Wet n Windy weekend results!

The Windsurf & SUP Club (and their Newburgh Sea GorillaZ kids windsurf section) held it’s Wet ‘n’ Windy Weekend up at Peterhead Marina on Saturday/ Sunday 21st/22nd August 2021.

We had a full weekend of taster sessions for all the family including Windsurfing, Stand-Up Paddleboarding, and the exciting new sport of Wingsurfing. These ran alongside the all-new RYA Scotland Junior & Youth Windsurfing inter-club event (or “The-event-formerly-known-as-T15”), which saw the Newburgh Sea GorillaZ hosting young windsurfers from all the other Scottish clubs and descending on Peterhead for a weekend of wave sailing, racing, freestyle and the world-renowned “Parents Race”!

Our taster sessions saw about 70 folk out on the water over the weekend trying out all manner of waterborne activity, great feedback from everyone involved and some fantastic progression in a short space of time for some people trying out new water sports for the first time! Loads of families, individuals, young and old all getting out on the water.

Junior windsurfing

The Junior & Youth event saw about 30 windsurfers from our Newburgh Sea GorillaZ, the Loch Insh Monstars, the Clyde Barracudas, and the Port Edgar Pirates competing for our coveted Fin Trophies across the various age/ sail categories.

We had our youngest group, the CheeKee ChimpZ (up to 2.7m sail size), learning upwind sailing and a bit of freestyle on a foggy Saturday in the Marina. On Sunday they switched to down wind sailing in the morning in preparation for a downwind slalom race with a classic Le Mans running start in the afternoon, followed by a freestyle exhibition in the sunshine for the parents watching on.

The middle age groups including the FunKee MonKeeZ (up to 4.5m sails) and our GrooVee GorillaZ (up to 5.8m sails), headed out into the main Harbour (when the fog cleared!) to test out their skills on the Saturday, and on Sunday they competed on an upwind/ downwind race course, great progression through the weekend with some awesome skills on display!

Our most experienced group, the KraZee BananaZ (up to 7.8m sails) headed to Cruden Bay for a wave sailing session on the Saturday. They managed a cool float & ride session in the morning, and in the afternoon as the wind dropped, they ditched the sails and continued with an awesome surfing session.

Just after lunch on Sunday, the windsurfers grabbed a parent or similar adult, and any type of waterborne board or craft, and participated in the “Go Ape Parent Race“! Chaos ensued, with adults and kids charging around a buoy in a relay race with water churning, arms and legs flailing, loads of cheating going on (although there were no rules, so not sure how that works!) and some eventual winners!

A great and safe weekend run alongside all the other activity that was going on in the Marina that weekend, huge thanks to the guys at Aberdeenshire Sailing Trust who were really busy over the weekend too, and put up with us sailing/ paddling/ winging in their busy ‘backyard’!

Race Results

KraZee BananaZ

1st – Dan M – Port Edgar Pirates

2nd – Robert P – Clyde Barracudas

GrooVee GoriillaZ

1st – Matthew M – Newburgh Sea GorillaZ

2nd – Marcus M- Newburgh Sea GorillaZ

FunKee MonKeeZ

1st – Bende S – Clyde Barracudas

2nd – Anna P – Clyde Barracudas

CheeKee ChimpZ

1st – Louis G – Newburgh Sea GorillaZ

2nd equal – Albie S- Newburgh Sea GorillaZ

2nd equal – Ben B – Newburgh Sea GorillaZ

3rd – Murray D – Newburgh Sea GorillaZ

Special Prizes

Most Improved – Charlotte S – Newburgh Sea GorillaZ

Freestyle champ – Ellen P – Clyde Barracudas

Loads of volunteers and organisations to thank for making the Wet ‘n’ Windy Weekend possible and successful…Aberdeenshire Clubsport (funding support); RYA Scotland (organising J&Y series/ prizes); Peterhead Sailing Club (facilities/ safety boats/ advice); Aberdeenshire Sailing Trust (advice/ marina access); Loch Insh Watersports (windsurf kit); Peterhead Port Authority (keeping us safe in the harbour); Puravida Boardriders (prizes); TRAC (prizes); Sailrepair (short notice kit supply!); Robin Nicol – RYA (coaching and all round advice & support); Catriona Lindsay – Clyde (wins the “coach of the event” prize!); Scott Sangster – Loch Insh (awesome windsurf taster sessions); Nick Goodchild – Azure Watersports (Wing tasters, cool gadgets and heavy lifting!); Richard Beattie (safety); Emma Kemp – Newburgh Windsurf SUP Club (SUP taster sessions); Rob Walker and Frank Peet (Cruden Bay wave coaches); Mike and Fee Bland (ChimpZ coaching); John Clark (ChimpZ coach and transporting Loch Insh kit!); Sam Hawthorn & Jan Witte (MonkeeZ/ GorillaZ/ BananaZ coaching); Robyn Phillips – RYA (last-minute coach!); Paula Hawthorn/ Carole Hawthorn (Beach coords); Estelle Goodchild (Photographer); Jim Hardy (rigging, lugging, bbq-ing & virtuoso trophy maker); Martin Thain & Tina Biddecombe – Peterhead Sailing Club (Safety boats and keeping us right!); Colin Burwood – Shiny Networks (Safety boat, lobster & mackerel)…and anyone else we might have forgotten…Thanks!