Green light for the 2021 Australian WASZP Nationals at Paynesville
by Marc Ablett 3 Dec 2020 15:46 AEDT
23-26 January 2021
WASZPs blasting off the start line at the 2020 Australian Nationals © Harry Fisher
After an uncertain period during 2020 the Australian WASZP Class has held its nerve and it is paying dividends with the 2021 Australian WASZP Nationals set to go ahead in a big way, held from 23-26th of January.
The recent announcement of the borders opening to WA and competitors now freely able to move around most of Australia we are set for a great event at Paynesville, Gippsland Lakes Yacht Club.
The WASZP is one of the fastest growing classes in the world, bringing foiling to the masses and providing an affordable opportunity to go racing in a highly competitive one-design platform. The lifestyle of the WASZP is possibly its biggest attraction, events that cater for everyone, with a beach party culture and family friendly environment the class has possibly the broadest age range of any class, with kids as young as 14 racing against 65 year olds and everything in between. The WASZP class has gone a long way to solve some of the retention issues in sailing having a very strong age bracket of 18-35 year olds who continue on with the class after their youth sailing.
Gippsland lakes is one of the best locations for foiling in Australia, with solid summer breezes and dead flat water it will provide a fantastic racetrack for the 2021 WASZP Nationals. The relaxed country vibe is perfect for the WASZP class with its strong off-water culture and engaging on water formats outside of the championship racing. One of those formats is Slalom racing and once the allotted amount of Championship races are completed a Slalom championship will round out the event. This exciting short format has now been adopted for the SailGP WASZP Youth Racing Program INSPIRE and we are looking forward to more action during season 2 of SailGP.
The ethos of the class is to share as much knowledge and information as possible, with the top guys and girls always available to help and share their knowledge. Ever since the first WASZP regatta in 2017 the class has always strived for inclusion, even if you have only just got into the class or learning foiling for the first time everyone is encouraged to attend the nationals as it provides the perfect learning environment to upskill, the fact that you will always receive a score even if you only complete 1-lap means you can choose to inject yourself into the racing at anytime and learn to race at your own pace.
At the pointy end, there is some serious talent that is making its way into the fleet, both young and old. There are many champions from other classes who are now in the WASZP and putting more time into their WASZP racing. We have quality sailors coming from a wide variety of classes including I14s, 49ers, Etchells and many more, there is also a strong cross over with all the youth classes where kids are able to step into foiling at a very young age and enjoy their sailing.
It will be an incredibly competitive event with expectations of strong numbers out of Victoria and NSW, there are big numbers in WA and expectations that a few will make the trip and smaller enthusiastic fleets out of Tassie and Queensland to make it a truly Australia wide event, you wouldn't want to miss it!
There is plenty of accommodation available and you can check out the links below for some great deals, a lot of accommodation has a free cancellation option given the current pandemic circumstances, so it is a great time to book.