Hi all,
Massive thanks to all who supported our comp committee this year!
I'm looking at ways to try and make our comp better for next year. Yeah, I know, we just had this year's comp, but I'm serious about making it the best State Titles in the country.
Does anyone have any suggestions, issues, comments. What did people like, what didn't you like? What do you think we can do better, what should we keep?
In particular, I received a lot of great feedback on the judging criteria and method. We felt this worked really well, was clear and was a great way to take something qualitative and somewhat subjective and quantify it, giving us the results we got... furthermore, we didn't have any challenges with the results, giving us even more confidence in their use.
I'd love to know what you thought, whether you competed or just came to watch. Let's keep it constructive and make next year's titles even better!
Cheers,
Jordan.
Comp Director
It's already a great event and apart from the Nationals, probably the best one in Australia. The one thing that would help and cut down on time between heats would be to have someone on the beach with a two way upto the judges to check the riders in at the upwind start area.
Yes, great suggestion Martyn... that was a bit of a problem down there, that person could also have the flags right on the beach too where everyone can see them easily.
Organise to have it somewhere with flat water. I saw way to many riders on a certain brand of kite with it out to lunch popping the chop. Then there were some riders that could actually pop of the flat but the conditions weren't all that flash for them. If all you want to see in the future is people sheeting in and out on there cab bars keep having it at Grange.
where would you suggest block boy ? Milang gets choppy as all hell when the wind is up and there are multiple submerged obstacles....plus it is a long way away
the murray mouth is a small area and the wind is very gusty
Whyalla is the only other spot
I can't think of anywhere else that gets really flat water- maybe kent reserve on the inside.....
Walkie talkies are a good idea, a starting area for competitors for each heat was another suggestion....
in response to blockboy.
im not sure if you where watching the event at all but 1st and 2nd in opens, masters, amatures and womens, all went to non-cabrinha riders???
the reason the winners, won is because they can ride in all condtions. and are good allround riders.
Grange is a great venue for many reasons, which all far outway the slight choppyness. (which all adelaide riders are used too).
sorry you didnt enjoy it.
I sure know i did.
Hmmmm......one thinks lovercock rides cabrinhas. lol
Don't worry loverboy there are sheep in WA as well.
any way just trying to put forward a idea based on what i saw when i was there, were you there loverboy? if you were you should have seen the same thing. But if people are going to get upset because they cant sheet in to pop then like i said leave it at Grange. But if you want to see good riders unhooking and going big landing powered blind moves etc, then flat water is better. IMO. It will push the level of riding past where it is at the moment and could eventually make it one of the best state titles in the country.
I'm not sure where the best flat water in SA is, i haven't been here long enough. But im thinking if you think Milang is to far away then you don't want to see the event leave Adelaide. And im with you there it should only have to be the regional riders that have to put the effort in to get to the event. lol.
Don't get me wrong but i thought the comp was good the finals were awesome, i thought this thread was about how to make it better, i didn't realise there were no good spots to kite in SA. But if you just want to make it in to some sort of name calling **** fight go for it. Hell i have read the SAKSA forums for long enough that quite a few of the names above are people associated with SAKSA.
Way to promote yourself SAKSA
blocky- maybe you don't realise but your original posts in the state titles thread were negative, straight off the bat stating that you hadn't seen any good riders in SA...if you had suggested that the comp be held somewhere with flatter water instead of having a crack at riders of a certain kite you may have got a different response.
meh- gonna go ride my Cabrinha ....maaaaaa...
Do you actually kite Bigblock or are you a Couch Kiter and just watch YouTube and read kite mags?!? The conditions at Grange were sweet. As you would know, not all PKRA events are held at flat water locations. If the tide was different the flat section would have been bigger. This thread isn't asking where should it be moved to, but how to make it better. The Grange Sailing Club is a great venue, for both spectators and judges.
Go out, ride hard or go home and quit your complaining. Looks like we have another Waxman....
Did you compete Blocky or wasn't the water flat enough for you?
I reckon good riders can ride in any conditions and ride really well for that matter. Good riders ride to the conditions and make the best of it. That's what makes them good!
I would have thought that someone as experienced as yourself would have been out showing everyone how it was done, seeing as how you seem qualified to comment on it.
Maybe you should even jump on the committee and help out rather than sitting back barking from behind the fence? I thought I could smell wet dog....
I'm not on the committee of SAKSA.
im all for people having a say.
but when someone rattles of BS with no grounds for their argument it makes me a little irrate.
Loverboy is actually one of adelaides most inflential and passoniate kiters.
i think you should do some more research?? make an effort to meet and talk to the locals or go hide under what ever rock youve recently crawled out from.
good luck either way
p.s we are running a kite comp not a skimboard title i think wind is more important then tide??? correct
loveroflittleboys....maybe taking it a little too far....
I was breast fed tho- and still am.....by your mum bigcock
First of all, it's spelt B-O-A-R-D
Maybe you should join the committee and become the tide specialist?
The organisers didn't fail a thing at all.
Where was your contribution? The only thing I've seen you contribute is a lot of mind blowing complaining and a 'know it all' attitude.
Constructive.
One last thing, copngrats Martyn on the win. You made the conditions look easy to ride, and the final heat watching you and Ben fighting it out really made the trip down to watch worth it. From what i saw, flat water wouldn't have changed the final results that much.
Seabreeze has been getting a bit dull without Waxman, but is now getting more interesting by the minute!!!!
I'm sorry, bigblock. Im the one personally responsible for choosing the dates for the comp and silly me, I read the tide charts incorrectly and wasn't able to make the change by the time I realized my mistake.
Regarding your comment on the channel. These channels change all year round and can't be predicted 6 months out, when we began organizing it.
You've mentioned in the past about the inland rain activity being a bad thing for the comp, once again, impossible to forecast the wettest summer in 35 years 6 months out from the comp.
Please realize that these comps are done purely on a volunteer basis and we all have full-time jobs. We do it because we want to see the sport progress in skill level and participation. Guys like Corey, ben and Martyn have an opportunity to enter e national comps because their home state cares enough to organize a comp so they can qualify. Perhaps just lay off the criticisms a little on factors that are clearly out of peoples hands or even are just fairly minuscule in the scheme of things.
Cheers,
croc
Proud Cab rider!
Bigblock,bigbock hides under a rock.
He doesn't ride because we cant pick the tide.
He's always on a forum to cure his boredom.
But maybe if he rides he wouldn,t have hide.
Go back Bigblock and crawl under your rock
Bigblock, Bigblock hides under a rock.
Won't pull a kiteloop cause he's got a little cock.
Hides down at Aldinga on his couch all day
Yelling at Len10 'You don't do it that way'!
If there was wind in the air on the beach it would blow
But Bigblock won't be riding cause the tides running slow
Sit's on his couch and rests his arse
And yells at the TV ' Hadlow, that's not how you do a handle pass'!!
Front to blind, Mobe to toe
Sit's on the couch, waiting for the wind to blow.
Wanting flat water, not that Henley chop
One day he dreams off pulling a back roll
And not a back flop!
Wow, so much hatred in this kite community.
Kitecroc, **** happens. I didn't think that anyone would have knowingly organised a comp on that date if they knew the tides i was actually thinking they must have been spot on all day for the flat water. But look you got a decent amount of wind to run the comp, plenty of entrants and a few spectators. I was expecting to see a lot more people coming down for a look. Do you advertise it on TV or in the Paper might cost some coin but it really does bring the people interested in the sport down to have a look. Might be something to look into, to promote the sport better in the future. More spectators = more publicity = more sponsors wanting to get in on the action. I couldn't believe my eyes when i saw the redbull there, that mob have a lot of cash and i'm sure they put a lot of prize money up for grabs, especially with the exposure they got, were they the major sponsor?
Cheer up guys, i'm sure next year will be bigger and better
With so many great ideas I vote big block to organise the next comp himself. Actually there is very little hatred in this kite community, we just don't like idiots with big mouths who do nothing to help an event and slag it off at any chance they get. Grow a brain mate.
So you really just let people role in and do massive advertising who aren't sponsoring the event. I can see why you think kiteboarding will never attract big sponsors. I would be furious if i was a major sponsor of a event like that and someone that wasn't a sponsor got more advertising from the event. Believe it or not there are people and companies around that would put big money towards events like this. You guys might want to wake up and work out why you arent getting any.
If this is the norm for SAKSA events you really are not going to be the best in Australia. It sounds to me like you are running a little boys club down there, makes me a little concerned as to where SAKSA will head in the future.
So if redbull didn't flip the bill for some decent cash prises, what did the winners walk away with. Giving out kites and boards to good riders is pointless as they will just get sold.
A few things… Firstly SAKSA was not formed just to run competitions, indeed one of the initial reasons it was set up was to ensure ongoing beach access. Over the years the committee has worked hard with local councils and authorities to achieve this. With so many beaches off limits around the country we need to view access to the beaches as a privilege and not a right. Ongoing access is something SAKSA has worked on for all kiters… so it can hardly be a boys club.
Secondly in regards to the media, I work in the industry and from my time in newsrooms and production desks I know that events like this have stiff competition in terms of coverage. We've had some great TV and press coverage in the past, but with the pitiful resources that media outlets roster on for weekends we have done very well with what we've got. Nonetheless I am sure SAKSA will continue to strive to gain positive coverage of the sport where possible.
Lastly can I please implore the rest of the kite community to ignore the baiting and flaming that is going on here. It is very clear where this all started and responding is just playing someone else's game. This is a flaming exercise in which self-worth is tied up with having the last word. So be it.
Lets get back to the question...how can you improve your comp?
Comp was great...
A couple of things that i noticed as a competitor and have ran a few comps myself.
The flag issue was only an issue because the upwind start flag was too far upwind ,simple to fix.Then move it down and take the downwind one downwind...
There was alot of time wasted waiting to start the heats,but hey Jordans mouth was prob dry!! and he got a beer and we ran with it.
I only have 2 real issues and they were.....
Far too many people in comp zone area on the beach,in and out of the water,maybe if the council lets you next year run your orange flags 4m back from water and back 40m to create a free zone to stop the onlookers getting in the way.Just glad there werent any there when i got hit by Andys kite cos im sure it wouldnt of been just me taken out.
And maybe the prizes next year...especially the OPENS and the JUNIORS ,great trophies but include a good prize as well, instead of putting those into your random draw as everyone would agree these riders deserve a bit more.
As for location-still a nice spot to ride,the kickers to the left are great! But im sure we could combine our comp in Whyalla next year and have a huge State Titles... Does anyone agree?? One comp! More Prizes! More helpers! More riders!!!
Something to think about SAKSA...just a suggestion.
Congrats again for a great comp!!!
Easto and Jac
Didn't manage to get to Adelaide for the comp, was on the West Coast having a sweet kite at Walkers Rocks, but am sure you guys did a great job. After having been involved in the last couple of comps in Whyalla I have learnt that no matter what, you will never please everybody and secondly, you are at the complete mercy of the weather on the day. Both issues are very hard to deal with and nobody should under estimate the effort put in by the organising committee to make these type of events happen.
As for a combined Whyalla comp and State Titles --- now that is someting to think about!!!
Cheers
AB
