The Coach Casey Downwind Daze 2021 was a downwind three-event series run on the Mornington Peninsula. Club events like this are designed to be fun, safe and a great way to enhance your SUP journey. We appreciate the strong support for this event from our members. We also appreciate the wonderful work of our water-safety team led by Harley Bartlett and Club member, Helen Fleer, who ran the registration desk with much precision.
The series was designed to involve both our racing and social crew. Feedback tells us that the Coach Casey Downwind Daze 2021 series was considered a huge success (although we would love more social paddlers for the next series).
The 2021 series was enhanced by input from super Aussie SUP paddler, James Casey. Rebranded as the Coach Casey Downwind Daze James shared his experience and knowledge with a series of zoom coaching sessions on paddling technique and mastering downwind paddling. James has competed successfully at many high-profile SUP events across the world. He is well known and respected across the SUP world and is also a great role model and ambassador for our sport. His sessions were greatly appreciated by all participants, racing crew and social paddlers alike. James also included a session on wing foiling, for those that have added this new dimension to their SUP paddling.
The Coach Casey Downwind Daze 2021 series consisted of 3 events, with a short (social) and long (race) course. All participants were registered to take part in James’ zoom sessions, where he shared invaluable information and tips and tricks on downwind SUP paddling along with one on downwind wing foiling. James’ zoom instructional zoom sessions included tailored PowerPoint presentations and videos on downwinding skills and knowledge along with Q & A time. James’ input was greatly appreciated by all. We encourage all members to check out his website and consider joining his club – Coach Casey. Club .
The 3 Coach Casey Downwind Daze 2021 events were held across a range of conditions
Event 1 saw sunshine, calm clear water and bright blue skies, but unfortunately not much wind. The chosen line was from Safety Beach Yacht Club to Rosebud pier with our social crew hitting the water in Dromana.
Event 2 saw strong winds; so strong that it excluded the social paddle option for safety reasons. The race ran from Rosebud Yacht Club to the Blairgowrie Yacht Club.
Event 3 saw perfect conditions with the racing crew blasting from Blairgowrie yacht club to the Rosebud Pier.
Racing Crew Place Getters
Coach Casey Downwind Daze Female (Overall) Champion:
Joanne Hamilton Vale
Coach Casey Downwind Daze Male (Overall) Champion:
Peter Jackson
Coach Casey Downwind Daze Open Female:
Lucy Bell
Coach Casey Downwind Daze Open Male:
1 Peter Jackson
2 Sam Hodder
3 Cheyne Mitchell
Coach Casey Downwind Daze over 50 Female:
1 Joanne Hamilton vale
2 Alison Randal
3 Janine Dudley
Coach Casey Downwind Daze over 50 Male:
1 Damien Quinlan
2 Ivan Martorell
3 Mark Thomson
Coach Casey Downwind Daze perpetual Trophy (fastest 1km posted):
Female – Lucy Bell
Male – Peter Jackson
Coach Casey Downwind Daze Racing Crew:
Alison Randal, Janine Dudley, Joanne Hamilton Vale, Lucy Bell, Susanne Prosser
Al Fairlie, Cheyne Mitchell, Craig Macaulay, Damien Quinlan, Grae Newland, Ivan Martorell, Mark Thomson, Paul Harrington, Peter Jackson, Sam Hodder, Thierry Danet, Will Purcell
Coach Casey Downwind Daze Social Crew:
Susan Griska
Ian Cassell
Downwinding is one of the most fun aspects of SUP paddling. It would be great to see an even bigger crew of paddlers get on-board for the forthcoming 2022 series, whether it be in the full-on race crew or in the social paddle group. If you’ve not done a downwinder before, now’s the time to start thinking about it; and you can start by reading the Intro to Downwinding . The Internet is full of great information also, try searching ‘SUP downwinding’ and watching some of the many downwinding videos on YouTube – you’ll be amazed what you see. So get hooked on downwinding – it would be great to see a much bigger social crew on the water for these events going forward.
