Reports from whitwell
20 May 2008
Whitwell, Rutland - Inland Windsurfing Regatta
by Allison Shreeve, AUS911
The Rutland Inland Regatta turned on fantastic conditions this weekend for the 125 competitors that travelled from near and far to compete in Techno293, Raceboard, RS:X, Kona and Formula classes. 8 races including the marathon constituted a memorable series that will be remembered as one of the biggest windsurf racing events seen in the UK for some time, where so many age groups, divisions and sailors with diverse abilities gathered for one purpose, to race in the sport they love-windsurfing.
With winds ranging from 6-15knots, the gusty and sometimes shifty conditions made for interesting racing sifting out the skilled from the lucky, the fast from the experienced. Not only was the racing spectacular but the onshore activities were enjoyed by all. A few highlight moments were human fuzeball, and the dunking of Richard Jones in the lake for his 18th birthday resulted in the raising of an extra 110 Pounds for the NCH charity on top of the 2500 Pounds already raised from the Marathon.
The newly released Formula Windsurfing One Design kit was showcased by Allison Shreeve over the weekend. Her results of 1st Lady, 3rd in the more than 100 strong Marathon, 3rd Overall in the mixed fleet after 8 races, and 2nd in the Open Formula goes to prove that the new gear is very competitive with standard Formula equipment. It was obvious that the FWOD equipment was the earliest planing board on the water and that it was very competitive with the Open Formula fleet. There was a lot of interest and excitement amongst competitors, parents, coaches and spectators alike at the prospect of a new Formula One Design kit being proposed for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Footnote. Allison prepared this report as a press release to send to her contacts around the world. She will now head to Christchurch for the British Open next weekend where the Formula One Design equipment will be showcased, before heading to Sopot, Poland for the next Formula windsurfing Grand Prix.
Formula report
by Xavier Ferlet
Rutland saw an amazing turn out which is a credit to the collaboration between the UKWA and the RYA.
Saturday was a bit wet but despite the 8 knot forecast, the conditions turned out to be perfect for Formula. Allison Shreeve was the Star of the show with Starboard's latest proposal for the next Olympic board.
In the first race, she showed she wasn't just a pretty face by leading the Formula pack, blokes and girls included. Unfortunately, some riders hit lulls and the Race Officer binned the first race.
After a while the wind picked up and stayed up for the afternoon allowing 3 good races.
Allison showed tactical brilliance but she was let down by the fin selection, an issue that further testing will sort out no doubt.
Yours truly had 3 bullets so things couldn't be much better!
The marathon was amazing with so many boards on the start line.
Somehow I managed to get planning amongst scores of RSXs and Technos.
Starting together was a bit scary, however it was a good opportunity to show how much faster Formula boards were compared to all the other boards (and much more fun!).
The first half went smoothly as I managed to build a lead while Allison showed the other chaps once again a clean pair of heels.
Finding the mark at the bottom of the South arm proved interesting without a lead boat, with so many marks dotted around the place.
After going to all of them one by one, we finally managed to locate H! Near the north east corner of the dam the same scenario happened but I wasn't so lucky this time. It turned out the mark was missing (!!!) and I lost all my lead while looking for it. Luckily I manged to pull out again. After quite a few attempts, this was the first time I won the Marathon!
Sat night was pretty exciting with a bbq courtesy of our Chairman Ian to celebrate Richard's birthday.
The best bit was to throw Richard in the lake after raising £100 for this performance!
Sunday was bright and sunny, a nice change after a wet and cold Saturday.
After two bullets in the morning, I had a crash with Tim in the third race.
I came back to second place but not quite enough to catch Dan Simpson in first.
In the last race, Dan sailed brilliantly and won outright by a mile.
It was great to see Allison. Australian and charm and performance, there was no better ambassador for the sport!
She'll be there for the British Open at Christchurch so be there!
See you on the water,
Dr Xavier Ferlet