Windsurfer One Design Australian Nationals

With perennial men’s and women’s champs Dennis Winstanley and Karen Constable taking this year off, the 2008 Windsurfer One Design championship on the Gippsland Lakes was always going to be hotly contested. The only problem was the Victorian government, which put up “no windsurfing” signs and warned of dangerous algae. Locals, other government scientists and windsurfers didn’t encounter any problems with the water quality, but sadly the adverse publicity certainly impacted on the number of contestants.

Windsurfer OD regattas are divided into four events; course racing (which effectively counts double points), freestyle, marathon and slalom. This year the slalom was the first event. One highlight was a superb routine of sail spins by Derek Couper. David Wallace, a former champ making a comeback, made the move of the day by going from a clew-first railride and then moving into an everoll (which is sailing while standing on the bottom on the board, and then backing into a neat reverse with possibly a duck tack or two somewhere in the mix. With very light and fluky winds, Derek and Dave suffered a couple of sail or sailor falls which dropped them into 2nd and 3rd respectively. Deborah Apthorp took out the women’s event clearly with a host of railrides.

The marathon was held that afternoon on a 12 mile course around Raymond Island. The One Design started last, behind fleets of yachts, cats, dinghies and a couple of Formula boards. In a tough race, with windspeeds measured at 28 knots plus and square chop about a metre high, top Heavyweight Stu Gilbert was well in front on the beat but was caught by Mediumweight Chris Thompson as they entered the narrow strait between the island and the mainland. The lead changed regularly as they went past the leading Formula board and battled gusts, lulls, powerboats, the leading yacht, and the occasional black swan (as well as koalas being blown out of the trees) before diving side-by-side between the ferry and the shore just 150m from the finish. Out of about 50 entries, only the two Formula 16 cats that broke the race record were ahead of Thompson (winning by just 8 seconds in 64 minutes) and Gilbert, and the top Wallies dominated the whole fleet on yardstick. Roger Crawford finished an excellent third, ahead of top lightweight Michael Lancey. Only eight sailors made it around, with Derek Couper’s DNF costing the 2006 runner-up a real chance for an overall placing.

The course racing was held over the next two days. Windsurfer One Design rules do not allow upwind pumping, putting the emphasis on sailing skill and tactical ability. The NE breeze had abated and become shifty, making this an event for those who worked the pressure and shifts best. The highly competitive Lightweights dominated overall, with Nick Bez scoring four wins and a second in the division, plus a fourth to illustrate how tight it was. Derek Couper was right with him for a tight second place, ahead of Lancey (who had just finished a European campaign that saw him top the Olympic windsurfing trials but, sadly, just miss out on selection). Another highlight was seeing Matt Ivshenko, the top Youth, finishing right at the top of the fleet in one heat.

Top Heavy Gilbert and top Medium Mark Lloyd sailed superbly to be up with the Lights and take their divisions. Tonya Lloyd made it a family affair by taking the women’s division with four wins and two seconds.

The final dawn broke onto a glassy calm lake, putting the pressure on the committee to run the final event, the slalom. The slalom is often a pumpfest, but even One Designs need a little bit of wind. Just before the event was canned a zephyr starting ruffling the water, and each division went into the two races that would decide the whole event. Despite the light winds, it was a tactical event, with good starts and windshift spotting as important as pumping.

The final results gave the overall (pentathlon) men’s win to Thompson, runner-up last year, who had stayed just ahead all the time after winning the freestyle. A fall in the last slalom heat could have changed the whole result, showing how close the competition was. Stu Gilbert performed above expectations in the freestyle and was in superb form around the racecourses, but he fell a single point behind to take second and the Grand Master’s title. And the surprise of the series was the form of local David Wallace, who finished as he had started, with third place - an outstanding result from someone out of the class for so long. Lloyd and Lancey completed the top five.

Deb Apthorp, in her fourth year of windsurfing, took the women’s division from Tonya Lloyd with Kerry Bergman third. Matt Ivshenko showed real talent once again to take the Youth prize from Trent Billington.

Next year’s nationals will be in New South Wales, where a growing fleet of over 60 racers means that 50+ sailors are expected to compete.

Here is a video from the freestyle comp.