RS Tera Northern Travellers at Ripon Sailing Club

Waiting for the final race 5 minute warning signal during the RS Tera Northern Travellers at Ripon © Sarah Armstrong

Sunshine and a nice gentle breeze greeted the 26 excited young sailors as they arrived at Ripon SC for the annual RS Tera Open meeting. The event, which was the second in the Northern RS travellers series, attracted 18 home boats and 8 visitors from as far afield as Northampton and the Lake District.

Following a competitor briefing, in which the race management team discussed the potential use of the U flag during starts with the junior fleet, racing got underway in light but reasonable conditions. Race 1 saw Theo Stewart stamp his authority on the Pro fleet showing the rest of the fleet a clean set of heals – a trend that would continue for the weekend. Eilish Graham came home 2nd and Beth Miller 3rd. In the Sport fleet, Matthew Rayner led the 1st race from start to finish and was ecstatic with his first open meeting race win having pulled out a good lead from Esme Barraclough in 2nd and Felix Stewart in 3rd.

Theo Stewart easily won the 2nd Pro race by a considerable distance and then continued to dominate the weekend by going on to win all the remaining races over the weekend – a very strong and convincing performance in some tricky conditions. However, the battle for 2nd place in the Pro's between Eilish and Beth was not clear cut and developed into an interesting battle over the weekend.

After a general recall, the 2nd Sport race got away cleanly without the need for the U flag(!) and saw Esme take line honours from Felix with Oliver Rayner in 3rd.

Two more races were sailed on the Saturday with close racing in both fleets. In the Pro's Beth and Eilish continuing to collect a 2nd and 3rd each with Theo winning both. In the Sports, Race 3 saw Felix win over Oliver 2nd and Esme 3rd. Race 4 saw another name enter the top three, with Oliver 1st, Esme 2nd and Jessica Peeters a well-deserved 3rd.

With 4 races concluded for the day and Esme and Theo the overnight leaders, the competitors and parents alike enjoyed a special evening BBQ meal and some of the parents then went on to enjoyed a well-stocked bar.

Sunday started with a decent, but shifting breeze and after a short delay Race 5 commenced. Again, in the Pro's Theo led and Beth and Eilish resumed their tussle. Esme nailed another bullet in the Sports with Oliver 2nd and Felix 3rd meaning that only 3 points separated 1st, 2nd and 3rd going into the last Sport race.

The final race in the Pro's and therefore the event was won by Theo, with Eilish 2nd and Beth 3rd on the water, however the final results hinged on the outcome of an Arbitration hearing from an incident in Race 6 between Beth and Eilish.

In the Sports, Felix's win was not enough to beat Esme overall, with William Bailey 2nd and Oliver 3rd.

Overall Results:

Pros
1st Theo Stewart
2nd Beth Miller
3rd Eilish Graham

Sports
1st Esme Barraclough
2nd Felix Stewart
3rd Oliver Rayner
4th William Bailey
5th Matthew Rayner

Special prizes were awarded to Thomas Bates for the highest place competitor who hadn't competed in a race before, coming a very respectful 17th out of 21 and the Endeavour prize was awarded to Ollie Tindley. Despite never racing before and having to swim after his boat at one point Ollie completed all 6 races over the weekend – fantastic achievement!

Suitably tired after 6 races and a well organised event, 26 competitors went home keen to compete in the next North Tera Series event at Bassenthwaite sailing club on 10/11th June.

Some of the prize winners and competitors in the RS Tera Northern Travellers at Ripon - photo © Sarah Armstrong