The WAKSA State Titles 2015
With great pleasure I accepted a request to photograph the new breed coming out onto the water in WA on Sunday the 22nd of February at the Perth Kite Racing venue in Coogee.
The Formula boarders and Foilers have been developing in their presence in Perth and sometimes they are considered as the extreme end of sailing, but push comes to shove, they are reliant on the wind to get about and prefer to use a different mode to the traditional sailor.
With the recognition of Perth Kite Racing and the WA Kite Surfing Association by ISAF, the governing body for sailing, the class fell naturally into the 2 divisions of Formula and Foil. Formula has been around for a while and the Foilers have been rapidly expanding as people recognized the added fun of getting up onto foils. They have held a number of events around Perth and thanks to their inclusion by Yachting WA are starting to grow in stature as a class.
The Saturday was a good day to be out with a seabreeze in and barking along. From what I heard there was a great response and a good number of people headed onto the water in both Foil and Formula. I was able to come down on the Sunday and Andrew Hansen was kind enough to arrange with Jervoise Bay SC to get me on to the start boat to get a few images. Normally I like to get about the course, but the rib available was a "wet" boat and with a stiff breeze on the course, the camera was likely to get a dunking on way or another.
Five races to be covered today and a building South Westerly. Three races then a break for the kite racers and the catamarans would come out and sail two races, then back on to the water for the last two races. Did I mention that the breeze was building? By lunch time it was 23 to 26 knots at Fish Rocks, a bit further up the coast and these guys were out in it. Tough by any standards and by 3 o'clock it was humping through as was the swell.
I have to congratulate all the competitors including the youngest of the racers, Mani Bisschops who at 14 was sailing in stuff others declined. He lasted the distance and finished all the races, with a spectacular crash in the last race right at the finish line. Well sailed the ladies as well with no less than three out on the water during the titles. As I'm not sure of the results at this stage I shan't discuss them but I was astounded by the level of skill exhibited, though the race officer from JBSC assured me that a rapid learning curve was experienced on Saturday when they had to learn what flags were for and which ones meant what. (Sorry guys I couldn't resist that)
However what I did notice was the skill of the guy on the red board, who nailed the start at the pin end time and again and when I asked him about it, he shrugged and said it was easy enough if you had your timing right. I want him on the helm of our boat for starts. Then again he didn't know what OCS was either..
Three lots of images today. 2 camera's and the presentations. The first is the long lens camera that gives us the fast action shots. The second is the wide angle lens for "big shots" and close ups, The 3rd is presentations.
Enjoy
The Formula boarders and Foilers have been developing in their presence in Perth and sometimes they are considered as the extreme end of sailing, but push comes to shove, they are reliant on the wind to get about and prefer to use a different mode to the traditional sailor.
With the recognition of Perth Kite Racing and the WA Kite Surfing Association by ISAF, the governing body for sailing, the class fell naturally into the 2 divisions of Formula and Foil. Formula has been around for a while and the Foilers have been rapidly expanding as people recognized the added fun of getting up onto foils. They have held a number of events around Perth and thanks to their inclusion by Yachting WA are starting to grow in stature as a class.
The Saturday was a good day to be out with a seabreeze in and barking along. From what I heard there was a great response and a good number of people headed onto the water in both Foil and Formula. I was able to come down on the Sunday and Andrew Hansen was kind enough to arrange with Jervoise Bay SC to get me on to the start boat to get a few images. Normally I like to get about the course, but the rib available was a "wet" boat and with a stiff breeze on the course, the camera was likely to get a dunking on way or another.
Five races to be covered today and a building South Westerly. Three races then a break for the kite racers and the catamarans would come out and sail two races, then back on to the water for the last two races. Did I mention that the breeze was building? By lunch time it was 23 to 26 knots at Fish Rocks, a bit further up the coast and these guys were out in it. Tough by any standards and by 3 o'clock it was humping through as was the swell.
I have to congratulate all the competitors including the youngest of the racers, Mani Bisschops who at 14 was sailing in stuff others declined. He lasted the distance and finished all the races, with a spectacular crash in the last race right at the finish line. Well sailed the ladies as well with no less than three out on the water during the titles. As I'm not sure of the results at this stage I shan't discuss them but I was astounded by the level of skill exhibited, though the race officer from JBSC assured me that a rapid learning curve was experienced on Saturday when they had to learn what flags were for and which ones meant what. (Sorry guys I couldn't resist that)
However what I did notice was the skill of the guy on the red board, who nailed the start at the pin end time and again and when I asked him about it, he shrugged and said it was easy enough if you had your timing right. I want him on the helm of our boat for starts. Then again he didn't know what OCS was either..
Three lots of images today. 2 camera's and the presentations. The first is the long lens camera that gives us the fast action shots. The second is the wide angle lens for "big shots" and close ups, The 3rd is presentations.
Enjoy