Select to expand quotejase54 said..cald said..
Awesome thread well done, looking forward to more updates. One question, I'm assuming with the v-logs etc that get posted there is some decent internet somewhere? I'd love to do a bit of training and do it one year, to go for a month tho I'd need to be able to work on some off days or evenings...
G'day Cald,Yes most accommodation has reasonable internet and wi-fi. I have been doing many zoom and teams meetings from my apartment (Wild Horses B&B) with no issues. I just did a www.speedtest.net/ and got 2.79mbps download speed and 1.17mbps upload which is slow but seems to work for what I need. I will ask other LSC sailors what their net speeds are for their different accommodation and let you know the breakdown by apartment.I have been working 35hrs a week whilst I have been here and other LSC sailors have been doing upwards of 40hrs a week and still sailing when it blows.Typically the wind does not blow before 1pm (on Pt DIaz or the canal) and yesterday the event director Raffeallo Gardelli told me in all the years he has run the event he has rarely seen anyone on the canal before 12noon. So that gives a good 3-5 hrs you can work before you head to the canal. I have been doing work zoom meetings at 7-9am (Namibian time) = 4-6pm (AEST). Plus remember during this trip I am getting 50% sailing days so there is heaps of extra time to work if you need to or don't have enough leave racked up.I actually didn't want to work whilst I was here but it has become a necessity.I hope this answers your question CALDcheersJasonPS a pic of my "office" is below (I do have a table in my apartment too!)
Thanks Jase, sounds like its definitely a possibility to go and work whilst there then... might have to give it some more serious thought... and start eating haha
Yesterday was no wind so I headed North 15minutes to Agate beach and was pleasantly surprised to see a heard of oryx and 100's of flamingos mooching on the shallows. It's hard to get an idea of the scale of dunes in the background but I reckon they are 200m high and apparently they run 1200km up Namibia - just awesome. 
The Severne photographer Jaco Wolmarans has just dropped this event video with action from 2 days ago. It was the best pressure day with 20-30kts gusting to 36knots . I share a few thoughts in it. Enjoy.
Jason, what is the proportion of seat to waist harness users amongst participants in this years event?
Select to expand quoteJohn340 said..
Jason, what is the proportion of seat to waist harness users amongst participants in this years event?
Good question John, I haven't paid attention. I will check and let you know tomorrow.
Thanks for the insight jase, much appreciated. Could you give us a run down on what the starting line is like,Ie, queuing,wait time and how busy. Cheers. Rekon you have amped ya brother to give it a shot !
Nice topic Jason! Say hi from me to the Dutchies out there and enjoy the ride while you're there.
I see that next to some of their personal GPS devices they strap an official GPS from the organization as well. It the GPS components however packed in a rather cheap clunky piece of plastic. Since we have a topic on DYI GPS devices in another thread I would like to know a bit more on the electronics inside. I believe Manfred is also sailing there and was most likely involved in the development. It would be nice to get some details from that device, just to compare to what Jan has been developing this/last year. Not sure if they want to share though..
Select to expand quotejase54 said..John340 said..
Jason, what is the proportion of seat to waist harness users amongst participants in this years event?
Good question John, I haven't paid attention. I will check and let you know tomorrow.
Hi John, About 12 of the 16 riders are using waist harnesses. Typically the older riders are using seat harnesses eg Erik Beale and Manfred. When I asked Vincent Valkeners about his harness of choice, he responded with he uses a waist harness in light winds and a seat harness if it is really strong (50knots plus I guess). Being from a wave background, I am using a waist harness. I hope that helps
Select to expand quoteFreezer said..
Nice topic Jason! Say hi from me to the Dutchies out there and enjoy the ride while you're there.
I see that next to some of their personal GPS devices they strap an official GPS from the organization as well. It the GPS components however packed in a rather cheap clunky piece of plastic. Since we have a topic on DYI GPS devices in another thread I would like to know a bit more on the electronics inside. I believe Manfred is also sailing there and was most likely involved in the development. It would be nice to get some details from that device, just to compare to what Jan has been developing this/last year. Not sure if they want to share though..
Hi Freezer, no worries I will ask Manfred. Apparently, the version Manfred has developed is significantly lighter and more compact than the 500kg version used before. All riders use the event GPS and it is cross checked with photo imagery down to 1000th of a second apparently. I will come back to you with more info
Select to expand quotewesthammer said..
Thanks for the insight jase, much appreciated. Could you give us a run down on what the starting line is like,Ie, queuing,wait time and how busy. Cheers. Rekon you have amped ya brother to give it a shot !
Gday Westhammer, yeah go for it, it's so doable.Yeah the start is critical as hell and takes some practice. I've made up a simple diagram below.For context, Erik Beale says says that your final recorded speed will be probably be within 2 knots of the speed at which you hit the start line!In a nutshell we have about 100m to get up on the plane and in the footstraps before we hit the "honky tonk corner" as the laconic Farrel O'Shea would describe it. There is a real mix of starting styles. Interestingly enough, wavesailors are pretty good at beach starting at this event as we are used to jumping on between waves and pumping hard to get on the plane to jump or bust through the waves. I come from the Guy Cribb school of beach starts which is super quick and effective. (I'd highly recommend attending his course if you get the chance.) In sub 25knots most of us are getting the start sorted 60% of the time. When the wind is 25knots+ then I reckon we crack them 90% first time. A lot is dependent on the wind direction too. SSW is gusty as hell and harder to start. Straight southerly is much easier to start and more consistent pressure.Some riders try and start from the waterstart position with both feet in the straps and to be frank I estimate they only crack 50% of their starts in sub 25 knots resulting in them having to do the "walk of shame" and rejoin the queue to have another crack.The wind seems to be best around 3-430pm at the moment and sometimes we have up to 8 riders in the queue waiting for a go. We all get 3mins each to get started. If anyone pfaffs longer than that then they have to go to the back of the queue so you hope for good strong consistent wind when its your turn. Only 4 people are allowed to be in the water at the start box at a time. If you breach this rule twice and enter the water as the fifth person then your next run is disqualified. Everyone lets each other know what number they are in the queue when standing on the land waiting to enter the water.IF you crack a 500m run of 51knots (males) and 45knots (females) then you are given priority and allowed to jump the queue and go straight to the front each time. This is to increase the chance of the top dogs breaking a world record. The rest of us mere minions are happy to allow them jump in to facilitate this goal.When we are waiting on the bank ready to start there are sandbags provided to pin our gear down in the extreme winds. Today I saw Magnus Rasmussen pretty much pump himself onto the plane in the lightest of conditions (literally amazing to see) so do practice your beach starts and pumping before you get here if you can. Plus I had only used my JP45cm speed board a couple of times before I got here as there was rarely the conditions to use it around Sydney. So I practiced beach starting and sailing it at nearby Point Diaz and then at the canal on a lighter day (no event day) on a so I was ready to go. I also practised on my new 40cm AV speed board as soon as wind allowed.Plus I re-watched Windsurfing TV (Ben Profitts) interview of Farrell O'Shea many times when I was in Oz to prepare for this event and he nails the description very well including where the lulls are on the course and the goddam fact the wind picks up in the finishing area when you would really appreciate it dropping so you can stop on time!!!I hope this gives you an idea
Select to expand quoteFreeflight said..
Great insight
Thank you for doing this
no worries, it would be great to see more Aussies at this event in future years. I might just come back myself!
Amazing speeds! She got 2 consecutive runs of 47kts plus for the 500m ..Peak 2 sec 49.9+kts!
She could have exceeded that as I haven't watched the whole video yet.
They are saying it's choppy so imagine the speeds if the wind turns and it flattens out! 
In case you missed it: Vincent Valkenaers had a 53.08kn free 500m (on both GPS) not show on the leaderboard during the day. It was verified to 52.94kn between the gates later on.
Going awesome Jase! Nice! Heidi looked pumped, what an effort. I wonder what's some lake George seaweed would be like growing in the channel. Would eliminate the chop!
Select to expand quotesboardcrazy said..
Amazing speeds! She got 2 consecutive runs of 47kts plus for the 500m ..Peak 2 sec 49.9+kts!
She could have exceeded that as I haven't watched the whole video yet.
They are saying it's choppy so imagine the speeds if the wind turns and it flattens out!
Choppy is an understatement. It was like moguls in the finishing area. I was grateful for my wavesailing background to get me through it.Heidi is an incredible sailor and "chicked" a lot us guys!
yeah Vincent Valkenaers was incredible yesterday charging down the course in conditions that Hans Kreisel described as "suicidal" as it was just so ridiculously broad, gusting 63knots and chop like moguls in the finishing area.He is literally built like an organutan with ridiculously long arms. I am 6ft 2in (189cm tall) but his reach gives him a lot of extra leverage which when coupled with exceptional skill and HEAPS of courage makes him an amazing speedsailor or "speedsurfer" as they call themselves in Europe
Folks, if you're interested in learning more about the Luderitz experience I really recommend you check out Nils Bach's youtube channel. Nils has got great attention to detail and provides an insightful behind the scenes overview
