Report of the South East Area Series 2015

The inaugural South East Area Series came to a close at Chipstead on Saturday 10th October. It had consisted of 6 open meetings in the South East of England – Bough Beech, Frensham Pond, Redoubt, Newhaven & Seaford, Weir Wood and Chipstead. 3 of these also counted towards the Southern Paddle series and so attracted entrants from further afield and the overall winner is Veronica Falat from outside the area; the first person from a club within the SE is Alan Simmons (Lancing SC) who was 2nd overall, with Alex Reindorp (Chipstead) 3rd. Many thanks to Gil Cumming in getting this series set up and running.

The aim has been to help Streaker sailors at clubs throughout the SE get to meet each other and encourage the growth of fleets at particular clubs. On the whole Streakers are spread rather thinly across southern England but it’s great to hear that there are fleets growing, especially in Kent at Wilsonian, Redoubt and Downs. For example, 6 local boats competed in the Redoubt open meeting. Maybe the SE Area Series next year can help to promote this further. If there are fleets developing at other clubs, e.g. in Sussex and Hampshire, please let us know.

Most of the competitors in the series this year only sailed in their local open meeting. Not many travelled to different clubs. But it’s early days and maybe we can encourage more travelling next year by offering some boat tuning sessions at some events next year. It’s amazing how much you can learn in a short time by meeting up with boats and sailors who race on the main Paddle circuits. View results