Isle of Wight Tera Championship at Gurnard Sailing Club
by Luke Bradley 3 Dec 2019 19:06 NZDT
1 December 2019
18 young Tera sailors from across the Isle of Wight gathered at Gurnard Sailing Club on Sunday 1st December for the inaugural Isle of Wight Tera Championship.
The event marked the conclusion of four weekends of winter coaching led by Paralympic medallist Helena Lucas and local legend Harry Blowers. The sun was shining but a strong biting wind from the North East gave challenging conditions. Race officer Steve Cole set up a short windward-leeward course in Gurnard Bay in front of the club house giving the spectators a good view of the action.
Sam Osbourne (RVYC) looked to be enjoying the windy conditions and held a commanding race in race one followed by Thomas Leather (GSC) and Killian Boag (GSC). One race down and the conditions were already beginning to take their toll on some of the sailors, with some deciding to nip ashore and downsize their sail and then head back out for more racing while others decided to call it a day and head in for an early hot chocolate.
In race two Thomas found his gear and took his first win followed by Killian with Will Bradley (GSC) 3rd.
For race 3 the wind eased briefly giving the sailors some respite and again it was Thomas leading from Killian, with Angus Middleton-Leal grabbing the 3rd.
With the wind back up to full strength the weary fleet was reduced to nine starters for the fourth and final race. Thomas made it three wins in a row ahead of Killian and Will.
Thomas certainly mastered the conditions and was a deserved winner of the Junior Champion Trophy that has been kindly donated by Patsy and David Franks.
Overall Results:
1st Thomas Leather
2nd Killian Boag
3rd Will Bradley
1st Girl Matilda Moore
Under 10s
1st Samuel Leather
2nd Taylor Willows
3rd Harris Middleton-Leal