With a south westerly breeze and a cloudless sky, conditions on Europe’s largest man-made lake could not have been better.   The young windsurfers, all of whom are 15 years of age or under, sail for their local team and the team with the best score at the end of the summer wins the RYA North Zone Team15 Inter-Club Championship, earning a place in the National Final, the Team15 Champions Cup. Teams competing at Kielder were:

• Coquet Crushers (Amble, Northumberland)
• Kielder Kestrels (Kielder Water, Northumberland)
• Derwent Devils (Durham)
• Pugneys Pirates (Wakefield)
• North Lincs Invaders (Barton on Humber)  

The strengthening breeze tested the youngsters, especially in the afternoon and this produced some close racing with the leading windsurfers in every class changing positions throughout the day.  

In the 3.5m class, Kielder Kestrel star, 12 year old Archie Dodd from Crawcrook in Durham, was just toppled off the top slot by 11 year old Katelynd Smith from Wakefield’s Pugneys Pirates team. Katelynd and Archie ended the day with an equal number of points but Katelynd won more first places than Archie. Third place in the 3.5m class went to 12 year old Charlotte Morrison from the North Lincs Invaders.  

The Kielder Kestrels triumphed in the 4.5m class however, with 14 year old Jane Vallance from Bedale bringing the Kestrel flag home in first place, followed by 13 year old Leonardo Takiguchi (2nd) and 13 year old Aaron Hobb (3rd), both sailing for the Coquet Crushers from Amble.  

The Pugneys Pirates team sailed off with all the honours in the 5.8m fleet as first, second and third places went to youngsters from Yorkshire. First place went to 15 year old Jacob Collett, second went to Thomas Sambrook and third went to Joe Carter.   “Jacob did really well in the 5.8m class,” said RYA Team15 event organiser David Dobson. “He was sailing so well that in some races he was even in front of the 6.8m class.”  

In the 6.8m class, Coquet Crusher 15 year old Gustavo Takiguchi was just beaten by one point to come second behind RYA Team15 Ambassador and Pugneys Pirate, Joe Thompson from Halifax. Third place went to fellow Pugneys Pirate, 15 year old Oliver Anderson from York.   Merit awards for effort went to Euan Davis (Derwent Devils), Maya McGarvey (Coquet Crushers) and Luke Stewart (Kielder Kestrels).  

This was the first Team15 event to have been held on the lake and the hosts, Kielder Water Sailing Club, home of the Kielder Kestrels, are looking forward to many more; although matching Sunday’s weather on future occasions might be more difficult.   “We would like to thank all the teams for travelling up here, in some cases for considerable distances,” said Steve Gibbon, RYA North East Chairman and Principal of Kielder Water Sailing Club. “All our Kielder Kestrels performed really well and we are pleased our young windsurfers are developing so quickly. We had many excellent performances and some firsts but notably Luke Stewart gained a certificate of merit and young windsurfers, Nick Pike, Archie Dodd and Jane Vallance gained places in the top three in their classes.”  

“We would like to say a big thank you to David Dobson for organising and running the Team15 events in the region – his dedication to windsurfing is phenomenal – but also to our local Coach, Brian Coates, who has done so much to inspire our youngsters at Kielder.”  

The winning team at the Kielder event was Pugneys Pirates from Wakefield who, having won the team prize at all three Zone events this summer, now go on to compete in the final event on their home waters at Wakefield, already wearing the Zone winners crown.

The Wakefield event is the final event in the RYA Team15 North Zone calendar this year and it will be on Sunday 15th September.  

Team15, which is now in its 12th year, is an RYA initiative set up to 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. 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.