Hi Everyone,
Just updating you all on an event that is being organised to be run in a few weeks time - the Bic Techno 293 State titles. This will be the 4th running of the event, and the 4th time its been hosted at the RYCT. The first winner was Hugh Jones, and I have managed to take it out for the last 2 years. This year though, the challenge will be as hard as ever, with 8 - yes EIGHT - young blokes to contest the titles. We only had 5 at the nationals...
The Bic Techno is the feeder class to the RSX, and the board sailed to gain selection into the national youth team. The board is 293cm long, 203L, has a movable mast track, centreboard and a 46cm fin. The sail is either a 6.8m or 7.8m with 2 cams. Both sails rig on the same mast and boom, and we use adjustable outhauls and downhauls. Its all one design, which means that noone has a gear advantage - the winner is the fastest sailor on the day.
The fleet is made up of the most experienced youth sailors in the state, including me, my brother Angus and Morgan Davies, all who have stood on the nationals podium. We have up and coming young guns Fergus Charles, Sam King and Liam Virtue, as well as two freshies who will be doing their first regatta (Nick Smart and Will Evans).
The event is being run on the 18th and 19th of April, and is likely to be the biggest and most closely fought youth regatta in not just Tasmania, but Australia for many years. If there were people who wanted to come and watch the racing, or even help out with the running of the regatta, send me a PM or post up here and we can organise a spectator boat or get you onto a support boat.
For those who arent able to make it, Ill be posting up the results and photos from each day, so stay tuned!
Great stuff Jock, again a great write up, and all the best to those involved.
Would be excellent to see the Bic Techno Fleet grow in Tassie, and encouraged for other YC's to embrace - including Windsurfing Tas eventually!
Teaching sailing on gear like this is the foundation of our sport - shift the focus back to the real principles. 
Well luckily we are ahead of you on that one. 
Will Evans is from the Tamar Yacht Club I believe... Either way, he is up north - which means that soon enough there will be a group of shredders up there as well. Windsurfing in the state is in good hands!
Nice work Jock,
You are a GREAT representative for the the Bic racing class,
Johhny, not quite sure about that theory of yours
I think its about time we locked away from your gps and we got you out in some serious bump and jump /waves
Select to expand quotegeared4knots said..
Johhny, not quite sure about that theory of yours
I think its about time we locked away from your gps and we got you out in some serious bump and jump /waves
Ahaha yea, maybe you're right Damo 
We should all branch out, I agree - there's a great read about what the GPS has done - both good and bad from well respected seabreezers - www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Gps/to-gps-or-not/ - beware internet hero's, there are real opinions posted there!
I still wear my GPS in the waves/ocean/rosevears just for the tracks - no one looks at 2sec anyway 
(certainly not mine!) hehe
Looking forward to more updates from the Techno class guys - I'm still living vicariously through you all!
One day I'll have schools letting me teach a Windsurfing subject
Hi Jock
Your a great role model for the techno class and the work you guys are doing in Tassie is fantastic. Its great to see the class growing not only in Tassie but we now have a new fleet in Sydney and the Qld fleet is set to see influx of newcomers next season.
I was very impressed by how fast your getting when I saw you at RQ a few weeks ago. Keep up the great work, techno is great class and is a feeder for the whole sport and you are proof that sailors who cut their teeth in techno often go onto become world class sailors.
Hey Cam,
Thanks for the message! I love techno, so its not work for me to organise events like these! I really looking forward to getting pushed by this squad in the future, we have a couple of world killers for sure! Gonna come up to QLD for the midwinter nationals with a tassie podium lockout as our goal, so watch out! Haha, hopefully we can catch up there.
Select to expand quoteJohnnyHuett said..
Great stuff Jock, again a great write up, and all the best to those involved.
Would be excellent to see the Bic Techno Fleet grow in Tassie, and encouraged for other YC's to embrace - including Windsurfing Tas eventually!
Teaching sailing on gear like this is the foundation of our sport - shift the focus back to the real principles.
I think it’s great that the guys are passionate in what they're doing, but I think that you’re off the pace with what you’re saying.
I don’t think that bic techno is the foundation of the sport; I personally don’t know anyone that does or has done bic techno.
Down south if you want to learn to windsurf, get active and involved in the local windsurfing community and become a better sailor, you learn to windsurf on the appropriate learner gear, sail where the majority of people windsurf, sail fun gear in diverse conditions with some of the most experienced and best sailors in the state, which is going to be in the Lauderdale and south arm area(talking about down south) you’re not going to find this sailing on the river and sailing on bic techno gear..
Its not a competition within the sport - the winner is the sport, and the proof is the kids out on the water developing their skills and having a fun time while they are doing it. It doesnt matter if they race on a course on a techno, if they race their GPS on some slalom gear or do crazy flips on a wave board, if they are out there its a win...
The reason we love techno's is because its cheap, its easy to learn, but hard to win and the atmosphere within the group is always fun. We don't love techno's more or less than any other branch of windsurfing, and that leaves us open to enjoy them all.
Thats my opinion anyway, I think its a pointless argument.
I think this post has got a bit side tracked. I thought it was about the Bic Techno state champs. All the guys who are doing Bic Techno are not buying the boards as a learn to windsurf on board. They are buying them so they can race around a course on. Most have come from a dingy back ground and want to do something a bit different or a bit more exciting. The boys had some races yesterday at the SBSC with some of the dingys. I had 2 of the dingy boys asking me how do they get into Techno racing because they reakon dingy sailing was boring. A couple of the Techno guys who dont have slalom or freeride gear are now talking about getting into that side of the sport which is great.
Yep - We are hearing the same up here around dingy sailors wanting to get into Windsurfing.
It's great to see the support these guys are receiving and foster this growth in our sport
JockyC
I think that sailing with You, Fergus and Steve on the river is always heaps of fun...
Keep the passion and the close association with RYCT. I am looking forward to my boy's entering the sport this way.
Such a fantastic and positive group. Keep it up it is fantastic...
Cheers Russ
So today is the first day of racing, the weather is looking brilliant if you're a bit of a bigger guy () with 15 - 20 knots. We have 6 races scheduled for today, and 6 starters after losing Angus Calvert to a bike crash and Sam King to family committments. The boys to watch today will be last years runner up Morgan Davies and new comer Fergus Charles. Im hoping for a big challenge from those two! Ill have results up as soon as they are in, and hopefully some photo's!
Good luck guys. Saw 5 of you out sailing in the Derwent Thursday & Friday. Looked really speccy from Mt Nelson. Who were on the Pryde gear & who was on the Techno?
Looks great - just took the photo below of a couple of the guys, bit far away but shows the conditions. Fantastic to see some serious racing and some good speed happening out there .
Well, what a day! It ended up being more like 20 - 25 knots! For the newer kids it was more than enough, and they struggled to get over the start line, let alone get around the course.. But, they showed some real determination and did themselves proud, never giving up.
In the top 4 though, the racing was fast and furious!
Will Evans was a star performer, racing with a smaller 6.8 in his first techno regatta, and really sticking with the pack the whole day, even getting into second in the early stages of race 3! Fergus and Morgan had some proper ding dong battles in second and third, trading places regularly and pushing each other all the way. Fergus is much lighter than Morgan though, and the extra work he was doing showed as he made some unforced errors that relegated him to third each time... I had the odds stacked in my favour today, I was the heaviest and could run with a lot more leech tension than my team mates, meaning i could get a few extra degree's of height upwind - and that was the difference.
The forecast for tomorrow is looking much more manageable, about 10 knots from the SSW. This should compress the racing right up and really mix up the scores. We also have discard coming into play, so each competitor will get to discard their worst score from their total - which will benefit Fergus with his DNF. Fergus should excel tomorrow, being light will suddenly turn into an advantage! Im really looking forward to the racing, and seeing all 6 guys cross the finish line!
The Tassie Board Team (minus Angus and Sam)
From left to right for the team shot - Nick Smart, Fergus Charles, Will Evans, Jock Calvert, Morgan Davies, Liam Virtue
And from left to right again for the sails picture - Nick, Jock, Will, Liam, Fergus, Morgan
The conditions were very windy out there today and the boys did a fantastic job. Jock smashed it out there
winning every race by a fair bit, so well done Jock
Nearly had an accident driving over the bridge to go to Doran's, was distracted by a couple of sails flying downwind, long wakes trailing behind.
Nice work fellas, have been watching you guys whilst at work top of Sandy bay,looks fantastic seeing windsurfers speeding across the river,faster than any boats,powered ,or not. Good stuff. By the way is that rs gear or slalom, gear? What size board,is used rs sailing, and what size sails mainly,??? How much does that gear cost?? Or is there club rs gear to try out on the derwent?.
Select to expand quoteappleman said..
Nice work fellas, have been watching you guys whilst at work top of Sandy bay,looks fantastic seeing windsurfers speeding across the river,faster than any boats,powered ,or not. Good stuff. By the way is that rs gear or slalom, gear? What size board,is used rs sailing, and what size sails mainly,??? How much does that gear cost?? Or is there club rs gear to try out on the derwent?.
The gear we are using this weekend is a Bic Techno 293. Its aimed at U18's, and is the feeder class to the olympic RSX (which I think you are refering to). The T293 has a 203L board, with a centreboard and moving track, and it has a 6.8m or 7.8m sail for kids of different sizes. The RSX is 225L, with an 8.5 or 9.5, depending on age and gender. We do have some gear the the RYCT that can be used if you're interested, but it is nothing like slalom gear. 285cm long, 60 or 66cm fin, 75cm centreboard.. Its designed to race up and down the wind, not reach big speeds. But we're always looking to get people involved, so if that interests you, we'll get you on one for a crack.
Keep ripping guys it's great to see action back on the Derwent.
Jock I hired out a learner board to young Sam Carmichael today he seems pretty keen to sail with you guys, he's had a fair bit of experience in dinghies, keep a look out for him I think you might know him.
Today's racing was fierce! The perfect way to finish of a fantastic weekend.
We started today with race 6, and the winner was none other than Fergus Charles! A massive effort from him and a very deserving result. I got second and Morgan came home third.For the rest of the day I was able to regain my mojo and win the remaining 3 races, while Morgan and Fergus continued their battle, with even closer margins than yesterday! In both race 7 and 8, Fergus held the lead right up until the final downwind, Morgan managing to worm his way past on both occasions. For race 9 though, Fergus wouldn't let it happen and managed to hold onto 2nd. He still ended up 3rd overall however, Morgan taking the silver for the second year in a row.
Will Evans and Nick Smart had some good battles on the 6.8's as well today - Nick was actually leading race 6 in the early stages! After not being able to start any of the races yesterday due to extreme conditions, he made a brilliant strategy call and crossed the fleet half way up the course. He managed to stay 4th in that race, an excellent result for his first finish in a T293 regatta. Will was too strong for the other 3 races, taking home 4th in all of them.
Overall, it was a fantastic regatta! We all had lots of fun and it was epic to see so many youths out having a dip (and also knowing we have more in the wings). Our goal as a team now is to head to QLD for the Midwinter Youth Nationals and hopefully claim a tassie podium lockout (as well as 4th, 5th, 6th etc ). I'll be sure to keep everyone updated with that progress, but for now here is a photo taken 60 seconds or so after the start, showing just how close the top three were, as well as how close to the pack the others were able to stay! SO many positives, and so much to look forward to.
Great coverage of the event Jock. It's fantastic to see this fleet developing! Challenging conditions over the weekend, so a great effort from all.
Well done to everyone. So the Techno's have orange sails now, I've been getting them confused with the Pryde sails, now I know which is what as I study you guys with my binoculars from Mt Nelson. It's so great to see lot's of windsurfers out on the Derwent again. Looks very inspiring, and really makes me motivated to be out sailing with you if I wasn't stuck in my print room working. Hope it's inspiring a lot more juniors to be be out there
Great racing yesterday in gusty shifty conditions, so well done again guys. 9 races in 2 days is good going. It was really good being up close to the action in one of the rescue boats. Certainly gives a different perspective rather than being on the board. Kazza the orange coloured sails is a new model Bic Techno sail which replaced the other sails in the photo. They came out last year sometime I think.
