RS Tera and Topper open meeting at Starcross Yacht Club

by Tayah Gilboy & Peter Solly 10 Oct 2023 21:55 BST 7-8 October 2023

The second Tera and Topper Open Meeting saw record-breaking attendance, with 38 boats entered from 11 different clubs. With blue sky and a lovely wind building to 8 knots, conditions were perfect.

The day started with no wind, and so PRO Dougal Scott ran a tug-of-war between the Topper and Tera fleets, which ended in a close draw(!). As the mist started to lift, the fleet were launched for a series of 3 races with committee boat starts. The sea breeze filled in from the south, and Teras and Toppers raced the same course, but had different starts and each finished different sides of the committee boat.

Martin Laver took this great drone footage:

Visiting sailor from Paignton, Tayah Gilboy, describes the day:

At the start of the day there was under 2 knots with a very thick fog covering the river, so no one could race. When the fog eventually lifted, it was not too long before the wind started to pick up and we got sustained steady winds of 8 knots. We then launched and completed three races each with two laps, with the Toppers starting before the Teras.

There was a good number of sailors present. There were eight prizes up for grabs, top three 5.3's, first 4.2, top three Tera Sport and first Tera Pro.

Thank you for Starcross sailing club for holding a great event and great pasta after sailing, and all the competitors for making it really enjoyable and competitive races.

Racing was close. Although the winners of all four fleets had three bullets, this was often close fought - particularly in the Tera Sport fleet - and competition further down the fleets was significant. A huge well done to all sailors.

The galley served up a gourmet menu after racing, with different types of pasta and bolognaise and Pork Szechuan, followed by cake.

In a reversal to the usual format, the Topper fleet had a day of racing on the Saturday, and then a day of coaching on the Sunday, organised by the Topper Class.

It was wonderful to welcome so many people to Starcross, from such a range of clubs. Many new faces, and many youngsters just starting their journey of travelling to different clubs. Thank you for coming, and we hope to see you again.

Big thank you to Dougal Scott (PRO) for such a slick and well run day; to Richard, Marie and and Jos in the galley; the beachmaster and results volunteers; and to all other volunteers on the committee boat, safety boats and in the galley. Thanks to Starcross Yacht Club for hosting.

RS Tera Pro Results:

Pos	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1	Phillipa Paley	Starcross YC	‑1	1	1	2
2	Will West	Starcross YC	2	2	‑3	4
3	Monty Manning	Fowey Gallants SC	‑3	3	2	5
4	Henry Richards	Fowey Gallants SC	‑4	4	4	8
5	Anaya Stoneman	Starcross YC	‑5	5	5	10

RS Tera Sport Results:

Pos	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1	Tom Solly	Starcross YC	‑1	1	1	2
2	Barney Rhodes	Exe SC	‑2	2	2	4
3	Stefan Anderson	Exe SC	3	3	‑4	6
4	Emma	Starcross YC	5	‑6	3	8
5	Archie Kemmish	Starcross YC	4	4	‑5	8
6	William Parsons	Royal Dart YC	‑8	5	6	11
7	Oliver Nichols	Royal Dart YC	6	‑7	7	13
8	Aurelie Owen Martyr	Royal Dart YC	7	‑9	8	15
9	Sebastian Goodwin Hughes	Starcross YC	‑9	8	9	17
10	Minnie Rogers	Royal Dart YC	‑10	10	10	20

Topper 5.3 Results:

Pos	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1	Harry Mills	Saltash SC	‑1	1	1	2
2	Leo Griffiths	Chew Valley SC	‑3	2	3	5
3	Tayah Gilboy	Paignton SC	2	3	‑8	5
4	Daniel Sadler	Whitefriars SC	‑6	5	2	7
5	William Lomgthorpe	Starcross YC	4	‑11	5	9
6	Indie Jones	Royal Dart YC	5	4	‑6	9
7	Fergus Stockman	Starcross YC	‑9	7	4	11
8	Toby Colls	Chew Valley SC	‑8	6	7	13
9	Amelie Ballantyne	Starcross YC	7	8	‑9	15
10	Ethan Griffiths	Chew Valley SC	‑13	9	11	20
11	Connie Laver	Starcross YC	11	‑14	10	21
12	James Colls	Chew Valley SC	10	‑12	12	22
13	Amma Gribble	Chew Valley SC	12	10	‑13	22
14	Imogen Hill	Starcross YC	14	13	‑15	27
15	Rory Dixon	Exe SC	‑15	15	14	29
16	Oliver	Exe SC	‑16	16	16	32

Topper 4.2 Results:

Pos	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1	Finley Kirkby	Bristol Corinthian YC	‑1	1	1	2
2	Aidan Hall	Bristol Corinthian YC	‑2	2	2	4