Only a few days before the Winter Weirdness begins!
Which location will unlock the secret formula?
Who is already sussing out some Alpine waterways?
Will Daz throw it all away AGAIN?
All these questions will be answered by the time Spring arrives…
This year there’s some major changes….mainly the introduction of a Victorian trophy for all GPS speed teams
Check out the official Brass Monkeys Homepage.
Event Wrap
The Inverloch Speed Invitational is the only semi-serious competition that the Inverloch Windsurfing Club host’s throughout the season, and this year with my ‘wind guarantee’ coming to fruition we should really remove the word semi. The competition on the water was ferocious.
The Inverloch Speed Invitational is a 2 day speed windsurfing competition, with competitors registering their 5x10sec ave to constitute their result for the day – this eliminates the lucky gust scenario. Their final event result is the average of their Saturday & Sunday result. Only speeds recorded within the allocated times and on the waters of Anderson Inlet will count towards the participants result.
The Combatants & Competition
As Saturday dawned we awoke to light Westerly winds. The forecast bode well for an increase in strength from the W-NW before a late SW change. Eager competitors were hoping the change would arrive before the cut off for Saturday’s results. After briefing things started to get serious, fins, and sails were chosen meticulously for the gusty conditions and it was evident very early that correct choice of gear for the conditions at hand would be pivotal to overall standings & results at the end of the day.
Yours truly got the best of the early conditions but by mid arvo, more raiders (Ado & Spotty) from the Pit Crew turned up and as the wind increased in strength and moved SW my lead was quickly diminished.
14 registered competitors battled it out on the first day and by days end it was obvious the format was perfect for close competition. In Division A some quick running repairs to Daffy’s board were required to keep him in the mix after having a close encounter with a submerged tree over at Point Smythe, overnight in Div A only 0.5kts separated 2nd – 5th.
Daffy’s Board
In Division B Mick ‘Drift’ Green lived up to his nick name. Whilst every other competitor went with shortboard’s in the hope of catching 10 sec gusts, Mick tried to emulate 2011 champion John Rohrsheim by sailing to the area with the fastest flowing tidal current in the hope of running with the current to get an edge on the rest of the field.
Unfortunately for Mick he ended up just drifting around the inlet and out of contention. Division C was highly contested and the loan female entrant Wendy Jepsen battled it out against the gents – and held her own as well! Our come & Try division had 5 sailors all of whom took to GPS sailing with gusto.
After a small bit of mismanagement by the event organiser forgetting to book dinner, we ended up at Casa Del Jeppo for a great night. Spotty once again uttering his famous, “you won’t go 50 eating salad!” as we all attacked a serious amount of pizza and mulled over some of the serious issues in life – the desal plant, wind turbines, innovative ways that Pete could complete his postie round etc.
Sunday dawned and we headed to the IWC’s newly sanctioned ‘official’ café The Red Elk. Great service and a great breaky and more serious conversation: “what really constitutes a macchiato??”. Shortly after, we headed back to the beach to eagerly await the predicted 25kt+ SW change.
Gusty W winds greeted us and after the briefest of briefings we got started on day 2. A heap of new competitors turned up for Sunday due to the forecast, leading to 19 registered competition sailors and another 10 or so just out for a sail.
Regular IWC skulduggery started with a few people ducking off down to Area 45 to check it out, only to come back and say it was no good. Kato & Daffy took that word as gospel and went to sail there… Daffy posted the day’s highest peak in the ‘no good’ conditions at Area 45 with a peak over 37!! Also in Div A Spotty & Ado headed out to one of the newly formed inlet entrance channels while yours truly was facilitating registrations!! In Div B, Dazza headed out in the gusty conditions on his big gear only to return shortly after with stories of waaaay too much lift from his 44 fin to the point that his ankles were in danger! In Div C Naz was looking comfortable on his 99ltr freeride board that was hugging the chop, the strong winds almost blew Wendy off the water as she struggled to hold down a 4.7. In the come & try’s Brian bought out the old trusty wooden board and looked right at home in the conditions. The forecasted SW didn’t come, but… Huey did put on a mighty show with easily 25kts+ W that really kicked in in the arvo, unfortunately it coincided with high tide which made far from ideal speed conditions.
Another fantastic event had been run and won. Thanks to everyone for coming and supporting the event, and thanks to all our sponsors – RPS, The Zu, SHQ, The Red Elk & GippSport that meant that once again no one went home empty handed. Special mention must go to Spotty for donating a portion of his winnings to the unplaced competitors in the Come & Try division, this reimburesed their event entry – Spotty you’re a legend!!
We look forward to seeing you all back at Invy over the summer at our other events, and at the 2013 incarnation of the Inverloch Speed Invitational.
Well there was concern in the camp as we may have had to cancel due to toooo much wind especially for the beginners. A few of the coaches camped Saturday night and there was mummurings of a Dawn Raid on the Pit with a 20 kt WSW but you would not believe it that the PIT Crew members Kato and Pete pull out… Some would say soft! However they were all up to taking full advantage of low tide on the Inlet whilst most of us were still travelling down from Melbourne. The day got underway with 40 plus windsurfers in attendance.
Registration were 15 beginners, 15 intermediates and 7 coaches and a number of windsurfers that just wanted to join in the fun. Members travelled from Geelong, Melbourne and Sale to enjoy the day and it was great getting around everybody and catching up.
The day started with the wind fading rapidly from 20 kts gusting to 30kts down to 10kts gusting to 15 kts. However in true IWC attitude of lets make the most of anytime on the water, coaches and keen students hit the water. I was caught up in the carpark chatting to all comers and it was just an amazing scene as I hit the top of the sand dune and looked out across the Inlet. A mass of boards and sails everywhere
Lunch was called as the smell of Master Chef’s Ian B3 Fenney cooking drifted across the Inlet. Simmo, as usual, was last off the water and was complaining that he could not find a parking spot for his board on the beach. We had to send Fireman Sam, with fire bells ringing, to get extra supplies as Ian’s cullinary skills where too tempting for hungry windsurfers.
We all hit the water again but the wind was not playing for the intermediates however it was great to see all the beginners really progressing. I can see Roy having to spend a lot more time on the water to keep ahead of his kids
I even heard a rumour that the great Kato confessed to struggling in these wind conditions. When the wind did hit 15kts(briefly) it was great to see a few of the PIT Crew Kato, Pete and Mathew tearing up the Inlet.
As the light faded I enjoyed a magic moment when I pinched Red’s 8.5mtr Koncept and cranked out a few 20 kts runs down the speed run with only a few left on the water. But Confession Time Red – the Inlet is renown for eating sails – ASK RICHIE. This huge gust of wind ripped the sail off my board and the Inlet has eaten it up. When I unloaded my Van at home I discovered someone had donated me a new 8.5 mtr Koncept woohoo. Very nice sail – Red
This day would not have happened without the help of our coaches – Kato, Pete, Red, Dan, Simon, Col, Mick and Postman Pete – BIG THANKS GUYS It is great seeing you give back to the sport we all love. It also would not have happened without my great team on committee Mick, Simon, Dan, Pete, Ian, Rob, Cara and Marcus – well done guys.
Most of all, it would not have happened without the members that are making a great club even better.
A fantastic day was had by all despite the lack of wind. Big thanks has got to go to RPS and Naish for providing us with a look at the 2012 gear. Warwick and Brendan and helpers did a great job of setting up and talking to us about the latest gear and giving us a crack on it. Pity that Naish awning had to go back. It looked real good in the back of Drift’s Van!
Big thanks to Dan and Simon for their time on the water with the beginners. We saw four kids and two adults give it a go and within a short time we had them up and going and turning around. Ian and Cara our BBQ master chefs cooked up a storm – well done and thanks to Mick for his mastery with the camera.
We saw 30 plus people rock up, despite the lack of wind, who were all out for a ball – it was great to see you and my apologies if I did not get around to you all and say hello.
To the advanced beginners that rocked up but we could not do much with you due to lack of wind we will squeeze you into the next clinic on Intermediates where there will be plenty of wind to get those beach starts happening.
In the morning with the lack of wind and a trailer load of SUP’s the Inlet was rocking with weird dudes standing up on boards with no sails racing around markers and the sand spit. It was great to see Natasha jump on a board and take to the water like a duck despite her previous shyness to getting wet. Special mention has to go to Natasha (and I guess Fireman Sam for bringing her along) for her catering prowess on the Saturday where offers of lunch and chocolate cake was given freely. Fireman perhaps we could organise things a little better and put Natasha on a SUP so she could do on water delivery of said cake and Lattes thus not disrupting our sailing time too much
In the afternoon the wind picked up to 10 kts and Inlet was taken over by more normal craft that had sails – mind you it was longboard territory and when the longboards come out so do a few pirates There where a few attempted dockings, boardings, walk the plank and general skull duggery going on to make it a fun afternoon. Pete and Dan had the Wally’s out and as usual in these conditions left the short boards for dead. I can see a few sailors heading for Ebay checking these 30 year old wonders out.
Highlights for me was hearing a proud Dad tell the story of how his son could not sleep the night before and was up early watching “Beginner to Winner” DVD. Watch out Lozza – future world champion coming up.
12 brave souls ventured out early Sunday morning to crack the ice on Swan Bay under the guise of an away game for the Brass Monkeys competition.
The excitement was building all week, especially amongst the two new Dads – Pete and George who had generously been given leave passes from their two week old newborns. Be careful boys I can see this coming back to haunt you. Our wives have very long memories. A few of us made it for breakfast at 8.30am at Avalon for a egg and bacon heart starter with extra cholesterol on top with triple shot coffees to wake us up all from heavy nights before. Why do we punish ourselves so
Drift was shying away from the bacon as he had just completed a week on the road where the challenge was to have bacon with every meal 3 times a day! Dan was getting a bit towy as the wind was blowing hard at Avalon and took off while the rest of us finished our heart starters.
Our first mistake of the day was el president and VP did not tell the rest of the crew where we were going as we left the Cafe. That did not matter as everybody was following us!!
Well only until the first traffic lights came along. Anyway we eventually made it to the Queenscliffe Yacht Club with the rest of the crew arriving in 10 min intervals over the next hour!!
Jacques had mowed the lawns of the club grounds and hung out signs for the carpark and rigging areas – Fantastic job! He also had put out channel markers to get us through the sandbars but told us to sail on the wrong side so we constantly got bogged and he sailed straight past.
Red was very sick and could not make it to work and arrived at a gentleman’s hour to preach to us from the waters off Swan bay. I think the sail did him the world of good as I saw him trying to sail the front of Jacques board whilst still on his own.
The wind was humming early(20 kts) as we hit the water and posted some good speeds. Water was flat and the runs where long. Around 1pm Red spat the dummy and turned the wind dial down to dead calm when I was way out the back and he was heard muttering something about “no wind at the Inverloch Speed Weekend I ‘ll show you no wind” Everyone else came in under sail.
We will have to start a new category for me “Crawl of Shame” through the shallow muddy waters of Swan Bay
This was the time for Richie, Dorina and Ash to turn up – perfect timing, so the afternoon was spent taking about how great the wind was this morning and how Richie’s trailer has a hex on it for chasing the wind away.
Great time was had by all despite the wind dropping. Definitely coming back Red and Jacques as those long runs are very tempting
Appreciate you sharing some of your great turf with the Invy crew. Always fun.
Drift and Robbie K took some pics of the day that would be great for all to see.
A new event on the calendar!
The Invitational is a weekend-long speed challenge. It is open to all GPSTC sailors, as well as anyone else who’d like to have a go.
Thanks to The Inverloch Tourism Association, cash prizes are on offer for the sailors who have the highest 5X10 average over the two days of competition.
Prizes will be awarded to the top three competitors in each division as follows:
Division A, B & C
1st Place: $200
2nd Place: $100
3rd Place: Sponsors Prize
Division D (Come’n’Try Division)
1st, 2nd and 3rd Place: Sponsors Prize
We will also be having a ‘Nearest the Pin’ competition. Competitors will be asked to guess before competition an estimate 5 x 10 sec average for over the weekend, and the competitor that is closest to this will be deemed the winner.
Nearest the Pin 1st Place: $100
For the ISI, there will be a social event on Saturday night (28th May) which will include dinner and entertainment as well as the notification of the anonymous top 5 postings of that days competition. The social event will double as the season closer for the Inverloch Windsurfing Club.
Inverloch and Anderson inlet has all the makings of a classic windsurfing venue. The waters of Anderson Inlet can provide fantastic bump’n’jump, freeride blasting and speed sailing, depending on a variety of weather and tidal conditions. The surf beach and mouth of the inlet offers some great intermediate wave sailing opportunities as well. There are a range of accommodation packages available.
