The regional rally held at Siblyback Lake, high up on Bodmin Moor, was voted
a huge success by everyone who took part. Families travelled from as far
away as Peterborough and braved the notorious A38 to be in Cornwall for
August bank holiday. South West Lakes Trust sponsored the events supported
by Reactive Watersports who supplied the demo kit. The extensive grass area
at Siblyback is ideal for camping, big enough to accommodate motor homes and
still leave plenty of room for rigging.

The wind varied over the three days between force 2 and force 4+ so all
ability levels had just what the wanted some of the time. RYA courses for
first time beginners, some as young as eight, through to level four were run
by Costa Argyris (centre manager) his staff and other instructors drafted
in. For those who still had the energy after a day windsurfing, banana boat
rides could be enjoyed. These proved just as popular with the parents as
with the children and resulted in some very wet mums and dads.

After the instruction and coaching on Sunday, I spotted this man windsurfing
with something dangling from his uphaul. On closer inspection it turned out
to be his 5 year old nephew. Little David is a natural, thinks his uncle is
a real cool dude and can’t wait to get a board of his own.

The barbeque / fancy dress evening saw some inventive costumes ranging from
a Fanatic Bee to some guy carrying a big stone around all night. Yes, he
was a Bic Hard Rock! I saw a man there I thought was dressed as a Wide
Style but he told me he was not in fancy dress – ooops!

On the last day there were competitions and prizes to be won. The youngest
group had paddling races around a small course while the hot shots raced on
a handicap system designed to give all abilities a chance of a prize. Ten
year old Sam Sills, a product of the RYA’s Team 15 club at Roadford, beat
many of the older and more experiences windsurfers to take the second prize
behind Nathan Allanson.

Costa commented, "It great to see so many young boys and girls coming
into
windsurfing. The standard of these kids here this week end is amazing."
We
all agree with that, Costa, and we’ll all be back for the 2004 South West
Rally.