Jo Wright starting off the team racing.
Windsurfing BUCS success
The weekend of 25 – 26 April saw over 180 racers and countless supporters from across the country descend on Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy for the biggest event in the student windsurfing calendar, the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) National Championships.
The University of Exeter student Windriders club entered a strong team with ten individual competitors, a strong crew for the team racing and a fantastic group of supporters to cheer the competitors on to achieve great success. The event started with the advanced racing, in which Exeter had Kieran Martin, Dan Lytton and current vice-captain Jo Wright competing. Everyone did fantastically well, with Kieran’s extensive experience paying dividends, winning every race and thus being crowned BUCS Champion 2015. Jo Wright also rose to the occasion for the ladies with an amazing effort, finishing just behind the former world championship winner in 5th overall which secured Exeter a silver medal. Seasoned competitor Dan Lytton also raced extremely well, fighting his way through to 8th overall.
Windsurf Captain George Glennie and next year’s Captain Sam Chapman competed for the men, with Emily Wheeler and next year’s Vice-Captain Annie Shuttleworth for the ladies in the intermediate class. There was a crowded fleet and fierce competition rounding the marks but Exeter again managed success, with Emily finishing in 9th overall, gaining herself a silver medal. The other Exeter competitors all finishing extremely highly too, in what was the biggest fleet of the weekend: Annie 15th (5th female), Sam 19th and George 21st.
After a good night’s rest, it was back to the Academy for the second day of the competition, which would see both the team racing and the beginners taking to the water. The beginner fleet was out first, with less experience, but every bit as much competitive spirit as the other classes. Amy Hough, Kate Farmer and Charlotte Robins represented Exeter and they all did remarkably well, using their recently acquired windsurfing skills to pick a path through the field. The star of this class though was our very own Kate Farmer, who fought her way through all of her heats into a highly competitive final, eventually finishing 8th overall and 1st female thus winning Exeter another gold medal!
Finally, it was time for the team racing, where the best three racers from each University competed in a relay style race. Jo Wright and Dan Lytton represented Exeter in stiff competition and challenging conditions, making for a tough race and unfortunately Exeter didn’t quite manage to secure a podium finish, but our fifth place overall was still a huge achievement.
Two golds and two silver medals, with podium positions at every level of individual racing is testament to the growing strength of the University of Exeter Windriders Club.
“Enormous thanks to the Student Windsurfing Association, BUCS, Liquid Motion and the University of Exeter Athletics Union and of course everyone who came down at the weekend, we can’t wait to see what next year brings for the club!” George Glennie, Windriders Club Captain.
Notes to editors:
For more information about the University of Exeter Student Sports Clubs or becoming a supporter please contact Chris Doody on 01392 725626 or c.doody@exeter.ac.uk
About the University of Exeter
The University of Exeter is a Russell Group university and in the top one percent of institutions globally. It combines world-class research with very high levels of student satisfaction. Exeter has over 19,000 students and is ranked 7th in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide league table, 11th in The Complete University Guide and 12th in the Guardian University Guide 2014. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), the University ranked 16th nationally, with 98% of its research rated as being of international quality. Exeter was The Sunday Times University of the Year 2012-13.
The University has invested strategically to deliver more than £350 million worth of new facilities across its campuses in the last few years; including landmark new student services centres - the Forum in Exeter and The Exchange on the Penryn Campus in Cornwall, together with world-class new facilities for Biosciences, the Business School and the Environment and Sustainability Institute. There are plans for another £330 million of investment between now and 2016.
For more information about this story contact:
Andrew Fry, Marketing Manager
01392 725119,
a.g.fry@exeter.ac.uk
Date: 1 May 2015
