SailLaser and the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) hosted a lively Tri-Mile Triathlon event in aid of BBC Sport Relief 2010 on March 13. It was a fabulous day for the event, the sun was shining and it was blowing 10 knots from the north. The 33 participants in the event ranged from children aged 7 – 15 years old racing in pairs. All of the entrants were from the Onboard Sailing Club held at SailLaser, as well as from neighboring local Weymouth and Portland sailing clubs.
The event got off to a smooth start with the competitors setting off from the WPNSA, running along the causeway which was lined with local volunteers who turned up to offer their support to the event. The mile run barely lasted minutes as the first competitors reached the Bluewater car park changeover point. With a quick change of footwear, they were splashing into the water ready to swim out to the LaserPerformance Pico Dinghies. At this point the event was lead by Laura Nairn and Gemma Lawrence.
Once the Pico’s were reached they rigged them up quickly before sailing around a marked course in front of the WPNSA. The children were met with a large crowd of local supporters and parents at the slipway who cheered them in and through the finish line. The first pair to finish were Toby Dent and Tom Rowell, who are both regular SailLaser sailors, they were very closely followed by Laura Nairn and Gemma Lawrence.
The total raised on the day was a huge £1,400; this was above and beyond the amount expected by the SailLaser Team. Matt Bridge, Centre Manager of SailLaser added: ‘The children worked really hard today to get through those 3 miles, they have done an amazing job at fundraising and we are all really proud of them. Thank you also, to all the volunteers that helped us run the event, it was an overwhelming effort from everyone.’
John Tweed, Chief Executive of the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy commented: ‘We are really proud of all the children’s hard work competing in the SailLaser Tri-mile at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy. They have had a lot of fun raising money for BBC Sport Relief and competing in this unique event for an incredibly worthy cause. Toby Dent and Tom Rowell had a particularly good time around the course then going on to win the event.’
SailLaser’s sister centre in Strathclyde Park near Glasgow also raised £600 towards the cause making to the total amount raised £2000 for Comic Relief.
All money raised by competitors from the event will go directly to BBC Sport Relief which funds Comic Relief through national sporting events. Comic Relief helps people living incredibly tough lives, both here in the UK and across the world’s poorest countries. One of their main target areas this year for funding is to help the child laborers working on the streets and in factories.
Image caption: Children line up for the SailLaser Tri-Mile event at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy
Image copyright: SailLaser 2010
