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Beginners very welcome!
We're very happy to welcome beginners to take part in our LWA events. All you need to race is a board with a daggerboard and a sail, preferably with your official number on it, but if you haven't got one we can sell you a couple of numbers. NUMBERS ARE ESSENTIAL AS IS 3rd PARTY INSURANCE - which is automatic if you are a member of the RYA or the UKWA - the UK Windsurfing Association - which we recommend you to join because you can then take part in the programme of UKWA National events when you feel up to it. (See the “Windsurfing Links” page on this site). You must ALWAYS bring a buoyancy aid as sometimes venues will insist on this. ALL sailors under 18 MUST wear buoyancy at ALL times.
Classes raced at the LWA are:
Raceboard 9.5: - Longboards with daggerboard inc RS:X and max 9.5 sail size for men
Raceboard 8.5: - Longboards with daggerboard inc RS:X and max 8.5 sail size for ladies
Raceboard 7.8: - as above but with max sail size 7.8. Previous to June 2011 the limit was 7.5, but it has been raised to permit Techno sailors to use their7.8 Techno sails on a raceboard.
Unlimited: Any board, long or short (except Div 2), with any sail size. You can change board and/or rig between races. A few Unlimited sailors use a Raceboard in light winds with up to 10.5 m sail and a Formula board when it blows.
However as the International Raceboard Rules now specify 8.5 for ladies and 9.5 for men and there is no official Unlimited class any more, virtually all the sailors in LWA events now conform to these sail sizes. Some sailors still use 7.5 sails and as the limit has been raised to 7.8,ex Technosailors can now join this fleet.
Formula Windsurfing:- FW boards and any sail size.
Whilst we are very happy to welcome Formula sailors to our events, they should be aware that as all LWA events take place inland the wind is rarely suitable for Formula boards as it is not as consistent as on the sea, although when there is sufficient wind Formula boards usually score highly. One or two of our venues, Fisher’s Green for example, are NOT recommended for Formula boards but usually provide very tactical longboard racing because of the trees and low hills surrounding the lake.
Techno and Juniors:
We are very happy to welcome young sailors to our racing and if necessary we will set up a separate start for them and a special Briefing.
Techno 298:
Techno 6.8: Under 15
Techno 7.8: Under 17
Techno 7.8: Open
Juniors:
3.5 Open - Any board with max sail size 3.5
4.5 Open - Any board with max sail size 4.5
5.8. Open - Any board with max sail size 5.8
5.8 Techno 298 - with max sail size 5.8
Other boards may be used at the discretion of the LWA Committee but NOT for competitive advantage - please check with us first!
EQUIPMENT USED:
Raceboards:
In the Raceboard classes the most commonly used boards are the Fanatic Cat and Mega Cat, the F2 380 Race and the Mistral Equipe II and Pan Am and of course the recently introduced Starboard Phantom.. They are all around the 3m80 mark in length and have a large carbon fibre daggerboard, a sliding mast track and loads of footstraps. Many of these boards are quite old, more than 10 years or so, but they have been lovingly repaired by their owners. Thse are getting scarce now but they can sometimes be picked up on Ebay or at windsurfing car boot sales (or even on the LWA Sales & Wants pages) for a couple of hundred quid! You should be able to get started in the raceboard fleet with reasonable secondhand equipment for change out of £500. Even an old F2 Lightning Race or an original Mistral Equipe could still be competitive in stronger winds but they lack the back-end volume to compete in lighter wind conditions.
Sails and Rigs:
Most people use a 9.5 sail, which is the International regulation limit for Men (Ladies is 8.5). The most popular sail types are the Demon RG5 9.5 and the Tushingham XR:Race 9.4 although other types are used including Tushingham Lightnings. In the average sailor’s hands the Demon seems to have an edge up to about 8 knots then as soon as the board starts to rail the Lightning gets back on even terms and as the wind increases remains more manageable than the Demon as it has a higher top end. The Lightnings can be picked up secondhand in the region of £200, the Demons are however more expensive in view of their higher initial cost, but they are very durable. They do however need a very long mast whereas with a Lightning you can use a 520 or even a 490 with an extension.
The Tushingham XR:Race, developed specifically for the Raceboard Class in time for the 2009 season, is designed to have a better performance than the Lightning at the bottom end of the wind spectrum to enable it to compete with the Demons and XR: Race sails are now widely used. For higher wind than force 4-5, you would be well advised to have a change-down sail, something between 7.5 and 8 or so.
The Demons use a shorter boom than the Tushinghams, but whichever sail you use you will find that an adjustable outhaul system and an adjustable uphaul system are very well worth fitting.
Some sailors still stick to the 7.8 limit and we hope they will be joined by some ex-Techno sailors as the previous 7.5 limit has been extended...
What happens on a Race Day:
Most people turn up by 9.30 am to give themselves time to rig up and sign on as briefing is at 10.30 and first race at 11.00. Entry fee for adults varies from £10.00 - £15.00 Youths and Juniors fee is £5 to £10 for an LWA One-day Summer Series event (Two-day Events are charged differently), Under 18’s will need a parental signature. You need to sign on and pay your entry fee at the Registration Desk. Weather permitting, we have 4 races, two before lunch and two after. Your best three races count towards the day’s results and also count towards the series results. The day ends around 5pm.
Briefing:
At the Briefing you need to find out how the start flags work. The LWA uses virtually the same flag sequence as the UKWA as detailed below.There will be an extra “Beginners’ Briefing” if requested to answer any further questions you might have. The rest of the fleet will be warned you are a beginner and will be asked to be especially kind and helpful to you, even to the extent of pointing out where the next mark is or telling what the flags mean!
At the Briefing you will find out about the course. Races usually last about 30 minutes. We run a “Grand Prix Finish” system, so that even if you complete only one lap you still get a finishing position. This means that if you are near the back of the fleet you don’t have to keep slogging round the course when everyone else has finished. As soon as the Finish flag is raised, everyone finishes when they next cross the finish line.
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