Winning Team
Pugneys Pirates
Tushingham sponsored team

Young windsurfers sail into Humberside

Forty young windsurfers from all over Yorkshire, Humberside and Lincolnshire gathered at North Lincs & Humberside Sailing Club, Barton upon Humber on Saturday 14th June to compete in the first round of the RYA North Zone Team15 Championship.

The hotly contested championship is for young windsurfers under the age of 16 to show their skills against each other and to win points for their club. There are four events in the north this year; this is the first – at North Lincs & Humberside Sailing Club – the second and third events are at Covenham Sailing Club on 5th July and 31st August and the final event in the regional competition is at Pugneys Country Park Sailing Centre, Wakefield on 21st September. The club with the most points at the end of the series becomes the North Zone Team15 Champion Club and goes on to compete with all the other regional winners to become Team15 UK Champion Club 2008.

In a day of mixed winds, some fantastic results were posted by the young windsurfers, many of whom were competing in their first windsurfing tournament. Some of the best scores came from 10 year old Mathew Carey from Halifax (Pugneys Pirates) who scored six firsts out of nine races in the 3.5m class and 11 year old Reuben Lansley from Barton upon Humber (North Lincs Invaders) who scored six firsts out of seven races in the 4.5m class. A special mention should also go to 9 year old Harry Davis from Barton upon Humber who did well in the 3.5m class (scoring three 5th places), despite having windsurfed for only five weeks and being a member of the North Lincs Invaders team for less than a week!

There were some great family rivalries too; not least Matthew and younger brother Josh Carey from Halifax (Pugneys Pirates) who came 1st and 4th overall in the 3.5m class; 11 year old Emma Laybourne from Barrow upon Humber (North Lincs Invaders) won the 5.5m class with younger sister, 9 year old Sarah coming 7th in the 3.5m class. Brothers Jack (15yrs) and Harry Maw (12yrs) from Louth (Covenham Cyclones) continued their Team15 campaign by coming 2nd in the 6.8m class and 6th in the 5.5m class.

Races in the 5.5m class were very competitive with Emma Laybourne (North Lincs Invaders) and Abigail Wilson (Pugneys Pirates) swapping first and second places throughout the event; with Emma eventually winning by 4 points. The most outstanding results of the day were posted by Team15 “veteran”, 15 year old Nick Durham from Doncaster (Pugneys Pirates) who won all 7 races in the 6.8m open class.

Finally, after an exciting and unpredictable day the first team win of the season went to the Pugneys Pirates from Wakefield.

The Green Blue is an environmental awareness initiative by the British Marine Federation and the Royal Yachting Association. One of its aims is to educate and promote the sustainable use of coastal and inland waters by watersports participants.

Some of the initiatives have a relevance to windsurfers - especially in achieving cleaner seas and beaches.

Adopt-a-Beach is definitely relevant to T15ers, which is a Marine Conservation Society project supported by the Green Blue.

Check out what parts of the Green Blue are relevant to you