Event 2
Bewl Watersports, nr Lamberhurst, Kent
Sunday 26 June 2005

Sausages and strawberries - the new Wimbledon!
What a day! I don't think that anyone could have expected the perfect conditions that the second South East interclub experienced; blazing sunshine and planing winds over the large course area. Yet again Bewl Valley was the grounds for another exciting event.

The morning was not too smooth though, in fact it was complete chaos! Arrival to the club was amidst a deluge of activity. Not only was it Bewl's Regatta day, meaning that every dinghy under the sun was queuing to get onto the water, but there were also troops of rowing boats being marched down the causeway like army tanks; if that wasn't enough there was also the several hundred camouflaged fishermen lined up with their canoes and waiting to go to battle...

And this was before the 24 team15 competitors with coaches, supporters, parents and groupies arrived. Busy is an understatement.

Sausages
Whilst Jill White (Bewl T15 Coach) and a team of willing helpers including last year’s clubber, Claire Beetlestone, coordinated the event site, T15 CO, Clyde Waite along Ian Hayward (T15 Coach from guest club Alton Water in Suffolk, who joined us for a bit of action whilst T15 develops again in the East Zone) set out to lay the course. This in itself had its twist (let's just say that engines are not solar powered!).

The wind direction was perfect to set a large course with a sausage (more about them later) for the 5.5's and 6.5's, with a shorter course (and sausage) for the 4.5's and just a plain old bottom-of-the-range sausage for the 3.5's. Confused? Well, now work it out; three different courses which required only 3 buoys and with water space at a premium on a day like this – perfect. Such is the genius of the competition organisers these days - only the best from the RYA!

Races one, two and three

The first race started with a mild amount of chaos. Clyde Waite (T15 CO) decided that a Le Mans start was by far the most fun way to kick the event off and keep everyone together. As he ran behind everyone with a T15 flag aloft to start them, the clubbers jumped onto their boards and in a flash promptly took as many of their rivals out as possible - quite a sight! The finish was a run up the beach to the T15 flag.

The format remained the same for the next two races of the morning and certain new faces showed us the potential in the region. From the Bewl Blasters, Georgie Nash (sounds a bit like the great Naish of Robbie, windsurfing hero, to me - Ed) impressed us all as she dominated the 3.5m class with consecutive victories. Dean Taylor (from guest club Alton Water Wipeouts) sailed a blinder, even though his starts were more than gentlemanly. Stuart Hards from Hythe Hotshots also turned up the goods in his first racing, despite almost breaking his nose. In fact most of the 3.5m fleet who had never raced, made it look as if it was something they had always done, they were loving it.

The 4.5m fleet was dominated by Hythe’s Jack Brooks, although team mate William Hurrell really gave him a run for his money. Rupert Faure and Caroline Gittins, flying the flag for home club Bewl Blasters, were not far behind.

Once again the 5.5m fleet was shown the way by the ever improving William Lama; this time around he had a new sail propelling him to even greater speeds. Tim Asbury from guest club Alton and Charles Coombe Jones of Bewl were not too far behind, whilst the smaller 6.5m fleet had a really good battle going on between Andrew Petts of Hythe and Ryan Taylor of Alton; Ryan, just having the edge on both speed and experience. However, the most impressive performance must go to Roly Jones, who battled round the extra large course set by the evil race officer, his first experience of big course – nice one!

A cunning ploy hatched between the race officer (Clyde) and his assistant (Claire) for the last race of the morning. They decided to hide somewhere on the beach with the finishing flag, leaving bewilderment, confusion and disorientation to the clubbers as they came ashore. The race to the finish soon became a 100 metre hurdle sprint. Clyde decided that this was not such a good idea at the end, once he had been run over several times by galloping clubbers trying to get to the finish point in unison.

Much More Sausages, Pimms and Lemonade 
The three races of the afternoon were reversed, meaning the gybing was now the manoeuvre of choice. There were still plenty of sausages to be done, but apart from a slight blip from the 3.5m fleet, it went pretty smoothly with the same names up front. Claire Gittins however, managed to post two 4ths in the competitive 4.5m fleet and maybe even surprised herself. The parents meanwhile were still finishing their picnics and watching the action sipping Pimms and eating strawberries. Windsurfing - the new Wimbledon by all accounts - more people to support anyway! With the efficiency of the racing we were left us with a 45 minute freesailing session in the afternoon in planing winds, but all too soon the day had come to the end.

Real Sausages
The prize-giving continued in its usual style and Hythe Hotshots again took the team trophy - they are looking unbeatable this season (or are they?). We want to know who is going to step up and challenge their lead! Will it be your club? Anyway, back to the sausages. As a treat for the clubbers and the parents as well, Bewl Sailing Club finished the day by bringing out a massive tray of chips and real SAUSAGES! Needless to say, it wasn’t too long before the whole tray was gone.

Next event is on the 10th July at Hythe and Saltwood Sailing Club. It is our first coastal event, so if you want your first or even second taste of sea sailing with plenty of rescue cover and a social atmosphere as well, this is the perfect location. Maybe the Hove Lagoon Pitranhas will join us and show us how to sail on the sea!

See you all there...
 
Team winners
Hythe Hotshots

All photos by Clyde Waite

For further details contact
Clyde Waite
clyde.waite@lycos.co.uk 

We are the Champions!
West Kirby Warriors
T15 Champions 2008

Congratulations!

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(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

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