RS Tera Open at Frensham Pond Sailing Club
by Tessa Masterton 30 Sep 16:04 BST
22 September 2019
Frensham Pond RS Tera Open © Tessa Masterton
On the 22nd September the idyllic Frensham Pond Sailing club held its ever popular RS Tera Open event welcoming 47 children from 10 different clubs with 38 in the Sport fleet and 9 in the Pro fleet.
After the briefing the children headed out in sunny temperatures of 20 degrees but fully expecting the forecasted heavy rain. The course set, the Pro fleet started first followed by the Sports. Half way into the first race the heavens opened and the rain started, not phased at all the children continued with a British attitude to match the weather with comments heard on the water like 'Well done you got a great start' and 'Please may I cross you' including the endless 'thank you's' to the committee boat on the finish line.
Winners of the first race were Tristan Ahlheid (FPSC) for the Pro fleet and Harry West (Lymington) for the sports.
Taking account of the wind changes a new course was set and started but 15 minutes into the race the wind completely dropped, the Pros had made it half way on the first lap but then started to slow and the sports were struggling to catch the wind at all. The difficult decision was made to abandon the race and head back the clubhouse for lunch.
Dried, and fed the children had a useful debrief session from Adelicia Lavender, who was offering coaching on the water, and then headed back onto the pond to try and fit in another 3 races throughout the afternoon.
The children were welcomed off the water with a hotdog and awaited the prize-giving from FPSC Tera Class Captain Iain Soars and Vice Commodore David Innes.
Overall Results:
Pro fleet
1st Harry McTiernan (Brightlingsea)
2nd Trisan Ahlheid (FPSC)
3rd Thomas Banes-Walker (FPSC)
Sport fleet
1st Oliver Stratton-Brown (FPSC)
2nd Max Tait (Lymington)
3rd Harry West (Lymington)
Joshua Inglesfield (HISC) and Josie Kelly (Felpham SC) both winning spot prizes for sportsmanship.
Despite the weather it was a fantastic day with lots fun and laughter. Thanks to P&B for a fantastic price bundle.