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West Pennine Race Training in February 2007 with Mark Kay...A range of challenges were on offer, not least of which was getting to the reservoir without slipping!	Connor deciding which hat to wear	and yes, snow sticks to your board when it's cold...	and they're off
gentle start to racing, everyone very careful not to fall in	Mark shouting encouragement	Joe warming up	and then inside for a well deserved lunch

As soon as the 2006 race season was over the next weekend commitment was to winter training. Mark Kay ran his excellent race training weekends which have attracted between 12 and 25 young sailors to Watergrove Reservoir, high on the moors above Rochdale. Mark's no-nonsense style means that the 2 day courses are extremely demanding, with everyone being pushed to the limit.
Connor, Formula cruising on a 9.5 metre Ezzy Infinity	Harriet blasting along on the gusting winds	Chloe coming in for a breather	Kai focussed on getting close to the mark	Kai did about 50 tacks and gybes on one afternoon
Liam (World Champion) Round stopping for a cuppa	gybe, tack, gybe, tack, again and again...	Kieran locked in and flying	Mark crosses Connor	Paul guarding Harriet's sail
Kai, back to base for a quick teaching session	Mark tells them what he thinks of the mornings efforts	Start line practice	The race is on	The boating fraternity at West Pennine Windsurfing Club leave the reservoir after being buzzed once too often by windsurfing youth

January to March 2006: Pre-season and with the wind chill dropping to minus 10 degrees centigrade, Mark Kay ran a whole series of coaching weekends to teach a bunch of dedicated youth and junior racers the art of Formula and Slalom racing at West Pennine Sailing Club, high on the moors above Rochdale.
The club house, whose most welcome feature is it's log burning stove...	Lay down gybe coaching	the race is on...	tea break for sailors and supporters in the March sun
Mark showing how it's done	Connor in copy mode	cruising on the plane	Slalom race practice, with Sam Neal in the lead
sailing into the winter sun	Mark leads around the gybe-mark with some competition just behind him	Lay down that gybe	Mark is an excellent coach, with a tough - no nonsense style. His best personal results so far are: World Champion Largs 2002 11mtr Formula Champion 2004 6 times UK National Raceboard Champion