing throughout the weekend, we will schedule the hour slots based on the local weather at the time and may even put an extra slot or two in if required and wanted. There will be opportunities to drop a result or two therefore you can actually miss a race or so and still do really well!
Don't forget we have 'Newbies' div, this is great place and opportunity for learners and intermediates to get some quality sailing in, most parts of the lake (certainly around the perimeter) you can put your feet down which makes it safe and easy as.
If your 75% sure your going to come drop a note here or FB site or via text if you have registered so we can get the 'burgers at the bar' sorted.
rumour has it gun female sailoress Kellie T has competition this year!
If you can, register online via Freerace website or Windwanderers website, or you can register and pay with cash on the day.
There maybe a few surprise bonus random prizes Sat Night, also trophies for last seasons winners Sat night.
See you all Saturday,don't forget to bring your charged GPS's!
Camping is available at Boreen point camp ground.
I would love to go in the Freerace as well but I'm going for distance, 250 is the target. I really don't want to hand in my GPS midway through the day and lose valuable time.
Will be good to see so many there. have fun racing.
Windfinder forecast for Maroochydore. Bring your smalls. Going to be
a great event.
Select to expand quoteULF said...
I would love to go in the Freerace as well but I'm going for distance, 250 is the target. I really don't want to hand in my GPS midway through the day and lose valuable time.
Will be good to see so many there. have fun racing.
No need to, just start at the start location for each race! Sign off end of the day so we know your back on dry land! and hand GPS (card) in end of the day.
You'll knock 250 over easy as in a full day of sailing. Or do the FRaces on the Sat and your distance day Sunday.
