Event 2
Venue: Siblyback Watersports, nr Liskeard
Date: 1 July 2007

Rain, rain and more rain

Geoff and I left Gloucestershire in the rain, drove through Somerset in the rain, drove through Devon in the rain and into Cornwall in the rain. As we neared Liskeard we saw a patch of clear sky. This patch soon clouded over and we reached Siblyback - in the rain! The Zone Squaddies had been there all day and only managed an hour or so on the water because of the fog which covered the lake most of the time. Would it be the same on Sunday? We would see!

Sunday dawned, not bright, not clear. But at least you could see both ends of the lake and there was wind coming from over the dam. S.W. Lake head honcho, Luke, tuned up and opened the office. This was my cue to set up the computer and prepare for the rush. Geoff was dispatched to the shore with flags, buoys and all the paraphernalia needed for watery fun and games.

A wet warm-up

Luke gave his usual eloquent welcome and Geoff declared the games open! The first race was a warm-up paddle out, around two marks and back to the beach. At the end of the race all the clubbers had to sit in a line in their finishing order and wait for instructions.

Geoff got the coaches to turn the boards round for the next paddle. Roadford Coach, Adam, was not prepared for this and wanted to stay dry. It didn’t matter, however, as soon the heavens opened and the rain came down in stair rods! Race two was the reverse of race one and clubbers were set off in reverse order so that people with wide boards and short arms had an advantage. This meant that Fred Clarke, who won the first race finished 24th overall in race two and Henry Wahl, 15th overall, in race one was the winner of race two.

Dan Grayston and Louis Morris battle it out

For race three Geoff laid two marks close to the far bank, for the main course, while one mark with a T15 flag in it was used as a reaching course for the less experienced clubbers. Starting between the end of the jetty and Geoff’s boat, the main fleet jostled for position while Julie, my other half, raised the flags with one hand and took photos with the other. Geoff sat huddled under his hood, whistle on his mouth and note pad in a plastic bag. After 2 laps we saw the start of an epic battle between Dan Grayston (Roseland Wave Riders/Demon Sails) and Louis Morris (Siblyback Water Warriors/Tushingham) with Tamar’s Josh Warren next over the line, closely followed by Ross Bromhead, another Tiger.

Lunchtime and a chance to get out of the rain. The Squaddies were also stopping for lunch and swapping tales of planing carve gybes and wicked wipe outs. I was still struggling with unreadable entry forms when Geoff came in with the results of Race three so we entered them into the computer before munching on bacon rolls and black cherry yogurts (but not at the same time!)

Time to go again but with a slightly shorter course. There were no takers for the reaching course so we did three more races on the triangle course. Race four got underway and Louis was baulked at the start so Daniel had a clear run to finish well ahead of the fleet. Second over the line was Clea Gibson with Gemma Grayston close behind.

Panic on the line

Things looked rosy for the wave riders and looked even better in race five. Towards the end of race five, a Zone Squad parent (who shall be nameless but lots of people saw him) sailed his raceboard across Geoff’s bow and lifted the anchor. Before he could be untangled, the boat was so close to the shore that the finish line had almost disappeared! Seeing a gap in the fleets, Geoff started the engine and motored out. He dropped anchor just in time to finish the next half dozen as the boat drifted in again and repeated this panic action twice more to finish race five. For race six the boat was tied to one of the permanent marks of the lake which gave an interesting bias to the start line.

The usual 1, 2, 3, of Dan, Louis, Clea maintained their form while Ross and Gemma were out in front of the 4.5 fleet. In the 3.5 fleet Adam Grayston and Henry Wahl had been swapping places all day with Nick Sylvester behind them, recording a string of thirds. Clea Gibson and Josh Warren, 5.5 fleet, couldn’t be separated on points but Clea had won three races to Josh’s one so got the 1st place. With the top Techno sailors training in the Zone Squad there were only a few competing in T15. Louis, Ross and Gemma seem to be likely candidates for the 2008 squad.

Roseland do it again

It hadn’t stopped raining much during the day but boy did it save the best’ till last! It pelted down and I decided to move the prize presentation indoors. Siblyback manager, Luke Bailley, said he was impressed with the high standard of competition and thanked the coaches and parents for their support. He hoped everyone had a good time in spite of the weather and this received a resounding cheer! Luke thanked the sponsors, Neilson, Tushingham, Ultra Sport Bic, for their continued support.

Although Jack Hawkins was not happy with his performance, it impressed Marianne, his coach, who put him up for the merit award. Another merit award was given to Sarah Kellett who was the only representative from the Roadford Wreckers team. Roseland Wave Riders won the team trophy for the second time this year. With another two events to go they are favorites to win the series but we can’t count the other teams out just yet.

Team Winners - Roseland Wave Riders 

Report written by:
Geoff Pook
T15 CO - North Zone

We are the Champions!
West Kirby Warriors
T15 Champions 2008

Congratulations!

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