This year’s second Team 15 event for the North East Region took place at Kielder Water Sailing Club on Sunday 5th June.  Glorious sunshine bathed the scene, although a number of competitors had occasion to discover that the water was still very cold! The 3.5 fleet raced from the shore by the jetty, reaching out to a pin mark, followed by a very short upwind leg and a reach back to the finish.  The other fleets raced further out around a longer course, with an upwind leg followed by a reach, a downwind leg and then a reach to the finish line.  The 6.8s completed an extra ‘sausage’ around the second and third marks. The wind was relatively light all day, but still enough to race in and with a few gusts to keep the competitors alert.   The 3.5 fleet completed 9 races, and comprised of 9 competitors from Pugneys, Kielder, North Lincs and Coquet.  John Grice of the North Lincs Invaders took first place, with Alex Cherry of the Pugneys Pirates in second, and George Stewart of the Kielder Kestrels in third place. Tom Russell of Kielder got the 1st Techno award , Ethan Weeks of North Lincs got a merit award for perseverance, and Sophie Dryden deserves a special mention for representing the Coquet Crushers all on her own. The larger fleets completed 8 races.  The winner in the 4.5 fleet was William Russell from North Lincs, second was Adam Raistrick from Pugneys, third was Sarah Selim, also of Pugneys, and the 1st Techno award went to Noah Blomeley of North Lincs.  Eimear Hanley, of the Derwent Devils, received a merit award for “patience and being happy and smiling”. In the 5.8 fleet Ben Russell of Kielder achieved first place, while Kate-lynd Smith of Pugneys came second and Ali Fox, also of Pugneys, came third.  Jonathan Dodd of Kielder received the 1st Techno award. The 6.8 fleet comprised four sailors; Tom Atkinson (pictured) and Tom Hunter of Pugneys came first and second respectively, while Archie Dodd and Luke Stewart of Kielder finished within one point of each other, with Archie just beating Luke into third place. The day concluded with the SuperX event, where competitors had to sail a course while performing a particular freestyle move or moves. The 4.5, 5.8 and 6.8 sailors had to perform a rig 360, followed by a duck gybe at the mark, and then stand in the back footstraps or on the back of the board while sailing back.  The rig 360 in particular caused some problems for some of the larger sails, while the duck gybe turned into a ducking for a few competitors. The winners of the SuperX were well distributed through the clubs as follows: 3.5 fleet Tom Russell (Kielder), 4.5 William Russell (North Lincs), 5.8 Jessica Waugh (Derwent) and 6.8 Tom Atkinson (Pugneys). Team results were: 1st  Pugneys Pirates 2nd  Kielder Kestrels 3rd  North Lincs Invaders 4th  Derwent Devils 5th  Coquet Crushers

Full results available Many thanks to all those who helped out, including Geoff Brown and Jo Elliott, Race Officers for the main fleet with help from Paul Dinsdale, and Richard Longbone and Meg Ferguson, Race Officers for the 3.5 fleet.  Thanks also to the volunteers in the galley and on patrol, for keeping everybody fed, watered and safe on the water, and to Brian and all those who helped with organisation. It was great to see so many young people on the water and their parents and families enjoying the superb weather and scenery at Kielder.  We look forward to seeing the teams compete again at Derwent on 10th July.