Le Mans windsurfing for Eastbourne youngsters
Young windsurfers battle at Eastbourne.
36 young windsurfers from teams around the South East contested the third round of the Team15 Challenge Trophy at Spray Sports, Eastbourne on Sunday July 25th.
Challenging course
At the start, they raced down the beach, launched their boards into the surf and windsurfed around the challenging course, surfed back to shore then ran to the finish line at the top of the beach. With a bracing 10-14 knots hairdryer breeze, and despite some very ominous looking clouds sitting over the Downs all afternoon, Sunny Eastbourne delivered once again.
Winners of this unusual contest set by Ian Kraft, T15 event organiser, were Hythe Hotshots, just ahead of Eastbourne's Spray Sprites, with Bewl Blasters from Lamberhurst, Kent in third place and Aquasports Aquanauts from Redhill in 4th. But in the four event series, Spray Sprites still hold a narrow 2 point lead over Hythe Hotshots with just one more event yet to come.
Heading to the final
The winner of this Team15 Challenge will represent the South East at the national finals, the Champions Cup, held in October. A first or second place at Rye Watersports on September 11th would see Spray winning the series and going to Champions Cup, but a 3rd place for Spray with a Hythe win puts Hythe on the podium. This is going to be close!
In the 12 strong 3.5m fleet, the Fossett sisters (AquaSports Aquanauts), Emma (age 12) and Zoe (age 14) once again battled it out, with Zoe taking 6th and Emma 7th. But Spray Sprites totally dominated, holding the top five spots, with Luke Williams (age 12) taking the win, Oscar Williams (age 11) in 2nd, Angelo Errigo (age 13) in 3rd, Ellis Holman (age 12) in 4th and Megan Kraft (age 10) picking up 5th place and the Techno award.
The 4.5m fleet saw Hythe Hotshots Guy Carney (age 11) master the course, scoring four bullets from four races and winning convincingly. Guy says that he is looking forward to racing a 6.8m board next season, so watch out - It’s in his genes to be fast.
Josh Miles (age 14 - Spray Sprites) has only been windsurfing a few months in the 5.8m fleet yet stepped up to the plate to score a credible 5th place overall, despite not managing to finish the first race. He took the fleet’s Techno Award. Class winner was Alex Barry (age 14 - Hythe Hotshots).
Close races
In the demanding Techno 6.8m fleet, Jamie Howard (age 14 - Spray Sprites), put in an excellent performance to pip the experienced Hythe Hotshot duo of Rachel Finch (age 14) and Phillipa Hemphrey (age 13) for the win.
Races were very close and hard fought, exaggerated by the Le Mans format, with some being won or lost on the final sprint to the line. In the final 3.5m fleet race, Luke Williams hit the beach first, closely followed by Oscar Williams and hot on their heels was Angelo Errigo giving a Spray Sprite sprint to the finish. Luke had just enough of a start on the others, but Angelo sprinted past Oscar, giving him a friendly pat on the head as he did so, to steal 2nd place.
Oscar had the final laugh though as he pipped Angelo in the overall total of 4 races.
Get involved
Supported by industry leaders Tushingham/Starboard, Windsurf magazine, Boards magazine, Neil Pryde and Boardwise, T15 was set up by the RYA to help make windsurfing more accessible and appealing to youngsters at a grass roots level.
Fun and informal training sessions take place at T15 clubs all over the country for kids up to the age of 15, which are run weekly by specialist RYA coaches. The T15 inter-club championship takes place regionally over the summer adding a competitive edge and race training for those keen to hone their skills. Kit can be borrowed from the clubs and the cost of sessions is kept low.
To get involved with Team15 and locate your nearest local club visit www.team15.org.uk or contact the RYA 0845 345 0400.