Racing in SE QUeensland

Where do the SE Queenslanders race?Or maybe they don't ? May be the Queenslanders just like to paddle socially?

Have just got home from Brunswick Heads race two of the Pacific Ocean series. A fantastic day. Great racing. It only 50 or so competitors. The paddle at the Noosa Winter Festival about the Same numbers.

Are there lots of races out there and just to many to chose from? If so how do I find out about them? Or is it that racing isnt on the agenda of most of the southern Queensland paddlers?

Thaughts!how do we get paddlers to get together for a big race. Or a series of races?

Biggest problem is that we have great weather up here and a plethora of other things to do.

We also have a very long accessible coastline, so you can put in almost anywhere, less chance of bumping into other paddlers with such a wide access.

There is also very little promotion for events, there is nothing in the papers and most all contact between paddlers is word of mouth and segregated into a number of little clicky groups because there is no need to paddle at only certain places.

I know where and when a lot of people paddle, but the time and place usually doesn't fit into my own schedule, or my own training goals at the time.

No doubt, there is a lot of boats out there on the water, I see heaps when I ride my bike of a morning and if you go for a drive down the coast at any time, you will usually see at least one boat out there on your journeys.

I missed the Brunswick event because I simply wasn't aware it was on this weekend, I was pretty keen to go watch.

A lot of organised events in Queensland seem to land on a Saturday for one reason or another, don't know why, Sunday makes more sense as there are a lot that work on Saturdays, including myself.

There are the Blast races, but that's not something that really interests me, short courses that I can go and paddle myself at any time anyways and not have to pay an entry fee.
Plus again, they are on a Saturday and clash with work/riding for me.


I would personally like to see some races with challenges in them.
Something that I wouldn't just go and do by myself.

Longer ones that may head further out to sea where it is beneficial to have support boats, something to give me that 'Yeah' feeling just for completing, something that would make me train for it.

We really do need a solid corporate sponsor to come on board and attract quality fields, there is nothing to say we couldn't hold a race with credentials like 'The Doctor' in these parts, just need the stars to align and have the right people in the right place at the right time to get it off the ground.

I might also simply be a reflection of tightened budgets at the moment that not many compete.

We don't at the moment have a visible ocean racing ski club.
From what I can gather, there has been in the past and they ran what has now become the open water blast races regularly.

Again, this is something that needs the stars to align and in particular one or two people that really want good things for surf ski and are willing to sacrifice considerably to get things properly off the ground.


I probably think myself that the events are simply not promoted enough though.
It is not that hard to write a short piece to be put in the sports section of the paper.

A event organiser could easily have written up our great success in Molokai, done profiles on our star athletes and pushed the races we do have.

Surf ski in general is far under the radar.
The Coolangatta Gold has great media exposure, what is it that they do right?

"I missed the Brunswick event because I simply wasn't aware it was on this weekend, I was pretty keen to go watch."


RAB you need to get on the net more!

www.paddle2fitness.com.au/events/pacific-ocean-series/

email Julian and get on the mailing list

RAB you may be right on all accounts I don't know.What I do know is for example the Pacific Ocean Series races are on a Sunday.They have a Face Book page.I posted out a week before the last two events on this forum.And Markmywords posted out about the Noosa Winter festival.As well as being posted on the Canoeing QLD website and SLSA .Last year as soon as the races headed out into the ocean the numbers went down?
So I just don't know where all the paddlers are?
Will people only go to the races with the big names?
Or maybe we just want to much to soon.

Hi I'm new to this posting
I enjoy the Pacific Ocean Series as I like racing .
I think they do a great job running them.
I race my ocean ski for the love of it and we should all help the ocean series become better by putting all our heads together to make ocean racing bigger and better.
We should look at the ocean series as race training for the big 40km race at the end of the series.
I think this would be a good idea.
Maybe charge $30 and no prises for the smaller races and 80 dollars for the big one with prises at just the 40km one to atracked the best paddlers. JUST AN IDEA
With prizes for point score and winners of the big one.
Just trying to help grow the sport!!!

Welcome aboard Big Gun.Hopefully some of the race organizers can get on board and share their ideas as well as the competitors to say what they would like from a event or a series.

Maybe with the snobbery of paddling an elite ski now being recognised as just that, a bunch of people are now in the boats they should have been all along, you may find a few more willing to sign up for the open water races.

I'm not much of a Facebook person, they keep emailing me that everybody has done this and that and I should log on, but that's not really my cup of tea, I only use it to keep in touch with people who I know but now live away from me.

The problem as I see it, is that you have to want to go racing and search out the races.
As someone that hasn't been chasing up races, I don't get any regular exposure so it is easy to miss.

So really they are marketing to those that already know.
There is no continuing temptation happening to lure me into a race without me first deciding that I will anyways.

If my world was a buzz with race activity, I may just make a impulse decision and turn up, but as it is, my life goes on without the temptation being placed in front of me.

I can only assume that others are in the same boat(excuse the pun).

I like your thinking Big Gun. Perth has The Doctor and Sydney has the 20 Beaches but SE QLD has one of the best climate and conditions to run a race like that and yet nothing!!! You could have a great race from Seaway (Tweed) to Seaway (Southport). Food for thought for any race or potential race organisers out there.
RAB I paddle on the Gold Coast from time to time and have joined in with several of those "Clicky" groups and have found them most welcoming. The groups consisted of elite and or intermediate paddlers on a variety of ski's. Nor have I noticed any "elite ski snobbery"? I only mention it as I am curious..

I'm talking more of a self snobbery, where people feel the need to paddle an elite ski to fit in when really they shouldn't be.

It's a self inflicted disease.

I know myself from years past when I was fast(in other sports) that people are reticent to go training with you because they don't want to slow you down, or they are shit equipment, when in fact, nearly every competitor at a top level is glad to paddle with slower people, it's just that slower people don't know this.

Many fall prey to feeling that they need to have an elite ski to be legitimate.
In reality those forces are all in their own head.



And yes please, somebody run a race from the tweed to the seaway.
I'd enter that regardless of my fitness, boat, and would happily take the day off work just to do it.

A big course like that is worth doing because for me to go do it myself is really an iffy thing to do, I have done it once and ended up about 5km offshore going past north of Burleigh and all of a sudden a simple paddle becomes a risky thing so I won't do it again unless with a group.


But a 10km blast race right on my doorstep on a course that I can do any day I like, on a day that I work, not enough to make me pay money.

If My boat was good and I had been paddling recently, Byron would certainly temp me, actually, it would more than temp me, Brunswick I don't know as I haven't seen the course.

Its all good in the se.I would have loved to be at bruns last race and round mccleay is-just life got in the way-I am racing Hammo thou -prob the big run,linderman to hammo-weekend beforehand- I,m sweating on a SW wind to take me over to Moreton Is from shorncliffe with a big ol support boat and a few mates to share some beers with that night at cowan-its all good.off topic-had a 54 cm tailor for dinner tonight as it jumped into our 6man outrigger at training last night..racing is good-but I get a kick out of just being on the water!!nb thats a great angle you've got your go pro at from behind at molokai Micheal Booth--how high above the deck is it .