Registrations can be completed via the website or by filling out and posting in a registration form. Registration forms can be found at selected surf clubs and surf shops or through club, organisation coaches and managers.
Registration can also be done from 3-5pm on Friday the 7th or May and 8-10am on Saturday the 8th of May.The Registration tent will be located in front of the Salt Bar at Salt Village, Kingscliff. Registrations can also be taken 2hrs prior to your designated start time at your start location.
At registration or race briefing (for prior registrations), competitors will receive a competitor’s pack, including competitors souvenir saltwater festival rash vest (to be worn in race) and sponsors product.
Race Check in is compulsory.You must check in for your race at least 30 mins prior to the start of your race.Check in tents will be at your race’s start line. You will be marked off and receive your race number. Any race start adjustments will be announced at the Check in/registration tent.
Race Briefing
There will be a race briefing held at 9am on Saturday the 8th of May at the Registration tent, located in front of the Salt Bar at Salt Village, Kingscliff. This will cover all racing for the weekend.
Competitor requirements
Competitors must have race numbers and be wearing race singlet’s to start in any Saltwater Festival race.In the 10km and 30km events, competitors must also have at least 1 litre of drinking water attached to their craft.The Saltwater Festival organizers recommend that you consume at least 1 litre of water and if needed, also consider using sports nutrition sachets or formulas. Competitors must also abide by all race rules and any decision made by the race referee is final, however valid disputes will be heard if they arise. The full race rules will be posted and available on the website prior to the beginning of competition.
Saturday’s Long Course racing Saturday will see Marathon Ski, Board, Stand Up Paddle Board and Outrigger races running over varying longer distances of 30km, 10km and 4km. The 30km (20km or 25km in case of northerly) race will start from either Brunswick Heads, Currumbin Beach, Qld, with a possibility of Rainbow Bay, Qld, if the weather is extreme and from the North. The 10km race will start from either Hastings Point or Fingal Beach. The 4km race will start and finish at Salt Beach, using a rectangular course. If the wind has a southerly aspect, the races will start from the southern start points. If the wind has a northerly aspect the races will start from the northern start points. The weather will be monitored closely and the start line will be announced the day prior.
Each category will have a staggered start with its paddling pace taken into consideration, the aim being that the leaders of each category arrive back at the Village at the same time, with one male and one female paddler winning line honours.
Prior to the longer race starts, there will be a 4km race for each category. These will be run directly in front of the Salt Village at 10am.These smaller races will give some less experienced paddlers the opportunity to test themselves against the conditions.
While the 10 and 30/25km paddlers are making their way up or down the coast there will be music playing in the park area directly in front of the Salt Bar with the trade stalls also providing fair and information for the local community. The music will stop for the arrival of the first finishers of the paddle races and will stay off until after the majority of athletes have crossed the line.
The paddle competitors will be made up of U/19, Open and Masters in both Men’s and Women’s categories. They will be required, upon their paddling arrival at Salt to round a turning can and paddle to the beach, dismount from their craft and then run through a finishing funnel that will direct them up through the southern walkway of Salt Village, with a right turn they will then run northward along in front of the Mantra resort and through a finish arch in the park area directly in front of the Salt Bar.
After crossing the finish line they will be directed to their left, where between the Salt Bar and the finishing tunnel will be an area set aside for the competitors to rehydrate, receive any medical assistance, mix and mingle together and re-unite with friends and family. Given the staggered starts, we expect to see a steady stream of people come through the finish line, making for an exciting spectacle. We will be attempting to announce the finish of each athlete from the music stage. The paddle finishes will also coincide with the completion of Beach Volleyball for the day. This will allow all of the athletes to be back in the village together to enjoy the music and each others company and to give the local community members a chance to mix and mingle with everyone involved.
After a short time, there will be a presentation on the stage of the top 3 place getters for each category. Then the music will resume and play on into the evening.
Sunday’s Sprints Sunday we will be running the sprint categories and the mixed discipline events. These have been designed to be fun to watch and participate in. Sprint races will be run in all of the above categories, beginning with heats, where needed, and taken through to finals.
The top Men’s and Women’s place getters in the sprint and distance events will join some wildcards for the running of the Men’s and Women’s Super Sprint Eliminator. This event will start with 30 competitors and will start with a 4min sand running race. The last 5 competitors will be eliminated. Then a 4 min Swim race with the last 5 eliminated. The order of the last 4 legs will be drawn, with the exception of the OC1 leg, which will remain as the 2nd last leg. Each time a race is run the last 5 will be eliminated. Until, the last leg, having been previously randomly drawn, will start with only 5 competitors and go through to a frantic finish. This is meant to be the premier event of the day and the winner will be the athlete able to be most versatile on the day. The men’s and women’s super sprint eliminator will be run as a package, beginning with Women’s sand run and then Men’s sand run, moving onto Women’s swim and so on. Throughout this time there will still be entertainment in the park and on the beachfront with stalls operating with a simple carnival-festival atmosphere being the aim. After the completion of all the events, more music will play and presentations will be performed on the free music stage. Given that this is a very open stretch of coastline, there is a minor chance that we may need to move Sundays’ event, including paddling and Volleyball, to the foreshore immediately north west from the Kingscliff Bowling club. This would give us the best chance of avoiding damaging winds and swell and the best chance of ensuring the safety of everybody involved in the event. Ideally we would relocate a temporary music stage to the area and use a limited set up of shade tents and P.A. to run the event through to completion. The likelihood of this being needed for Sundays’ event is considered minor to possible. The likelihood of needing to do this for the finish of Saturdays’ events is considered extremely rare to minor. If this is the case, we will simply finish races in the safest possible stretch of Kingscliff beach and then direct the athletes back to the Salt Village for presentations and entertainment.
The Start Lines and Start times As stated above we have 5 possible locations for the 2 start lines. Any published start times will be approximates.Final start times will be decided on Friday afternoon at 5pm and will be forwarded via text message or email and will be published on the website.They will also be able to be accessed by phoning the competitor hotline. This will be published on the front page of the website. The start lines will be utilized with the slowest craft and age category starting first through to the fastest craft and age category, being the Open Men’s Ski race. In the case of the Marathons, in the event of a southerly based wind the distance will be 30km, in the event of a northerly based wind, the distance will be 20 or 25km depending on the wind. This is to cater for non-optimum tail winds from the northerly direction.
The 2 Start locations that fall in the Gold Coast City Council Shire are the 2 possible 25/20km start lines. These are Currumbin Beach and Rainbow Bay/Snapper Rocks. Only one of these will be used, if at all, based on the weather, as stated above. We would expect, depending on the conditions, to start at either Currumbin or Rainbow at around 1.30pm. The 2 locations that fall in the Tweed Shire are the 2 possible 10km start lines. These are Fingal Beach and Hastings Point. Only one of these will be used based on the weather, as stated above. We would expect, depending on the conditions, to start at either Fingal or Hastings at around 2pm.
The 5th possible Start location falls in the Byron Shire, at Brunswick Heads and is for the 30km race start. This will be used in the case of a southerly based wind. The first race here will begin at around 1pm. This is the most likely start with typically more southerly winds than northerlies recorded in May.
At all start areas, we will set up a shaded area for race check in and be using a small PA for race announcements. There will also be music playing in between announcements. We are allowing for people to start arriving 2hrs before start time to drop off their craft. They will simply check-in with the race starter and proceed to the start line for the beginning of the race. Once the races have begun, all support crews will then leave and head to the finish or one of the race vantage points along the way. At all start lines this will be a simple in and out, we wish to leave each area left in it’s original condition and request your assistance with this.
Race Maps
To view Race maps click here
Further information
Any further requests can be directed through the contacts above. There will also be constant updates posted on the website.
