P&B RS Tera Open at Great Moor Sailing Club

P&B RS Tera Open at Great Moor © Emily Davis

Twenty-seven home and travelling Tera Sailors descended upon the breezy shores of Great Moor Sailing Club this weekend for the third P&B Great Moor Tera Open. With a forecast of 14 knots with gusts of 28 it was set to be a challenging day for all sailors, some never having experienced Great Moor's interesting shifts and others having their first open event.

After bacon rolls and a briefing from the Race Officer Roger Blake, sailors were eagerly awaiting the launch signal; a short postponement whilst the course was adjusted for the latest shift in the wind allowed time for one sailor to have a spare boat rigged when he discovered his was broken! All launched together and made their way to the start.

The Pro fleet started and it was a very tight battle throughout the fleet with much place changing going on; Fergus Pye of Draycote Water eventually taking the win with local sailor Alastair Brown in second and Ralph Nevile (Frensham Pond) coming in third. In race two, Ralph recovered his form in shifty conditions to take the win from Alastair, Fergus in third.

P&B RS Tera Open at Great Moor - photo © Emily Davis

In the Sports, with a busy start line of 17 boats, all were clear on race 1 with Alice Davis (Great Moor) having a great start and pulling away from the fleet on the first beat. Extending her lead throughout the race she was well clear of Max Steele (Welsh Harp SC) in second, and Tristan Ahlheid (Frensham Pond) in third. Race two saw Alice in a similar position this time Tristan taking second and Max in third place. A mast breakage was well managed by Louie Dean of Frensham and the safety team; a spare mast kindly being loaned by another family enabled Louie to continue for the rest of the day.

Coming in for a hot lunch to refuel with the log burner providing much enjoyed warmth, the sailors were soon raring to go again for two more races. The conditions had built during lunch and some of the gusts were quite interesting!

In the Pro fleet the racing continued to be very close and exciting to watch with Ralph taking the bullet; Alastair Brown fighting through the pack and making the most of a near capsize by Fergus yards from the finish line, giving him the second place and Fergus third. Race 4 saw the wind drop off but there were still some monster gusts catching people out. Ralph maintained his form to take first place and the event, club mate Tom Ahlheid in his first event in the Pro in second and Fergus making third.

The Sport Fleet (by now a little depleted) suffered a general recall after being rather too keen, Alice repeating her performance in the morning and pulling away up the beat, Tristan in second and Imogen Wade of Northampton SC having a great race and coming in third. Race 4 saw Alice once more pull away with Tristan and newcomer to the Fleet Ella McWilliam of Royal SouthernYC taking third place.

Coming off the water the parents did a great job of speedily putting the boats on roofs and trailers, a protest hearing was held (but not upheld by the Protest Committee) and hot dogs and cakes were served in time for the prize giving. With prizes generously donated by P&B happy sailors left the club and returned home. Thanks go to P&B for prizes, Great Moor Sailing Club for holding the event and all the volunteers who gave up their time to make it happen.

The next National Tera Event is the End of Seasons at Draycote Water, 28-9 October. There will be a regatta fleet at this event for those new to fleet racing, with coached racing on a separate course. Entry can be made through the RS Tera Website here.

Overall Results:

Endeavour

Connor Shrimpton (Great Moor SC)
Thomas Humphrey (Northampton SC)