RS Tera Worlds 2016 - A week to remember!

by RS Tera International Class Association 12 Aug 2016 15:03 BST 30 July - 5 August 2016

"I feel I have just been given the biggest embrace by a town and it's people. It's been an utterly unforgettable experience. Seven days packed to the brim with fun, friendship and laughter."

That town is Santona, a small Spanish town near Santander, the host of the 2016 RS Tera World Championships. The backdrop was stunning - Santona sits at the mouth of the river to the sea with mountains that drop down to the crystal clear sea. The weather was varied but this made the sunny days even better.

A huge marquee on the waterfront formed the epicentre for the event hosting the race office, changing facilities, briefing zone, bar and Ben's RS Sailing workshop.

The 2016 Worlds saw 72 children and their families attend, with 5 days of fantastic racing set by the race committee. The event kicked off with a practice day, with extremely light airs before starting the week of racing with better breeze.

3 races were planned each day, although tricky to manage in light, shifty conditions but the race team pulled it off. Strong tides and light winds made it difficult for all competitors but they showed they were made of stern stuff, remaining on the water for several hours and some tight racing ensued.

In the Pro Fleet Jack Lewis (GBR) won the first race with ease from team mates Roscoe Martin and Ben Batchelor, also taking the second from Albert Gelpi (ESP) and Matt Taylor (GBR). Race 3 saw a change at the top with Roscoe, Matt and Arnaud in the top 3 positions.

Sport fleet saw Arnau Gelpi (ESP) showing his talent leading Ewan Wilson (GBR) and Kate Wharmby (GBR) for race 1, race 2 was won by Robbie Mcdonald from Fergus Pye (GBR) and Ralph Nevile (GBR) and race 3 Ewan Wilson took the top place followed by Jake Thompson (GBR) and Dylan McPherson in third.

The conditions were set for the rest of the week with the wind occasionally reaching 15knots on one side of the course, the sun continued to shine. Jack Lewis tore through day 2 with three firsts, Roscoe, Ben and Josh Davies (GBR) taking seconds and Martin Lopez Lozada (ESP), Charlie Bacon (GBR) and Roscoe thirds respectively.

In the Sports Robbie McDonald was king for the first two races, keeping Fergus and Arnau back in race one and Ewan and Dylan in race 2. Race 3 brought Blake Tudor (GBR) to the front of the pack with Ewan and Phoebe Peters (GBR) 2 and 3.

Wednesday saw the tables turn a little in the Pros with Jack only taking one first, Roscoe and Ben a first each. However, Jack lead was becoming almost unassailable. The sports results were very mixed; Jake Thompson first in race one with Ralph second and Dylan 3rd, race 2 saw Arnau Gelpi first, Robbie 2nd and Fergus 3rd and in the 3rd race Fergus fought hard to take the win from Phoebe Peters and Ewan in some very close racing, lots of places changing in the last leg due to the wind dying.

Thursday delivered a postponement waiting for wind, eventually launching at 3pm. The rain settled in, feeling more like a British drizzle than Spain. Tough conditions for the race officer and all on the water, the sailors not returning until 8pm with the Sport fleet only having managed two races.

Matt Taylor took the first race in the Pro fleet from Albert Gelpi and Jack Lewis, but Jack took race 2 and 3, Roscoe and Albert having seconds and Harrison Pye (GBR) and Josie Ruffles (GBR) in third.

In the Sport Fleet Blake Tudor won the first race from Robbie and Fergus, Race 2 saw Ewan leading Phoebe Peters and Arnau Gelpi. Overnight it was still quite tight.

The final day arrived again with little wind; with the time limit only 2 races were likely. Jack Lewis in the Pro proved his worth as World Champion by taking two firsts, Roscoe and Albert Gelpi in second and Tom Storey and Roscoe thirds.

In the Sports Ewan drove his own victory home with two solid firsts from Robbie and Luke Anstey (GBR) in the first race and Arnau and Dylan in the second. Swapping team shirts at the end of the event was started by Team RSA and was great to see such friendships made.

An amazing event for sailors and supporters alike; all thanks go to the International Class Association, the race committee and all volunteers at the event. The RS Tera Class are heading to Carnac next year and all are welcome to join us. The World Championships are open to under 18’s in the Pro fleet and under 16 in the Sport fleet with an emphasis on fun and enjoyment of sailing.

For video updates of the event please visit the RS Tera Facebook Page.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Nat	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	Pts
1	2505	Jack Lewis	GBR	1	1	5	1	1	1	6	1	6	3	1	1	1	1	18
2	1906	Roscoe Martin	GBR	2	6	1	4	2	3	1	3	8	15	2	8	2	3	37
3	2784	Ben Batchelor	GBR	3	4	7	2	8	5	2	7	1	5	7	10	6	4	53
4	1747	Matt Taylor	GBR	4	3	2	5	5	11	9	11	7	1	6	7	4	7	60
5	2423	Albert Gelpi	ESP	9	2	3	13	12	4	5	9	32	2	4	2	19	2	67
6	2639	Tom Storey	GBR	11	14	18	7	15	7	18	5	3	4	9	13	3	9	100
7	2440	William Caiger	GBR	8	16	14	14	9	10	4	6	5	8	11	16	9	8	106
8	2661	Joshua Davies	GBR	15	17	16	12	10	2	7	2	16	14	5	5	8	14	110
9	3137	Charles Bacon	GBR	10	11	19	6	3	13	14	14	2	10	10	9	11	13	112
10	2230	Harrison Pye	GBR	20	10	8	11	6	9	12	16	29	13	3	6	5	16	115
11	2634	Oliver Kent	GBR	6	13	12	10	4	15	13	8	4	18	8	12	16	15	120
12	745	Tim Hire	GBR	13	7	17	16	7	6	10	12	14	6	12	20	10	11	124
13	3078	Laro López Lozada	ESP	12	5	11	32	14	14	3	10	32	7	17	4	25	5	127
14	2677	Alec Cope	GBR	7	9	10	8	11	19	8	4	17	17	32	32	13	27	150
15	3079	Martín López Lozada	ESP	14	8	15	3	19	8	11	17	27	26	20	24	14	6	159
16	2355	Josie Ruffles	GBR	5	15	13	19	17	17	17	13	23	19	14	3	24	25	175
17	2616	Oliver Jenkins Jauma	ESP	24	12	6	32	13	18	26	20	12	12	16	14	12	26	185
18	1668	Andreas Purse	GUA	19	26	27	15	22	26	25	15	15	11	19	11	7	10	195
19	2632	Caitlin Morley	GBR	17	23	4	17	21	21	21	27	9	16	13	17	26	19	198
20	3147	John Peter Kriel	RSA	21	18	22	18	16	22	32	23	11	9	21	26	15	12	208
21	3075	Kevin San Emeterio Díez	ESP	16	25	9	23	29	12	16	25	13	25	15	21	17	18	210
22	2325	Ned Statterfield	GBR	30	19	24	9	18	16	19	19	20	23	18	18	18	21	218
23	3192	Robyn Hellstrom	RSA	18	21	23	21	20	23	15	21	10	22	22	19	20	17	226
24	3213	Sophie Hynch	RSA	27	22	20	20	23	20	22	18	18	27	23	22	21	28	256
25	2305	George Sunderland	GBR	22	27	26	26	27	25	20	24	21	28	24	25	22	29	289
26	3149	Guillem Roldan Pérez	ESP	26	24	25	27	26	24	29	26	25	24	32	15	28	24	294
27	2762	Sal Halbesma	NED	23	20	21	22	25	30	28	29	26	31	27	27	23	23	294
28	1	Matas Petrauskas	LTU	25	28	30	25	24	28	23	22	24	30	25	23	29	22	298
29	2378	Matt Evans	GBR	28	29	28	24	28	27	27	28	19	21	29	28	27	20	305
30	2169	Marcos Purse	GUA	29	30	31	28	32	31	24	30	28	20	26	30	31	30	337
31	2	Joris Dagys	LTU	31	31	29	32	30	29	30	32	22	29	28	29	30	31	349