The Wipe-Outs win at Lakeside
The Alton Water Wipe-Outs proved the long journey from Ipswich to Peterborough in order to attend the first team15 event of the year was worthwhile - by winning it!

The sun shone on the morning briefing, held promptly at 10.30am by the lakeside at Ferry Meadows, Peterborough (home of the T15 club, the Lakeside Loafers). Having been quiet over the last season with no inter-club activity taking place, twelve competitors from five teams turned up ready to do battle at the first event in 2006 - a fantastic result getting the east back into the team15 action zone.

Whilst the teams were small, the clubs were nevertheless represented - a great start to the season. Two teams had only one member present - Wentworth Warriors from Tallington, near Stamford and Force 8, a new team15 club this year making the long journey from Norwich. The local team, the Lakeside Loafers, fielded a team of four, matched by the Wipe-Outs, with Team Jonti from Grafham Water, near Huntingdon being represented by two team members at the morning briefing, rising to three after lunch. Before the final team numbers were decided there had been a discussion between Alton's T15 coach and Grafham's coach over who should get the Taylor brothers, Dean and Liam since they have sailed at both clubs. The decision was made between the coaches - Liam, the elder brother represented Jonti because that's where the Taylors had originally been members and both Liam and elder sibling, Ryan (now out of T15 age) had raced for Jonti in the past. Dean however had received all his training at Alton Water, having been too young to sail at Jonti in 2004 and with no activity at Jonti in 2005 Dean joined Alton Water. So decision made; teams were at the ready and twelve sailors were eager to get afloat.

Once the briefing was completed it was time to hit the water for some fun racing. The 3.5m and 4.5m fleets were looked after by T15 coaches Ian Haywood and Philip Bennett-Lloyd, coaches for Alton Water and Norwich’s Force 8 whilst the 5.5m and 6.8m classes were organised by Tamzin Hurley (T15 coach from Wentworth Warriors) and Graham Colam, Team Jonti coach. The 3.5m class was best attended with 5 competitors in total, meaning that T15 in the east has great new blood; young competitors who have age on their side and who can represent their teams for a few years to come, improving their skills along the way as they move through the classes.

Because of the light wind a short course was set, which consisted of a start line between a coach (stood on a jetty) 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. There were three flags in the start sequence - red, yellow and green, with green for go. To help the competitors a 10 second count down was given and they had been advised at the briefing that this would be the time to uphaul their sails. Once across the start competitors 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 4.5m fleet had 3 competitors and sailed on the same course as the 3.5m sailors, although they had to tack three times - twice around the outer buoy and once around the inner (start line) buoy before crossing the finish line. The 5.5m and 6.8m course was a triangular course with a start between the new lakeside ridgeflex and a buoy. The 5.5m fleet was small with just one competitor in the morning, joined by another after lunch; the two had to sail around the triangular course whilst the three 6.8m sailors had a longer course consisting of a triangle followed by a sausage.

The racing in all the fleets was very close with several winners across the various races, although   Liam Taylor dominated the 6.8m fleet. The fight for second place in this class was so close between the two Toms though, that a 5th race had to be run to break the tie. Tom Bennett-Lloyd, representing Force 8 (attending his first T15 event) eventually beat Thomas Harley from Alton Water, who took third. Charley Sissons (Warriors) sailing on a Bic Techno had the 5.5m fleet all to herself in the morning and sailed with a foot in a cast (having had an accident involving here foot and a car during the previous week!). The determination she showed in completing the course in the morning’s races was inspiring considering she was only racing herself really. In the afternoon she was joined by Tom Shields (Team Jonti) who, with no previous race experience, went out and won his first race. At this stage the pain had obviously got too much for Charley and she decided to retire. Tom won the next two races and so took the trophy for the 5.5m fleet with Charley getting both second place and 1^st Techno trophies.

In the 4.5m fleet Dean Taylor (Alton Water Wipe-Outs) won with two firsts and a second, Chloe Smith for home team Lakeside was second with two firsts and a third, leaving Jams Tweedle (Team Jonti) to pick up third with three seconds. The 3.5m class was won by Jack Van Denberg sailing for Alton Water; he had 2 wins and a second. Conner James (lakeside Loafers) took second place with two seconds and a 4th. Rebecca Calder for Alton was third with a win in the first race followed by a 4th and a 3rd. Thomas Bailey was 4th representing Lakeside and 5th was Joe Dailey, also from Lakeside. The team result - with the best three races to count - was as follows: Alton water won with 63 points, Team Jonti second with 66 points, Lakeside third with 68 points and equal 4th on 94 points were Force 8 and Wentworth Warriors. The trophies were awarded by the Principal at Lakeside Leisure, Mr Barry Easom, who thanked everyone for attending. Mention should also be made of Lakeside’s soon-to-be team15 coach, Tom Easom, who helped the day run smoothly, doing all the behind the scenes tasks such as launching boats. Finally, thanks also to Gill Sissons for writing out the certificates, not forgetting the T15 sponsors - Neilson (Platinum sponsor), Tushingham/Starboard (Gold sponsor) and Ulra Sport/Bic (Gold sponsor).  

Team Winners
Alton Water Wipe-Outs (Ski Surf)

Event report by:
Graham Colam
T15 Competition Organiser (East Zone)

We are the Champions!
West Kirby Warriors
T15 Champions 2008

Congratulations!

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For information
(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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