Visiting clubs were making their first trip to hosts, Pugneys Pirates, located at Pugneys Country Park, near Wakefield, West Yorks.  Benefiting from a “state of the art” clubhouse and facilities, the banks of the park were soon crowded with visitors who certainly make good use of their local amenity.

Joining hosts Pugneys Pirates were the Cyclones from Covenham, North Lincs Invaders, Halifax Hurricanes, Coquet Crushers and a lone Allstar from Surfstore, which provided a total entry of 39 competitors spread across 5 fleets.  The largest entry of 14 was in the 3.5m fleet and for the first time in 2006 we had an entry in the Techno 6.8m where Nth. Lincs Invader George Bowles had deserted his raceboard in favour of the Techno.

With competitors anxious to get on the water but with no wind and the water resembling a mill pond, a quick succession of solo and 2-man paddling races led to an earlier than expected lunch break as the first signs of a breeze began to filter through.  Two courses were laid during the lunch break and with Coaches Lucy and Chris taking the 3.5 / 4.5m fleets to the launch area in the bottom bay, the combined 5.5 & 6.8m fleets were the first to take to the water. 

The course consisted of an upwind leg followed by a couple of reaches - well at least that was what was intended but with the wind “switching and shifting” just like a Simon Bornhoft FastFwd coaching session, the puzzled expressions on the faces said it all as competitors changed tack almost continuously as they tried to complete the course.  But complete the course they did with Kieran Henderson (Covenham Cyclones) taking first in the 5.5m fleet and Connor Bainbridge (Halifax Hurricanes) romping home in fine style to take first in the 6.8m fleet.  With a combined fleet entry of 20, the remainder of races were completed as separate fleets making result recording so much easier!

Temperatures of 30+ with light fickle winds were taxing even the best sailors and in the 3.5 / 4.5m races, the course was having to be constantly revised to reflect the shifting winds.  Coaches Lucy and Chris were wasting no time as they fitted 6 races into the afternoon session to compensate for the late start.  In the 3.5m fleet, the competition between Covenham teammates Harry Maw & Joe Dickenson was building into a fine finale as they consistently swapped first and second places.  In the end Harry clinched first place, 2 points ahead of Joe with Emma Brown-Bolton (Pugneys Pirates) taking a first and second in the final 2 races to clinch third place ahead of Tom Harding (PP) in fourth.  Kai Bainbridge (Halifax Hurricanes) had his best result of the 2006 series finishing in 7^th.place.

In the smaller than normal 4.5m fleet (they have all moved up to 5.5m!), Pugneys team-mates Mathew Earp and Mark Sutton, finished on not only identical points, but had identical race results. Therefore it was only by virtue of the result of the final race that Mathew pipped Mark for first place.  Ellis Cerrone (PP) took third place ahead of Ryan Missett  (PP) in 4th who collected the Techno class award.  Peter Heyes (PP) sailing in his first ever T15 event collected the Coaches Merit award for “improving with a smile”.

With a bigger course only 4 races were completed by the 5.5m and 6.8m fleets.  In the 6.8m open fleet, Connor Bainbridge (Halifax Hurricanes) put his experience of higher level competition to good use taking 4 firsts and first place overall, although George Bowles (Nth Lincs Invaders) sailing in the Techno 6.8m class, did demonstrate the capabilities of the Techno by taking one first in the combined 6.8m fleets.  Simon “Susan” Thompson (Covenham Cyclones) and Jack Tait (Surfstore Allstars) were left to battle it out for second and third places in the 6.8m open fleet with Simon clinching second place with 2 points to spare.  Aaran Douglas (Coquet Crushers) just missed out on third place by 1 point finishing fourth.  The Coaches merit award went to Coquet Crusher James Tait who despite being completely bamboozled by the continuos changes in wind direction, showed grit and determination in finishing every race, usually crossing the line with a big smile on his face.

In the 5.5m fleet, Joe Moore (Covenham Cyclones) almost mirrored Connors consistency in the 6.8m class taking 3 firsts, to finish in first place ahead of team-mates Kieran Henderson in second and Ben Foxon in third. Chloe Bennett (Pugneys Pirates) took the Techno class award finishing fourth overall.

Retreating to the Clubhouse, the prizegiving took place in front of a full house and with all the individual awards presented, the Team award based on the best 6 results of each Team went for a third successive time to Covenham Cyclones, who barring a disaster in the final event at Surfstore on 24^th.September look set to retain their North Zone Champions status for a second year – but this is windsurfing and anything can happen!

Thanks to all the Pugneys Team especially Steve for organising the event, to Coaches Lucy and Chris for managing the racing in the 3.5/4.5m fleets and to all the competitors for tackling the light conditions so well.

PS.  Get well soon Joe – hope to see you at Surfstore

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