Event 4
Venue: Surfstore, Stockton 
Date: 24 September 2006

Pirates claim last event
With the “buzz” of the previous days North East Windsurfers Super 8 Challenge which many of the Clubs had attended still evident, competitors having stayed locally overnight began arriving bright and early.  The weather, which greeted them, however was anything but bright!  A light north easterly wind was doing little to disperse the persistent drizzle and the forecast for the remainder of the day was not promising.

With the volume of arriving vehicles increasing by the minute, registration became a major task with a record 44 competitors registering across the 5 classes.  Covenham Cyclones and Pugneys Pirates (Tushingham Sails) came with full teams and were joined by Coquet Crushers, 2 Hurricanes from Halifax (Bic), 2 Allstars from Surfstore (Neilson) and making a welcome return to inter-club events the Invaders from North Lincs.

Courses were quickly set in the ever-decreasing wind and just after 11.00am the 3.5m fleet took to the water, watched eagerly by the combined 5.5m and 6.8m fleet from the opposite end of the lake.  It soon became clear that what little breeze there was was diminishing as competitors struggled to get round the course.  But get round the course they did with Robert Griffiths (North Lincs Invaders) taking first place from team-mate Emma Laybourne in second and Kathryn Durham (Pugneys Pirates) in third.

Next to go was the 4.5m fleet with Keiron Burley (Covenham Cyclones) demonstrating his pumping ability finishing first from Ellis Cerrone (Pugneys Pirates) in second and Harry Maw (C.C) in third.

Enthusiasm for racing amongst the combined 5.5 & 6.8m fleet was being rapidly diluted in the persistent rain as the 3-minute countdown began.  George Bowles (North Lincs Invaders) got a cracking start and it was a lead he never relinquished as he finished first Techno ahead of Connor Bainbridge (Halifax Hurricanes) who took first in the open 6.8m fleet. With Cyclones Greg Baldock and Joe Moore taking second and third behind Connor and Aaran Douglas (Coquet Crushers) and Josh Brown-Bolton (Pugneys Pirates) second and third behind George, the excitement was building in the 5.5m class where Joe Bennett (Pugneys Pirates) having moved up from the 4.5m class was pushing experienced sailor Tom Dickinson (Covenham Cyclones).  Tom held off Joe to take first place while Joe’s sister Chloe (P.P) took third place.

The 3.5 & 4.5m fleets managed to get in one more race each before an early lunch break was called in the hope the wind would build in the afternoon.  In the 3.5m class Joel Peacock (P.P) took first ahead of team-mate Tom Harding in second and Edward Appleton (C.C) in third.  Luke Raistrick (P.P) got back to winning ways to take first in the 4.5m class ahead of Kieron Burley (C.C) in second and Emma Brown Bolton (P.P.) in third.

With lunch over and the sky brightening there was no sign of the wind returning and reluctantly at 2.00pm with Bishopton lake looking like the proverbial mill pond, the final inter-club event for 2006 was brought to a close.

With results calculated on what little racing had occurred, the Pirates from Pugneys took their first ever winning Team award by one point ahead of series winners Covenham Cyclones. 

With the Champions Cup on the horizon, the best wishes of all the T15 clubs and Coaches go to Lucy, Chris and Derrick and their Cyclones as they prepare for Rutland on 7/8^th October.

Winning team
Pugneys Pirates 

Event report written by
David Dobson (T15 CO - North Zone)

Photos to follow...

We are the Champions!
West Kirby Warriors
T15 Champions 2008

Congratulations!

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Mount Batten Centre - Plymouth
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Weekend course: 27/28 September 2008
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