Mambo 2005_Entry

THE 2005 MAMBO

25th ANNIVERSARY EVENT!

MERIMBULA, NSW AUSTRALIA

24-27 NOVEMBER 2005

All photos copyright Rob Smallwood 2005

You'll no doubt notice the relative absence of kitesurfing/windsurfing photos on this site this year -- But, as you already know if ya've been to Mambo before -- it's not just about the kiting or windsurfing -- Mambo is about the partying! And besides, the wind was so bloody good for most of the week I spent the majority of day in the water kiting everyday. So, if ya wanna see loads of water photos and all the official results of the competition, go to the Merimbula Sailboarding site at: http://www.acr.net.au/~msc/default.htm

We were hoping for a kite on the ride to Merimbula so many of the crew left Tuesday or Wednesday for the drive from Sydney or Melbourne, and some of the hardcore, notably Zebb and Libby drove down from Brisbane, and Caroline, Miccie, and Martha even drove from Perth! A few folks got a decent kite in at Windang on the way, though for most of us we were looking to Green Island for a session like last year's. Sadly, the wind that was so massive in Sydney had died by the time we reached the Island so we had to be content for an early arrival in Merimbula after a stop-off for lunch before Bega.

Wednesday we had a go at Pambula Rivermouth in about 14 knots but unfortunately the tide was flowing in the wrong direction so it pretty much wiped out the wind. After the pub on Wed night, the first part of Thursday was pretty much a blur -- a few hours on the water at Short Point and lots of walking up the beach to get back upwind but a good warm-up day for things to come. On Friday everything fell into place and we organised a downwinder from Main Beach to Pambula. Perfect 15-20 knot nor'easter, a 1.5m swell running and a friendly crew of Brett, Chris, Mark, Ben, Gavin, Adam, Sal, yours truly and few others. Lovely ramps for huge jumping and plenty of waves to ride on the way -- too bad the judges didn't follow us down the beach cause I reckon with all the stuff we did we'd have won the comp fer sure! he he.

Saturday it was wet. REALLY wet -- after about half an hour of wind in the morning the rain started and just didn't stop. Time for a rest.

Sunday the wind gods showed up again, with a vengence. What looked like was shaping up to be a steady 15-18 knot nor'easter soon became 15-30 knots -- and often all in a space of 15 seconds. Super gusty and dang near impossible to do tricks but if ya timed the gusts right you could pull some huge airs -- but the judges didn't wanna hear about all that dingle-dangle stuff, cause Mambo is about wave riding. The top riders were just killing it with wave action -- the level of waveriding with kites has improved dramatically since last year with folks doing just about anything on a standard surfboard that the pro surfers are doing these days but with HEAPS more power and speed. Awesome to watch.

Awards night was well-attended with what looked like about 300 folks to me and even if it did drag on a fair bit too long for most people's tastes, Henry, John and the crew put on a fabulous performance for everyone.

We finally got that Green Island kite in on the way back on Monday. Gale force winds were whipping up 3m seas and it was gusting to 35+ knots. The Island was cranking and the ferocity of the wind made the water surface look and feel like whipped cream. Brett, Johnny, Gavin and I stopped off and decided to have a go. We all lasted for about 20 minutes on our smallest kites and I was just barely hanging onto my 8. Johnny and I reckoned we both got jumps nearing 30m -- but of course, no one else saw any of it, so with no eyewitness reports, photographs or video to prove otherwise we'll continue to believe those jumps really WERE that big and I'm sure we'll find ways to embelish the story so they'll continue to get bigger and bigger every time we tell it. ;-)

Have a great summer -- if ya want higher resoultion copies of any of the photos on the site just email me at: web@kitesurfing.com.au and I'll organise it for ya.

Cheers,

Robbo

1 December 2005