Swanage Kayak Comp. Thoughts?

[lofty]

The club has been approached with a view to helping this competition out this year.

The date is 16 th May

This national open kayak competition this year is being sponsored by Hobie, a large American kayak company, who are donating a large prize table.

What they do need from us is support on the day.

They also are very interested in club members views in how this competition can be run fairly.

The format is this.

It's a species competition that is in held in a specified comp area in Swanage. It is held over a fixed time eg.10-2 pm.

Competitors need to sign in and out of the comp. The most species wins. The competitors photograph what they catch against a card issued on the day and have the species verified by adjudicators on the green in Swanage.

 

I would like some knowledgable volunteers for the day to help verify the species on the cameras.

 

I would also like a couple of club boats to act as support boats.

 

I would also like suggestions from you how to make it a fair competition with no cheating.

The top prize is worth over £2500 so it's worth winning. That's a temptation for cheating. I'm considering random boat checks.

I like the idea of numbers for the kayaks for on the water ID.

Any other suggestions most welcome on this thread or by pm

Cheers for your input

Lofty

[Hooky]

I find it hard to believe anyone would be cheating !

 

You could however get every yak checked over (as well as boxes and packs) on launching, bit like scrutinnering at a race event.

 

I would be more than happy to play as long as I'm out on the water.

[Maverick Martin]

Lofty

 

As said previously it is hard for the support boats to know who are competitors or not.  Last year we approached one kayak and told him if he was in the competition he was out of the zone and should move.  His reply was not in the comp mate, with that we could do nothing as no way of identifying him.  With numbers on boats or at least stickers of some sort we could of reported back to base.

 

Regarding the cheating element it will be very hard to stop as those that would stoop that low are very inventive.  I would suggest  as said at last nights meeting that tying to a fixed object should be banned ie: drop your hook or sling it.  The idea about baits ie chopping off tails prior to launch is a good one although not fool proof.

[Maverick Martin]

Forgot to say that AWOL is available again this year if needed

[lofty]

Great news that AWOL is in attendance again

Thank you

[tom]

Hi Lofty,,

 

            In the past I have fished in big money competitions in Mexico.The way they did it was, 

 

             Each boat was issued with a polyroid camera and a list to record fish caught.

 

             As a fish was caught it was radioed to the mother boat who recorded the time,species and name of the catcher.

 

             At the end othe day the fish lists were handed to the judges who compared the time and photo.

 

              We all had to agree to take a lie detector test if required.

 

               I dont know if this is of any help,

 

                    Regards Tom.  

[lofty]

No.

[Neal]

Lofty

 

The format that is used is Ok - If individuals are so desperate to win that they resort to

cheating. Then unless they are caught, named and shamed and then banned from all future competitions - there is not much else that can be done. The threat should be enough to deter anyone and should be put in the rules of entry.

 

I am happy to provide Court Jester as a support Boat again

 

Neal

[lofty]

Court Jester and AWOL

Happy days.

[gjb]

Years ago on the IOW cod champs the fish was called in and a boat did spot checks but i think they were called in and timed

[niggle]

Only thing to keep it fair which I can think off and which you may of covered ,is distance to be maintained between kayaks

[lofty]

The main thing we want to avoid is people bringing fish with them as its a species comp. There was an idea to cut off the pre bought mackerels tails. Want to include maccys in the comp as a few juniors enter. A suggestion of random boat checks pre launch seems sensible.

[Rob]

Can you reduce the top prize and spread the prizes out a bit more? (Though I know is I at solely your comp)

[Maverick Martin]

Could you ban bringing fish baits? people could still use squid worms and the like but if they want mackerel as a bait catch them on the day.  Nobody should struggle to catch a few mackerel on lures/feathers as a species then use them for bait

[lofty]

Can you reduce the top prize and spread the prizes out a bit more? (Though I know is I at solely your comp)

Sounds like there's going to be a lot of good prizes. I like your random prize idea rob

[great white]

Sadly with good prizes on offer, there is a need to worry about cheating.

 

My advice would be to decide well in advance what the rules are, publish them in advance and make sure all competitors get a copy on registration.

This also includes the consequences of breaking the rules, and who is responsible for govering these rules and other things like species identification.

 

My thoughts would be that anyone caught breaking rules is disqualified.

 

At the yacht club with boats that all look the same we sometimes issue stick on large bow numbers, these have to be attached prior to the comp starting and stay on the boats until after the prizegiving. In this case it may also be worth taking photos of the kayak and crew in case of identification disputes.

 

Good luck with the comp, if you need more assistance we may be a available to assist

[great white]

I forgot to say, we usually get a sponsor for the cost of the bow numbers, but they are not that expensive if that is not possible to arrange.