Windsurfer of the Year .....

Despite a very promising forecast, the wind did not arrive for the warm-up event to the evenings celebrations.
Bournemouth Council gave support for the masterblaster planned for saturday afternoon; and the venue looks very promising for the future. But, we will have to wait until 2008 to hit the water !
The evenings activity moved to the Sandbanks Hotel , Poole, for the Annual Awards Ceremony. MC for the evening was Ceri Williams, a late replacement for Peter Hart , who was a late replacement for DW who was a .....
Ceri won the "best shirt of the evening award " -if only because it was different from the rest ! Ceri commented ."the 4th button is meant to be a different colour(and shape) from the others - why else would i pay £#### for the privelege of wearing it !"

The prize-giving schedule was punctuated by a live band under construction .
Apologies ...."Under Construction" , a live band led by our very own James Palin , pronounced -P-Ale -In - performed a live set (within limitations) before, during and after, the awards presentation. They certainly got the audience going - even when the noise limiter kicked in !

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the 2007 Windsurfer of the Year - to Bryony Shaw.
Bryony has trained long and hard to represent Great Britain at the Beijing Olympics, and this year she capped an illustrious campaign by winning Gold at the pre -olympic sailing regatta.
Other nominations were: Zara Davis ( speed ) and Ross Williams ( all-rounder !).

A new prize was presented this year - the Dave Gayda Award, for service to the sport. There could be no more deserving recipient than the Ingram family- and what a fantastic reaction when the announement was made!
Dave is an artist, a painter, and a pretty good one ! He has offerred to donate an original painting each year for this Award.

The third major presentation of the evening was the Techno Cup, awarded for outstanding achievement in junior racing. It was also the oportunity for 2 of this years outstanding achievers to take centre stage together. Sam Sills ( 2007 under 15 World Champion ) was presented the trophy by Ali Masters ( 2007 under 17 World Champion ) last years recipient.
The futures bright - the futures techno !

So many people to congratulate and to thank -and here we go.......

Sunsail - for donating a holiday for 2 in Antigua. The lucky winner , drawn from all masterblaster entrants, was Jo Wright .
Windsurf Magazine - for 6 annual subscriptions, drawn as above.
Brian & Ann Tilbury - for dedicated devotion to the race offce ,and registration, at every race event.
The UKWA Race Team - not too many to mention : Dave and Paul Sibley,Ed Carr, Kev Proffitt, Paul Chapman , Sue Deverell, Jay Williamson , JanSolven , Paul Linnett, Rob Strange, Dave Barratt, Sue Round, Al Morgan, Mike Dempsey, James Palin, Tess Ingram..
Thanks also to the wives supporting in the background : Jenny Barratt, Helen Chapman & Maureen Proffitt.

Special thank to event organisers - Allan Cross ( Fat Face ), Ian Kraft (Eastbourne Extreme) & ChrisLewis (Tenby up).
Boards Magazine, and especially Fred Willis for his support of the freewave proramme.
Boardseeker and Louise Emery.

Oh ..and did i mention the champions? Thank you to all the competitors who took part in this years events.
Congratulations to all the champions, and to the winners in every class division. Roll on 2008 !

Freestyle: Andy Chambers.
Slalom : Alan Jackson.
Speed: Nigel Spriggs & Linda Cleary
Wave: John Hibbard & Louise Emery
Formula: Keith Atkinson & Jo Wright
Raceboard: Tom Naylor & Janet Pain
RSX : Ed Strange & Kirsten O'Callaghan
Techno: Ali Masters & Izzy Hamilton

For full ranking lists and event results go to :
http://ukwindsurfing.com/results/