The weather again was fantastic with hot sunshine and force 3 to 4 cross-onshore winds all day. One of the parents, Steve Watts, asked how I managed to organise wind and sun for these events? The answer - as I’m sure all windsurfers know - is that the conditions are always ideal if you can't windsurf yourself that day! Unlucky for Steve, whilst all the T15ers were on the water, he was assisting the event as a volunteer. On that front Ian Haywood once again took care of running the 3.5m and 4.5m fleets, acting as Race Officer.  Liz Watts leant a hand by driving the safety boat in the morning handing over the Tim Asbury in the afternoon; both Tim and Liz are working towards becoming Assistant Instructors so this valuable support to T15 will give them good experience - we wish them both well in achieving their goals. Gina, my wife, was also cajoled onto the water again in the guise of official photographer, whilst two Steve’s (Mr Watts and Mr Sissons) took care of the results. With Julie Taylor writing certificates and Paula Watts helping to hand out the trophies, the event team was complete - thanks to one and all for helping the event to run so smoothly; we couldn’t do it without you.

Back to another group of important people - the competitors; in terms of numbers the 3.5m class was best attended with 7 entries. I reckon the parents had requested that Race Officer Ian Haywood wear this lot out since these guys had 9 races to complete! The course was a start line between the Race Officer in a Ridgeflex boat and a buoy in the water, with the wind coming from behind the coach towards the buoy. The competitors lined up behind the start line with sails in the water. Following the flag sequence a 10 second count down was given to help the competitors (they’d been advised at the briefing that this would be the time to uphaul their sails). Once across the startline this fleet of seven youngsters then had to head out on a reach to another marker buoy a short distance away, tack around it and race back across the start line in the opposite direction to finish.

The 4.5 fleet (consisting of 3 competitors) sailed on the same course as the 3.5m fleet although they had to tack three times, twice around the outer buoy and once around the inner or start line buoy before crossing the finish line. These guys had an equally tiring day, completing eight races in total.

The 5.5m and 6.8m course was triangular in shape, smaller in the morning to make room for a dinghy race and then expanded to a larger course after lunch. The 5.5m fleet consisted of two competitors in the morning but dropping to only one in the afternoon. Compared to the 5.5m fleet the 6.8m sailors (four in total) had a longer course to compete, consisting of a triangle followed by a sausage.

Racing in all the fleets was very close with several winners. The exception to this was 6.8m sailor, Liam Taylor (Team Jonti) who hasn't lost a race so far this season - the question is, is he going to prove unbeatable? David Watts (Wipe-Outs) had 2nd place covered all day and is now getting really close to beating Liam - good effort David, keep it up. Thomas Harley (Wipe-Outs) was 3rd and Charley Sissons (Wentworth Warriors) came in 4th. Charley had moved up a fleet using her 13th birthday present - a brand new Tushingham TK6.8m rig. Although Charley came in 4th in every race, she showed her usual determination to finish every race and also improve throughout the day to get closer to the lads in front. I’m sure she will be out practising from now until September 9th to get towards the front of the fleet. My hope is that Charley will inspire the other competitors in the smaller sail size fleets to move up a fleet for the last event of the season.

Tim Howell (a freestyler) had been persuaded by his dad to come and try racing for a change; he and Alton team-mate Stefan Noble split the honours in the morning’s 5.5m races. Stefan had to leave the event after lunch so we were denied the deciding race and Tim took first in the fleet. I should mention at this point that Tim was on a sail a lot smaller than the maximum 5.5m allowed in this fleet, yet he was in amongst the 6.8m sailors on the first lap of their course; with board speed like his you don't always have to carry a big sail. A very impressive performance Tim - definitely try racing again, you’re good at it.

In the 4.5m fleet the conditions made the racing easy for some of the competitors - time to move up a fleet guys (taking the example of Charley Sissons, mentioned earlier). Rebecca Coulder had eight first places out of a possible eight, Dean Taylor, eight 2nds and Joanna Harley came in 3rd. All the 4.5m fleet represented the local team, Alton Water Wipe-Outs.

The 3.5m fleet had the longest day’s work. Christopher Harley (Lakeside Loafers) came in 1st overall, winning 7 of the 9 races - again, time to move up a fleet. Next was Conner Jones (Loafers) who had one 1^st, four 2nd's and a 3rd to count; very consistent racing. 3rd was James Tweedle (Team Jonti) - another race winner with one first place, one 2nd, two 3rd's and two 4th's.  Fourth was Jack Van Der Berg Hiden (Alton) on equal points with James, but the race win clinched third place for James. Zoe Deal (Alton), Nathan Prentice (Alton) and Thomas Bailey (Lakeside) came in 5^th, 6th and 7h respectively.

The team result, with the best three races to count, was dominated by home team, the Alton Water Wipe-Outs with 33 points, second with 104 points were the Lakeside Loafers pipping Team Jonti into 3rd place with105 points, Wentworth Warriors came in 4th with 132points. Due to the no-show, Norwich Force Eighth scored 144 points for the event. The Wipe-Outs stepped up to claim the team trophy at prize-giving, which was followed by free hot dog and chips which everyone tucked into, courtesy of Alton Water.

With today’s races under our belts the series result looks like this: Alton Water lead with 154 points, Lakeside Loafers move up to second with 268 points, Team Jonti are in third place (290 points) just ahead of Norwich Force Eighth with 294 points, with Wentworth Warriors following up the rear in fifth place (350 points).

The year is rushing by and the last inter-club event at Whittlingham will soon be here on the 9th September. I would like to ask all the competitors who have attended any event in the East Zone this year to make a special effort to join me at Whittlingham; with everyone there it is sure to be a fantastic finale to the season and I would urge you all to encourage any of your team mates who haven’t taken part in an inter-club event so far to come along too, that way the event will be even better. Finally, if any other teams in the east want to join in with the last event of the season to find out how much fun they are, then please drop me a line: Graham at grumsurf@uwclub.net

Enjoy your summer holidays, get out on the water as often as you can and we will see you in September.

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