Deep Water starts for open ocean racing !!!!

What's yur take on deep water starts for open ocean racing ? I think race organisers should seriously consider starting all open ocean ski races beyond backline or in a position where nobody could either injure or damage yur racing mate's body or surfski !!have being paddling for a number of years now and have witnessed and experienced some serious injuries and damages.
In the interest of safety, lets make some wise decisions ! yur 2c worth ??

Stretch raises an interesting point - but many will argue that the surf zone is part of the game. I do agree that if the surf becomes too dangerous (where rescue and safety can not be assured) then alternative starts must looked at. More and more races are going for safe starts (beaches with next to no surf,harbors and other launch areas).

We must not regulate the sport through rules. Race organizers will take heed of safety issues and paddlers will either do the event or not (a vote for or against the particular event). If no one comes to an event because of the danger of going through the surf - the event will either die or change.

I fear the day when the sport simply becomes a downwind dash. There is far more to paddling than that. A bit of a head butt and cross chop make the downwind feel far more rewarding!

Luckily there are many events, the ocean is big and there is something for everyone. No need to regulate.

We had quite a big discussion about this last year... but for the life of me I can't find the thread.

Good reading, if you have the time to search the archives. It convinced me that in some places it is a good idea, but I think in Cape Town I'm all too happy to stick with beach starts.

In the beginning it was lots of fun. One of our BEST races on the Natal coast is 5 beaches because you and your mates have to negotiate in and out for 4 of those. Been thumped a couple of times and watched mates getting thumped
Also been at races where the skis coming in cross the path of skis going out - certainly not a broght idea in my opinion

BUT skis are getting very expensive so maybe it is time to re - consider.

Rookie wrote: In the beginning it was lots of fun. One of our BEST races on the Natal coast is 5 beaches because you and your mates have to negotiate in and out for 4 of those. Been thumped a couple of times and watched mates getting thumped
Also been at races where the skis coming in cross the path of skis going out - certainly not a broght idea in my opinion

BUT skis are getting very expensive so maybe it is time to re - consider.

Or lane the beaches, and in zone and an out zone demarcated by bouys or in at North out at South , shouldn't be too hard to organise?

I wouldn't worry about making my way past the surf zone, but I am always worried about other paddlers punching through my boat on a busy race start.

As mentioned earlier, boats are expansive !
Back in the days when I was building them, this was never an issue. Today, having to reach and dish out 4000 USD is a different story - and almost too easy to avoid.

I don't want to see it as a time-trial, nor add more rules, and definitely not add another insurance policy to cover boat damage to others for races… but there are plenty of alternatives without going to such drastic measures.

First, make the races longer… that should "chill" a few of the participants - and more importantly, seconds at the start wouldn't matter as much.

Second, make a 3-meter rule between each surfski at the start - elbow room. Too often, I have seen a start area with barely any room on land… on the water, we need MORE SPACE.

Please… pretty please !>

Here's my opinion on the subject:


www.thinkkayak.com.au/2013/06/race-start...imply-a-trust-thing/

It's an interesting article, but it doesn't say much about the guy getting his boat rammed.

aa now we enter an interesting part of this discussion. having paddled for about 10 years i have seen an interesting transformation from:
beginning we accept 50/50 responsibility BUT skis were std and repairs easy so the costs were contained.
about 5 years ago people started managing their own repairs
now with lots of carbon skis on the water the average person cannot be expected to pay 50% of the repairs --- or should they?
very tricky

Tricky, YES!
On a different note, I am curious how is it that you got the same # of posts as me, yet you have 3 more "THANK YOU" ????

At first i thought i was the only one with moans and groans as i have spent 3800ZAR's the last 18 months getting two serious repairs done to my ski at the expense of my fellow paddlers !!
Anyways i would not want to see more rules or regulations just the organisers to have a serious look at surf conditions and make the call - last year we changed our ski race, Mouth to Mouth 40K,which has always had a beach start to a in harbour flatwater start and added +50% participants !!
Be safe out there and respect the sea !!!

Ha Ha and i thought i was the only one keeping tabs on the "Thank Yous"

Here are some more threads!

race-starts-and-finishes-for-ocean-events

beach-starts-no-place-for-them-in-ocean-racing

so-how-do-you-want-to-start

This is clearly a long standing debate!

(Incidentally, one way to find these things is to use google but restrict the search to the site as in "deep water start site:surfski.info")

Thanks for that Rob !!
I for one have made my decision and will not be fighting my fellow paddlers ski's in the surf break !!!