Event report - event 1
Oxford Sailing Club, Farmoor Reservoir
Saturday 25 June 2005

Skimming the wind at Farmoor
The start of the south zone's quest for team15 windsurfing supremacy was to begin at Farmoor, Oxford’s finest sailing venue with a reputation of having little wind! But not this year, and as we arrived on a gloomy Saturday morning a reasonable breeze was covering the lake and sails were being quickly rigged to make the most of the wind opportunity.

Images are slightly fuzzy so please adjust your eyes!

Twenty sailors were to contest the first T15 inter-club event as teams from all of the established clubs made the trip to Farmoor - the Calshot Flyers, Poole Piranhas and Queen Mary Skimmers joined the Oxford Zoomers to do battle. And so following a quick briefing, where new and old faces met in their team's colours, it was on to the water where a hastily arranged triangle course was laid for the competition to begin.

Having managed to avoid the Wayfarer race we managed to get two races finished before lunch. It wasn’t just the marauding Wayfarers that were causing problems, the short line on the mark ground tackle meant that our outside mark (number two) had a tendency to drift off downwind (at a rate of knots better than most of the sailors!). Never mind lay lines and wind shifts, where’s the RYA racing tips on wandering marks?

Lunch was enjoyed by all, whether it was packed sandwiches or hot food from the Farmoor canteen; once fed we took to the water again for the afternoon's session of tactical battle! More exciting racing followed, the absence of wandering marks and marauding wayfarers made for a more relaxing session and a further two races were completed to finish the days competition.

The winning team was to be the Queen Mary Skimmers who scored 4 first places in every fleet; this gave them an unassailable lead even with the lower number of attendees. In second place was last year's zone champions Calshot Flyers, third was the travelling Piranhas from Poole and in a defiant fourth place were our generous hosts, the Oxford Zoomers who clearly struggled with the unaccustomed conditions of wind at Farmoor (fair play, it affected me on an emotional level too, you just don’t expect wind at Farmoor do you? Or have we just been unlucky in the past?).

And so now we're off to Calshot! Last year's champions with pride to salvage, having lost the first round here at Farmoor; with tides and waves to contend with the coastal rippers may have some skills up their sleeves to show the pond sailors from Queen Mary and Farmoor, but will their trump-card work on Poole's Piranhas? If the tides don't get the competition though then the salt water will, Calshot it has been noticed do not fall off with their mouths open

team winners
Queen Mary Skimmers

For further details contact
Chris Lewis
clewisgbr366@rya-online.net
 
It's probably best to call Chris since, as a rep for Sola Wetsuits, he is out on the road a lot and not necessarily picking up email: 07976 782685

We are the Champions!
West Kirby Warriors
T15 Champions 2008

Congratulations!

-- | --

Free National Sail Number
Make race scoring easy
& obtain your unique number.
It's yours for life
& a free benefit of RYA membership

Contact
tzaneen.mears@rya.org.uk
to be allocated your official number.

Once you have the number
the actual sticky-back digits
can be ordered from
UKWA

-- | --

Team15
Coach Courses


T15 Coach-Red courses
will now be known as
Racing Instructor Courses
 T15 Coach-Freestyle courses
will change to T15 Freestyle Coach!  

For information
(previous courses in 2008)

Mount Batten Centre - Plymouth
Course type: Racing Instructor
Weekend course: 27/28 September 2008
Closing date: 5 September
Cancelled: lack of candidates

Lakes Leisure - Windermere
Course type: Racing Instructor
Weekend course: 30/31 August 2008
Closing date: 15 August
Fully booked

James Hamilton Heritage Park - Glasgow
Course type: Racing Instructor
Weekend course: 30/31 August 2008
Closing date: 15 August
Cancelled: lack of candidates

Gwent Adventures - Wales
Course type: Racing Instructor
Weekend course: 9/10 August 2008
Closing date: 25 July
5 candidates on course


Grafham Water Centre - Cambridgeshire
Course type: Racing Instructor
Weekend course: 5/6 July 2008
Closing date: 30 June
Spaces available
6 candidates on course

Wimbleball Lake - Somerset
Course type: Racing Instructor
Midweek course: 3/4 July 2008
Closing date: 30 June
4 candidates on course


Roadford Lake - Okehampton
Course type: Racing Instructor
Midweek Course: 4/5 June 2008
Organised by South West Lakes Trust
Fully booked


Carsington Watersports - Derbyshire
Course type: Freestyle
Weekend Course: 3/4 May 2008
Fully booked


Carsington Watersports - Derbyshire
Course type: Racing Instructor
Midweek Course: 1/2 May 2008
6 candidates on course


Mountbatten Centre - Plymouth
Course type: Racing Instructor
Weekend Course: 12/13 April 2008
Cancelled: lack of candidates

-- | --

ADOPT-A-BEACH