Venue: Croft Farm, nr Tewksbury
Date: 8 July 2006 

Croft Farm near Tewksbury was the venue for event 2 of the series and one competitor asked on the way there; 'why are we going windsurfing on a farm - do we have to dodge cows?'.  In fact, Croft is a very popular centre that is always thronging with people.  A few years ago, they were invincible in the T15 region and it was clear from the event last month that their coaches Tom and Annie are working to rebuild a successful team of Croft Farm Flyers after a couple of years in the doldrums.  Would they now be victorious on their home water with a big, strong team of nine? 

The Axbridge Animals arrived in force with a record seven boards in a teetering pile on one car, a load that had caused the passengers to duck as they went under each motorway bridge.  Their coach, who can't count to 15, then had to ask one competitor to stand down because too many Animals had arrived.  Former zone-squad member Calum Finch graciously agreed and, instead of racing, he impressed the crowd with some nifty freestyle moves, including an almost perfect 360 boomerang.

Waterland Wonders and SCOEC Screamers arrived with three and two competitors respectively, making a total of 29 overall.

A fresh breeze meant that the show was swiftly on the road.

Competition organiser, Geoff Pook, ran just one paddling race to get everyone warmed up, with each fleet racing to a different mark to avoid the inevitable carnage when they all go round together.

Then, six novice competitors went to the windward end of the lake to race round a buoy from a beach start, which looked simple enough.  However, it got somewhat more challenging when the wind shifted but they managed to complete three races before lunch with Kerri Attride (Animals) coming out on top.

Meanwhile, the supposedly-experienced racers were making a complete hash of the first race on the main course.  Despite comprehensive and detailed descriptions of the course beforehand, half of the competitors mistook the position of the start line and the other half set off to the wrong upwind buoy.

With about 5000 blasts of his whistle, Geoff had recalled the fleet for another go.  This time, it was a lot more successful and some excellent, close racing ensued with particularly strong performances from Tom Davies (Waterland) in the 5.5 class, Zoe Masters (Animals) in the 4.5 and Barney Beachamp (Animals) in the 3.5 all sailing their best races ever to lead at lunchtime.

Lunch was a lengthy affair, as the popularity of the café's excellent sausage and chips caused the staff to be overwhelmed with hungry competitors.  By the time the racing restarted, everyone was fully recharged but unfortunately, this spilled over into an incident at the start of race 3 in which one racer was unpleasant to a couple of the smaller, less-experienced competitors.  This sort of incident is very rare at any level of windsurf racing, let alone Team 15 events, so it was dealt with comprehensively and the offender was left in no doubt about his misdemeanour.

Three, two lap races followed in quick succession with some intriguing personal battles taking place right through the fleet, particularly at the windward mark where the flukey wind made choosing the right place to tack absolutely critical.  Animals, Laurie Finch and Bella Jezard swapped first and second places in the 6.8 fleet in every race of the day, with Laurie taking the honours and reversing the result at the previous event.

In the 5.5 fleet, Guy Irvine (Croft Farm) sailed consistently to take second place, beaten only by Amy Barcus (Animals) who was on top form.  Helen Browne (Waterland) and Zoe Masters (Animals) also swapped first and second places several times during the day with Zoe just taking the 4.5 class by one point. 

Finally, the 3.5 fleet was dominated by the talented and consistent Laurel Townsend (SCOEC) pursued by Barney Beauchamp (Animals).  In the end, the Animals took the team trophy but if Waterland and SCOEC can round up a few more travelling members they will be challenging for the top spot.

Many thanks go to Croft Farm for agreeing to host a big event at their busy lake and we can all look forward to the next event at a brand new venue: South Cerney Outdoor Education Centre, in August.

Team Winners: Axbridge Animals

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