RS Tera Open at Draycote Water Sailing Club
by Ru Watkins 8 Jun 2009 23:23 BST
6-7 June 2009
In what can only be described as testing weather that ranged from gentle drizzle to monsoon downpour, high winds to gentle breeze and windshifts that would make the hardiest of dinghy sailors furrow their brow, Draycote Water SC hosted the second RS Tera Inland Championships over the weekend 6/7 June.
Twenty six competitors ranging in age from 6 to 14 fought out a tough competition over the weekend with six races being run - all the races being very different due to the conditions. This proved of great benefit to the event as it meant that all was to play for during the weekend.
After two races on Saturday Matthew French (Dabchicks Sailing Club) and Rebecca Lewis (Draycote Water Sailing Club) were fighting it out for pole position closely followed by Crispin Beaumont (Bartley), Jonny Watkins (DSC), Joshua Aldridge (Burnham), Tristan Bracegirdle (Castle Cove) and Robert Loveridge (DWSC) who all had between 8 and 11 points - the day was set for a tough fought competition on Sunday.
Sunday saw driving rain and more wind for the first two races in the morning with Matthew French pulling off two firsts. The pack still chasing positions found the conditions tricky but continued to race extremely well with places being swopped amongst the top six. With all to play for in the last two races of the afternoon, the rain stopped, the wind dropped and the sun nearly came out.
With light conditions favouring the smaller sailors the last two races saw an opportunity for Crispin Beaumont and Tristan Bracegirdle to snaffle some places on Jonny Watkins and Joshua Aldridge, though again the finishes were all exceedingly close and tight. Though a tough battle was being fought at the front of the fleet - there were some great contests and superb sailing in the remainder of the fleet - noticeable was the great sailing from Alex Talbot, Lucy Pratt and Ben John Poe all from Sutton Bingham SC who consistently sailed well and gained 9th, 10th and 11th place overall.
Race Officer Andy Weedon remarked during the course of the weekend that having hosted the event last year and again this year he had seen a massive change in ability and skill upwards and felt that all sailors should be congratulated. He also remarked that it was great to see a real sense of sportsmanship coming through the class and most importantly a sense of fair play amongst young Tera sailors and he hoped that this would continue.
The Prize giving saw Matthew French gain National Inland Champion Title with Crispin Beaumont second, Tristan Bracegirdle third and Jonny Watkins fourth. First girl was Rebecca Lewis who came sixth overall. The team prize was awarded to Dabchicks Sailing Club Team of Matthew French and Jonny and Rupert Watkins, with DWSC second and Sutton Bingham third.
Thanks must go to DWSC for organising a great event and especially to Andrew Weedon the Principal Race Officer. As Jon Partridge from RS also noticed 'The Tera is really coming on. Its great to see so many youngsters really enthused and sailing really competitively as well as enjoying themselves so much both on and off the water'.
Results
Individual:
1st - Matthew French (DSC) - 10 Pts
2nd - Crispin Beaumont (Bartley) - 18 Pts
3rd - Tristan Bracegirdle (Castle Cove) - 19 Pts
4th - Jonny Watkins (DSC) - 19 Pts
5th - Josh Aldridge (Burnham) - 23 Pts
6th - Rebecca Lewis ( DWSC) 26 Pts
Team:
1st - Dabchicks Sailing Club - Mathew French, Jonny Watkins, Rupert Watkins - 17 Pts
2nd - Draycote Water Sailing Club - Rebecca Lewis, Robert Loveridge, Emma Loveridge - 27 Pts
3rd - Sutton Bingham Sailing Club - Alex Talbot, Lucy Pratt, Ben John Poe - 30 Pts