The BUSA nationals are the final event in the SWA
Series and possibly the most important. Not only
does it decide who will be the overall champions of
the series but also it is a chance to grab those allimportant
BUSA points for your university.
The event is run with individual racing in 4 divisions.
There is a mens and ladies division 1, both run on
the same course, and a men’s and ladies division 2,
run on a separate course more suited to the
standard of sailing. As well as these, there is a
separate team event run in an out and back relay
style, which always draws a large spectator crowd.
To round it all off there is the final round of the
Boardwise/SWA freestyle series, which is
traditionally held on the Sunday of the event.
Saturday dawned windy but despite being on the
sea the temperature was freezing, this did not put
off the majority of sailors.
RACING
The advanced and intermediate fleets were both set
off on the sea front for a figure-of-8 slalom course.
Most advanced sailors opting for 6.5m2 sails or less
and short boards. Southampton’s Bob Shelmerdine
took the victory in the first race with Sam Stevens,
also from Southampton, and Oxford’s Sandy Douglas
following behind in second and third respectively.
Bob continued to dominate all morning as three more
races were run, but hot on his heels at lunch was
Gordan Margery from Bristol with two 2nds and a 3rd.
The slalom-fest continued in the afternoon but with
the tide swinging round it became much more
difficult to make the buoys without tacking.
Longborder Jimbo Bullied came into his own
winning race 6 on his IMCO.
With seven slalom races run in total the division one
fleet was sent back inside to thaw with Bob
Shelmerdine ruling the seas as BUSA champion,
winning 4 out of the seven races. Gordon Margery
took home the silver and Southampton’s Dave “Big
hands” Dawson took the bronze.
In the ladies competition Tanya Selah from Bristol
took the first place for the second year in a row,
making it in to the top 10 overall and Nikki Rudd
from Plymouth came second, 15th overall.
The intermediate fleet struggled in their first race on
the sea front and so after lunch, when there was
enough water, they were sent off in the lagoon. Here
UWE dominated the fleet as Jon Downing and Rich
Fraser ran home first and second respectively. The
women’s fleet was narrowly won by Jess Bennett,
with Leila Faddoul hot on her heels, coming 7th and
8th respectively overall.
At the end of day 1 the university competition was
nicely poised with Southampton, Bristol and Exeter
1st, 2nd and 3rd, with only the team racing left to
go. On the Sunday the wind had dropped a little,
but was still coming in from the NE and the sun was
out (yay!). 8 teams entered in the relay-style team
racing with a single-gybe slalom course set.
With a large crowd on the beach to watch and
cheer on their university, the action was the most
exiting it had been in a long time. Southampton and
Bristol dominated, the team racing was decided on
the last race as Bob Shelmerdine and Gordan
Margery finished within 10m of each other and
raced up the beach to the finish line. Bob took the
victory for Southampton 1st team who won 3 of the
4 races. Other noticable battles were between
Cambridge an Oxford with Oxford just beating
Cambridge into 5th place.
With Southampton winning the team competition
and having the 3 highest placed sailors in the
individual racing there was no question who were
walking home as champions this year.
FREESTYLE
In the SWA Boardwise freestyle the last event of the
year would determine the overall SWA freestyle
champion for the year, and decide who would take
home the Tushingham rig kindly donated by
Boardwise and Tushingham.
The event was plagued with light gusty wind and in
the two rounds of competition few planing moves
were completed. The standout move of the day
went to Pete Baldwin from Bristol who pulled off a
nicely executed Vulcan, having taken the risk of
disappearing upwind in the hope of finding a big
enough gust to get planing. The joint winners of the
competition were Sam Stevens and Pete Baldwin.
That meant Sam Stevens took home the overall
prize of SWA/Boardwise freestyle champion for
2005/6, the Tushingham rig. Gordan Margery took
home second prize, a boom donated by Boardwise.
Thanks to local pro Andy King for coming down and
judging the freestyle and handing out the prizes.
THE PARTY
No Student windsurf event would be complete
without one of their infamous fancy dress parties
and the final event of the year was no exception.
Even without the usual boat party, everyone was
fired up to go at it for the final event of the year.
The party on Saturday night was in Southampton
Students Union which proved very popular. The wild
and wacky minds of student windsurfers conjured up
some fantastic costumes. There’s nothing quite like
a grown man dressed as a little green fairy (nice one
Jav!) The party continued late into with night and
ended with an interesting coach ride back to
Calshot, for those who made it that far!
Many thanks to all at BUSA and Calshot for organising
the competition and venue, Chris Tuffil and his team of
rescue boat drivers, the SWA who ran each of the
divisions, Southampton Uni for coordinating the whole
thing and organising a great party and to all the
sponsors who donated prizes for the event
RESULTS
Mens Div 1
1. Bob Shelmerdine (Southampton)
2. Gordon Margary (Bristol)
3. Dave Dawson (Southampton)
Mens Div 2
1. Jon Downing (UWE)
Rich Fraser (UWE)
Warren Innis (Southampton)
Womens Div 1
Tanya Saleh (Bristol)
Nikki Rudd (Plymouth)
Womens Div 2
1. Jess Bennett (Southampton)
Leila Faddoul (Exeter)
Anna Bullimore (Exeter)
Team
Southampton 1
Bristol 1
Exeter
Overall
Southampton
Bristol
Exeter
Freestyle
1= Sam Stevens (Southampton)
1= Pete Baldwin (Bristol)
3 Alex Pamela (Imperial)
SPONSORS
Boardseeker.com, Boardwise, Tushingham,
Starboard, Naish, Bic Sport, Fat Face, Kangaroo
Poo, Spot-on-Water, Solent Sailboards, Poole
Harbour Watersports, FC Watersports
SWA Series Results 2006
Individual Racing
Gordon Margary (Bristol)
Sam Stevens (Southampton)
Dave Dawson (Southampton)
University Racing
Southampton
Bristol
UWE
Cambridge
Imperial/Exeter
Boardwise Freestyle Series
Sam Stevens (Southampton)
Gordon Margary (Bristol)
Dave Dawson (Southampton)
Chris Beng (Imperial)
Matt Chancellor (Cardiff)
Speed
Jamie W (Leeds) 24knts
Michael Crisp (Cambridge) 21knts
Henry Rock-Evans (XSWA) 21knts
Wave
1 Bob Shelmerdine (Soton / SWA-Team)
2 Adam Cropper (XSWA)
3. ‘Lukie’ Evans (Exeter / SWA-Team)
