Isle of Wight RS Tera Championship at Gurnard Sailing Club

Isle of Wight RS Tera Championship © Luke Bradley

Isle of Wight RS Tera Championship © Luke Bradley

Sixteen junior sailors from across the Island competed in the Isle of Wight Tera Championship on Saturday at Gurnard Sailing Club.

Winds were blowing at over 30 knots in the central Solent but an offshore direction made Gurnard Bay sheltered enough for racing, although in extremely gusty and shifty conditions. Sadly, the ferocity of the gusts were too much for the Regatta Fleet to go afloat but the Racing Fleet eagerly hit the water for two hours of racing in Artic-like temperatures.

The conditions of the day gave some extremely tight and tactical racing that tested the sailors across a wide wind range. The sailors were roll tacking round the windward mark, positioned close to the shore, in doldrum like conditions but at the leeward mark, laid offshore, were battling with gusts of over 20 knots.

Samuel Leather stole an early lead in race 1, however, after a capsize on lap 2 he was overhauled by brother Thomas and also Sam Osborne and had to settle for 3rd.

Race 2 saw Sam work up an unassailable lead with Thomas and Will Bradley behind with more taking a swim as the gusts rolled down the course.

Race 3 had several contenders vying for first place on lap 1 until Will managed to break clear. He recovered quickly from a capsize on the last lap to hold his lead from Sam and Ruby Sunderland.

With several capsizes and a few retirees, Race Officer Steve Cole decided to call it a day after three races and the fleet hit the shore just ahead of the rain setting in - very good timing!

Sam Osborne (RVYC) had a final scoreline of 2,1,2 giving him the prestigious title of IOW Tera Champion, closely followed by Will Bradley (GSC) in second and Thomas Leather (GSC) in third.

Overall Results: