Keith Atkinson Dominates UKWA Eastern Cup – Clacton
Keith Atkinson has just won the penultimate event of the 2006 British Formula Windsurfing Championship series, the UKWA ‘Eastern Cup’, held at Clacton, the venue was changed from Felixstowe due to a major problem with the recent
collapse of the promenade.
The forecast looked great, sunny and windy all weekend. The event was run over two days finishing on Sunday, Saturday saw a slow start to the wind but strengthening as the day progressed. The British Formula Windsurfing Champion Keith Atkinson dominated, counting all first places on the score sheet. The first day saw 6 races being held in perfect course racing conditions. Only one course race was held on the last day of the competition due to the severity of the wind. The conditions were more suited to wave sailing or slalom racing as the wind reached 30 knots with large swells.
Keith’s closest competitor at the weekend was 2003 British Champion Alan Jackson, he was closely followed in 3rd by Xavier Ferlet, suffering with broken ribs sustained from training prior to the event.
This result now puts Keith in an excellent position to win the 2006 British Championship. He is currently ranked as Britain’s number one with a World ranking of fourth in Formula Windsurfing.
His plans for the next few months include competing in a charity event on the 21st July for the National Heart Foundation, this is a Pier-To-Pier challenge race taking place between Eastbourne and Hastings piers. This kicks off the annual Eastbourne Extreme event. He is also training hard for the 2006 Formula World Championships being held between 3rd and 10th September in Korea.
Keith is sponsored by: Starboard, Physioactive, Fit 2 Perform, Bewl Valley SC.
