Manic Monkeys windsurfers travelled to Calshot on August 8th for the third RYA team15event of the year for the South Region. This is the second inter-club event in which the Monkeys have competed. The competition was hosted by Calshot Flyers and the Manic Monkeys were joined by competitors from Oxford Zoomers, Queen Mary Skimmers, Calshot Flyers and Poole Academy All Stars. Under 15′s competed keenly in the four classes at 3.5m, 4.5m, 5.5m and Techno 6.8m. Light wind conditions made it very challenging for the competitors but some extra onshore wind after lunch enabled 4 races to be completed. A big fleet turned out with 40 or so boards on the water – quite a sight at the start of all races!
Alexei Murphy and Nick Hemsley represented the Manic Monkeys and had a very successful outing coming home with three trophies. In his first race event, Alexie competed in the 3.5m fleet, keenly contested with 16 entries. He sailed well in the first race and was beaten only narrowly into second place by less than a board length despite coming perilously close to colliding with the committee boat at the second turn. He went on to win the next 3 races and with a discard scored the minimum 3 points thus claiming a win in the class. In addition he won the Techno award for that fleet. Nick sailed in a very competitive 4.5m class. He made a slow start in the first race but recovered well and went on to improve throughout the series. This improvement was recognised when he received the Merit award in his class. Well done to both for a great days sailing!
In the team competition, Oxford Zoomers continued their success with another victory. They have now won all events so far in the 2009 series.
Numbers of Bray representatives were down due to holiday time but hopefully more will be in attendance for the final T15 event of this year in Poole on Sat September 12th. This event will coincide with the local Windfest festival, from the 11th to the 13th September, and promises to be a great day out for all the Manic Monkey competitors.
Contribution by: Noel Murphy
