No one likes having Unfinished Business, Rou Chater heads to Australia to take on the Southern Hemispheres most gruelling kitesurfing event, will he succeed or will he be left swimming with the sharks once again?

Rou Chater takes on the Red Bull Lighthouse to Leighton race, a high-speed blast from Rottnest Island to Leighton Beach in Perth, dodging sharks, catamarans and oil tankers along the way…

I’ve been lucky enough to be involved with the Red Bull Lighthouse to Leighton race for four years now. Initially as a journalist and photographer, then as a racer, once more as a photographer and journalist and finally this year as a racer again.

It’s an extraordinary event and the highlight of kite racing in the southern hemisphere. Attracting racers from all over the world this isn’t just an elite foilboarders fancy; the race is aimed at being inclusive for everyone who can kitesurf. With categories for twin tips and race craft plus equal prize money for both men and women, it is easy to see why it attracts such a huge following. Places sell out in quickly, and these days there is a lottery for entry, sign up and keep your fingers crossed that you get a place!

The race itself is simple enough, a fast blast from Phillip Point on Rottnest all the way to Leighton Beach. With the prevailing Fremantle Doctor providing a consistent southwesterly breeze it’s a straight run from point to point covering a distance of 19km. While that sounds simple, the race is far more complicated than that.

Elite racers mix with weekend warriors on the start line, launching from a beach with a slightly offshore and very gusty breeze. With 140 competitors all jostling for position before the gun goes off it can get hectic! It would be fair to say 50% of this race is won before you have even crossed the start line!

An enormous credit should go to the organisers, each year the event runs like clockwork. It’s a huge logistical task to organise 140 kiters, the media, volunteers and race crew and get them over to the island with all their equipment and get the racers across safely with no incidents. Each year Tim Turner and his team somehow achieve the impossible and give every competitor an afternoon to remember.

My story this year was one of redemption, those of you who know me will be aware I am fiercely competitive, a trait I’m not proud of but one that drives me to be the best I can be. Two years ago I was given an entry into the race and training started in earnest. Equipment choices were mulled over and discussed with previous winners, and my competitive streak saw me eyeing a finish near the top of the fleet.

Armed with the latest race kite from Ozone and a fast slalom board from Airush I managed to get held up at the start and went about gaining places and fighting my way towards the front of the fleet. In the distance, I saw all the kites go down and was soon overtaking downed riders as the wind disappeared.

It was all going so well until my high-performance foil kite got hit by a poltergust (a freak gust of such ferocity it moves things where they shouldn’t be). My kite did a 360 flip, bowtied and started drinking seawater leaving me swimming with the sharks in the channel a few miles from the finish line at Leighton Beach.

That year was plagued by the weather, and 50% of the racers were classed as DNF’s (did not finish) like me. My only salvation was that I was in good company; most of the top pro’s suffered a similar fate. However, it did leave me with a sense of wanting more, a chance to actually make the crossing under my own steam and not clamber onto the shore at Leighton Beach out of a rescue boat with a foil kite that resembled a birds nest tangled with bin bags full of seawater!

The following year I was back on photo duties so got to see Nico Parlier break the course record from the lead boat. Arguably the best seat in the house this remains as one of the most impressive things I have seen someone do with a kite. Despite a stacked field of world-class racers from the recent hydrofoil event in Perth, Nico left everyone in his wake and was so far ahead you could see him but no other kites even close…

This year, Tim had mentioned there might be a spot for me in the race, unlike my previous attempt I decided not to get too excited until it was confirmed. Rather than spend time training and getting race gear sorted and taking it over for my trip, I decided to see what I could blag on the other side of the world.

Taking a bunch of race gear over with a 30-kilo luggage allowance when you plan on spending most of your days riding the waves in Lancelin seems a bit of a waste. In a case of the ultimate in preparation two days before the event, I called the excellent crew at WA Surf in Safety Bay. Drew and his team run a tight ship and while bespoke race gear would be hard to find I figured I could enter the twin tip category and just blast across in relative comfort.

Aaron Hadlow was back this year to defend his title in this category, along with Colleen Carroll. I had mentioned the race to her while I was still in the UK as I knew she was travelling around Australia for the premiers of The Bubble. The twin tip category has become more popular in recent years with the elite hydrofoil crew effectively locking off the podium in the race class.

My chances of beating the likes of Olly Bridge on a hydrofoil are slim to none, but perhaps I’d have half a chance at doing well on a twin tip was my thought process. It also meant I didn’t have to try too hard to get race gear, anyone will lend you a twin tip, but borrowing someone’s hydrofoil is a little like asking to borrow their wife…

Once again the wind forecast was looking shifty, it seemed that Tim’s patience would be tested as the outlook was showing light winds and even thunderstorms on the day of the race. Deciding that I just needed a big kite and a board I arranged a 13m Rebel with Drew and a Jaime 133, a smaller board than my usual tastes, but small is fast, and as long as the wind showed up I figured this would be a solid set up.

Little did I know Colleen was also in the market for some racier gear from Drew, needless to say, we had double booked. Being the chivalrous chap I am, I let Colleen take the 13m Rebel, and I scooped up a 12m Evo. With my not-so-racey gear sorted all I needed now was for the forecast to be wrong and for the wind to blow. This is Perth after all, and despite the odds, the sea breeze is usually a solid bet, and that was where I placed all my chips!

In the end the race got cancelled for the Saturday as the thunderstorms held true and with a postponement to Sunday things were looking up. Warm sunny weather was forecast, the perfect recipe for a sea breeze, although the temperature was in danger of going too high and causing an upset on the wind front.

With the wheels firmly set in motion, the Red Bull Lighthouse to Leighton train was going to be a difficult thing to stop. We arrived bright and early at the Rous Head ferry port ready to board the Rottnest Express over to the island. True to the forecast it was hot, sunny and there wasn’t a breath of wind. Time was on our side though; it was way too early for the sea breeze to even start showing its head yet…

Rottnest is a fantastic place to spend some time, and if you ever get the chance to visit Perth then be sure to tick this offshore gem off your list. With stunning beaches, crystal clear waters and some quaint little shops, bars and cafes it’s not a bad place to spend a few hours. Throw the quokkas in the mix, and that’s the entertainment sorted for the day!

I’ve seen some tricky conditions for this event over the years, but when we arrived at Kingstown Barracks for the race briefing, I have never seen the flag at the top of the mast hanging as limp as it was. This was not a good sign although the infectious enthusiasm of Tim and his excellent race crew had the 140 or so riders all hoping for a miracle.

As Colleen and I climbed over the dunes to the beach the site wasn’t much better, hardly a breath of wind at the launch spot and not a single white cap out on the water. The faintest of breezes was blowing in the right direction, but this was most definitely not 12m weather!

As the racers got themselves ready, the big foil kites and hydrofoils took to the water. The rest of the fleet was beached with the wind barely registering over ten knots. The start got delayed, delayed again and then to my surprise the call was made for a 15.30 race start. With such a sketchy launch, and such light winds the start was going to be tricky as kites fell out of the sky every time they hit a lull.

Once again it was going to be the start line where it mattered the most, I opted to clamber down the reef barefoot at the leeward end of the line. Away from the usual hustle for the windward end of the line and hopefully get a clear run without getting tangled. Usually, at a start, I’d make a few runs and be riding around on the water, but with barely enough wind to stay upwind my plan changed to just waiting for 30 seconds to light up my watch and then to hammer at the line as fast as possible.

Luckily this plan worked, to a point, and I got a clean start without any incidents, it wasn’t exactly a flyer over the line at the front of the pack though. With the light wind and just a 12m and a small twin tip, the next twenty-five minutes would be a battle of fitness. Constantly diving the kite for power, I realised I would have to keep this up for the entire crossing to be in with a chance of making it across the line.

The first incident arrived when a 40foot catamaran along to watch the race decided to hold it’s course and sail right through the racers. The guys and girls around me seemed to get an easy pass, but on my line, I ended up having to stop and sail around to the leeward side and lost all momentum and wind in the kite. Thankfully I kept it in the air, and after a few minutes of battling with dirty air, I managed to get some speed up again.

The riders I had been close too were now way off in the distance; it was time to put the hammer down as much as you can when you are underpowered and struggling not to sink.  The next section of the race I found a good rhythm and managed to make up quite a bot of ground. Aaron and Colleen were long gone in front of me; Aaron was sporting a far more appropriate 17m Dyno, so I knew I would never be in a race with him. Fair play to Colleen she was flying along with the 13m Rebel and arguably a few less pounds than me!

In the middle of the channel, the tankers posed the next issue, while stationary these huge behemoths of the sea create massive wind shadows and you have to pick a good line in between them. Unfortunately, I got hung up here once again and had a moment of panic as I was up to my neck in the sea trying to do everything I could to keep the kite in the sky.

A lucky gust came to my aid, and I was off again, I’d managed to overhaul a few of the riders in front of me and finally had the finish line in site. Weirdly my front leg was cramping more than the back one, and my arms were feeling pumped from all the effort on the bar. It was definitely the hardest crossings I have ever done with no let-up or help from the wind, a constant battle to keep speed and keep momentum from start to finish.

To my surprise, as I crossed the line there weren’t too many kites on the beach, and there were even less twin tips. Had I maybe snuck into the top ten? Aaron hadn’t kept his title; his 17m Dyno was leaking air, while he was powered up towards the end of the race the kite had deflated enough to start folding if he put any real power through it. Longtime competitor Jordan Girdis had beaten him to the line with a foil kite and a very fast looking custom twin tip!

Colleen had sewn up the girl's twin tip class while Olly Bridge had taken the win for the men in the race class after a few years of mishaps and Steph Bridge led the women’s race fleet home. On the beach, everyone had their own tales of trials and tribulations. It’s a tough race to get right, and there are a myriad of things that can go wrong.

As we rehydrated and watched the rest of the racers come home, there was one common theme among all of them. Everyone was stoked to have made it across and even more stoked the race crew had decided to run the race, despite the testing conditions. For sure it might not have been the fast blast we all hoped for, but it was immense fun, and I finally get to say I finished the race.

In the end, I managed to come 9th in the twin tip category, not bad with such a small kite and board and 35th overall. Had I taken bigger gear I could have done better, but I was just happy to have finished and be able to sink a few beers that evening with a sense of satisfaction you don’t often get in life…

The Red Bull Lighthouse To Leighton will be back in 2018, and international riders and racers are actively encouraged to take part. Why don’t you plan a winter trip and tie in racing in one of the most prestigious events in the Southern Hemisphere! Maybe I’ll see you on the start line!

Huge thanks to Drew and the crew at WA Surf for the loan of the race gear! If you are ever in Perth be sure to pay the guys a visit in Safety Bay! http://www.wasurf.com.au

MENS OVERALL & MENS FOIL

  1. Olly Bridge
  2. Theo De Ramecourt
  3. Jean De Falbaire

MENS TWIN TIP

  1. Jordan Girdis
  2. Aaron Hadlow
  3. Antoine Sabourin

WOMEN’S FOIL

  1. Steph Bridge
  2. Natalie Flintrop-Clarke
  3. Fabienne Bosiger

WOMEN’S TWIN TIP

  1. Colleen Carroll
  2. Rachael Hughes
  3. Kathryn Davies

Videos

Red Bull Lighthouse to Leighton race 2017
By Rou Chater
Rou has been kiting since the sports inception and has been working as an editor and tester for magazines since 2004. He started IKSURFMAG with his brother in 2006 and has tested hundreds of different kites and travelled all over the world to kitesurf. He's a walking encyclopedia of all things kite and is just as passionate about the sport today as he was when he first started!

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