Written by Michael Haigh Edited by Sarah Leonard
The National Windsurfing Championships welcomed some fresh faces this year with a new team from Docklands Sailing & Watersports Centre.
A group of nine budding windsurfers took a big leap in their RYA Team15 windsurfing programme by competing at the event.
The championship races took place at Grafham Water in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire across the weekend of Saturday, September 7 and Sunday, September 8.
The young Docklands Dugongs team had only competed in four inter club competitions prior to the big event, so this was a memorable day for the group of windsurfers who wanted to be a part of something special.
Dockland Dugongs placed twelfth out of 23 competing Team15 clubs from across the country.
Team coach, James Hardy said: “It’s opened the Dugongs eyes to the wider world of windsurfing, making them hungry for more which is fantastic, helping create windsurfers for life.”
The weekend was absolutely epic with great breeze on both days.
James is proud of his team’s impressive efforts; with an original aim of “just being there”, the Dockland Dugongs ended up exceeding all expectations.
“The team got better and more comfortable after each race and everyone was smiling and having a great time.”
The Docklands Dugongs started in April 2018 at Docklands Sailing & Watersports Centre in the Isle of Dogs, London.
Erik Sier (15) competed in the 6.8 fleet. He said: “It’s the best windsurfing I’ve ever done.”
They relished having so much space to windsurf, having only windsurfed mostly on the dock.
RYA Team15 is a network of windsurf clubs and centres across the UK for young windsurfers who want to share their passion and improve their skills.
Find out more about Team15 here: rya.org.uk.
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