Alexei competed in the 5.8m class with a great start on day 1 to lead the field with a 2-2-1-3 series. The light winds of Saturday were replaced by demanding gusty conditions on Sunday but the young windsurfers battled on for two more races. Alexei finished with equal top points for the competition (10) with Isaac Bradley Baker (West Kirby Warriors) but Isaac took the crown in the class on countback of first places. Alexei was delighted to be in the silver medal position at his first ET Championships.

It was the RYA West Zone who were triumphant in the overall competition and they were crowned 2011 RYA Eric Twiname Champions, taking home the ET Shield. The North took overall honours in Windsurfing.

Contributed by: Noel Murphy

The box and outer loop courses were demanding in 16 knots and choppy conditions but the young windsurfers survived well and demonstrated tremendous skill. Racing rules were strictly applied (what does that yellow flag with the black dot mean again??). Alexei found himself penalised 5 points for being more interested in lunch than tallying on time (I blame the parents!). The racing took place quite a distance from shore so not much fun for the spectators struggling to see what was happening through binoculars in that cold northerly breeze!

Alexei had a mixed series in the 4.5m class finishing in 6th place overall. He struggled a bit getting it right on the upwind legs but did manage a first place in race 2, good going to get a bullet in his first time in such an event. It was a great experience and, with 6 races being completed over the two days, well worth the long trip to WPNSA. Hopefully we will see more Manic Monkeys at next year’s Championships!

Contributed by: Noel Murphy

Harry Tanner and Alexei Murphy competed in the 3.5m class in a fleet of 20 sailors. Alexei started the day badly, going the wrong side of the finish boat and being penalised with an additional lap! He recovered well to win the remaining 3 races, ending the day the fleet (and Techno) winner with a minimum 3 points. Harry competed fiercely and finished in overall 10th place. His competitive showing was justly recognised with a Merit award in this class.

Miles Hewitt Jones and Nick Hemsley competed in the 4.5m class. The full fleet, apart from the 3.5′s, raced together and with 35 sailors the starts, on an upwind leg, were always going to prove difficult. The Monkeys had mixed fortunes at the starts with some excellent and some not so good but battled hard with Miles finishing 9th and Nick 10th in the series.

The Oxford Zoomers continued their success with another victory in the team competition and so had a clean sweep at all four T15 events in the region this year.
Top windsurfing personalities Olympic Bronze Medallist Bryony Shaw, four times World Windsurf Slalom and Race Champion Antoine Albeau, and Pro windsurfing stars Jamie Hawkins and Robby Swift were on hand to give out the prizes.

With all T15 events of the year now complete, the Manic Monkeys will be honing their skills at Bray on Thursdays after school with some racing planned for Saturday mornings. Who knows, having now met Antoine Albeau in person, the Monkeys may get some strong winds and tackle his 49.09 knot world record!

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