Classy sailing by William Mooney help West Kirby Warrios to windsurfing prize

Jun 30 2010 by Our Correspondent, Birkenhead News

WEST KIRBY windsurfer William Mooney breezed through his class to win five races in the RYA T15 West Zone 2010 interclub series at Watergate Reservoir on Saturday.

Mooney came top out of the 17 entrants to take five of the seven races for West Kirby Warriors, with team mate Oliver Eastwood in second place.

Six teams went to West Pennine Sailboard Club to enjoy an excellent day’s competition, with plenty of sunshine, while good winds were guaranteed by the Reservoir’s position high up on the edge of the Pennines.

T15 windsurfing clubs are based all over the UK, and are for kids up to the age of 15 to learn to windsurf and to race.

Teams came from all over the West Zone for this, the second event in the RYA T15 West Zone 2010 interclub series. Competition was in four different classes, using different sizes of sail. Most popular was the beginners’ class, the 3.5 metre class, showing that plenty of newcomers are joining in the fun at local T15 clubs.

Behind Mooney and Eastwood, Ruth Bell made her long journey from Windermere worthwhile, taking third place, while two of her Windermere Ruffwinds team mates, Alex Aspinwall- Livesey and Jonathan Tramp took merit prizes.

The 4.5 metre class had a real battle between Zone squad sailor Zed Spencer Milnes and West Kirby’s Isaac Bradley Baker. Isaac was leading a number of the races, before being overtaken by Zed, who took the class for the Manley Mere Katz. Isaac and Samson King took second and third for the Warriors.

West Kirby’s Rupert Trambusti made short work of the 5.8 metre class with four wins in six races, but competition was very tight behind him. Isaac Callaghan of West Kirby took silver after tying on points with Max Webb of Team Astbury.

In the 6.8 Techno class, it was a very close contest between Mark Reynolds of Team Astbury and Scott Collins of Manley Mere Katz. Mark managed three wins to Scott’s two, to prevail, while Josh Knight of West Kirby Warriors in third made sure his team was on this podium, as in all the other classes.

The Warriors’ consistency across the classes helped them to take the team prize to win their second event of the season, ahead of Team Astbury in second. Hollingworth Hunters, who now use the West Pennine venue as a second sailing water, took third.

A “hidden gem in the windsurfing world” was the verdict on the new venue, near Rochdale after its debut event in the RYA T15 interclub series.

There were plenty of excellent individual performances, and Ian Roberts, Head Coach for West Zone Windsurfing was at the event to talent spot for new people to join his squad.

Ian, who stayed on to do some coaching the following day, said: “I was particularly impressed with the standard of starts on all courses.”

Next event in the T15 West Zone series is at Glossop and District Sailing Club, on July 10.

T15 was set up to help make windsurfing more accessible and appealing to youngsters at a grass roots level.

Fun and informal training sessions take place at clubs all over the country. The T15 inter-club championship takes place regionally over the summer. Kit can be borrowed from the clubs and the cost of sessions is kept low. To get involved with Team15 and locate your nearest club visit www.team15.org.uk or call 0845 345 0400.