Polkerris Pirates Team15 windsurfing

Welcome to our junior windsurfing club at Polkerris Beach which started way back in 2008. The idea is to get out on the water regularly, have fun and learn to windsurf well.

The idea is to make each weekly session as cheap as possible while keeping it fun and safe, so we operate on a part-voluntary basis with help from parents. Our chief Team15 instructor is George. He was a Team 15 member himself and then became an instructor. In 2007 he worked at a leading windsurfing centre in the Med (Club Vass) and is now one of the top pro windsurfers in the UK, coming third overall in the 2010 wavesailing series. He now has the highest level of windsurfing instructor qualification.

We are part of the national Team15 scheme: a network of about 80 junior windsurfing clubs around the country. It's organised by the RYA and is simple and effective, giving people a chance to go to a series of windsurfing events around Cornwall and Devon. See the Team15 website for more information on the national scheme.

We have around 25 members, with many continuing from previous seasons and the rest starting once they have completed a beginners' course (run at various times through the season). In 2012, we travelled to several Team15 events and we are hosting one here this September. In 2012 we set an unofficial world record for the biggest 'windsurfer', with 11 people and 11 rigs!

Our Team15 sessions run on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings, in three 'seasons': summer term, summer holidays, autumn term. People sign up for each of the seasons, rather than for the whole year. There is no membership fee: just a per-session charge to keep things inexpensive and simple.

Sunday sailors

As a result of our very popular school courses, we have a bunch of very keen young sailors who like to get out on the water with their friends, learn something new and have fun. On Sunday mornings, we run two sessions, which grew to become very popular in 2012.

Each week there is a theme, invariably linked to what the weather is doing. Themes include going on a mission to another beach, the famous 'chocolate hunt', racing, capsizing competitions or launching and landing practice. If the weather is really horrible, we stay inside and do some sailing theory but Sunday Sailors is about experience and enjoyment, not about signing off RYA Stages (although that’s sometimes the by-product).