Teras cross the Channel:

On Sunday 19 July 2010, eight young sailors, age, just 7 to 16, set off across the English Channel in a fleet of Tera dinghies in a bid to raise money for charity. The 27 mile passage from Dover to Boulogne was achieved in just 5 hours.

 Most of the youngsters belonged to two families: the Bracegirdles; Tristan(12), Yann (10) and Ossian (7) - and the Watkins – Libby (16), Jonny (13) and Rupert (11), together with two of their friends Mathew French (13) and Oskar Bisset (12).  The children had originally met each other on the sailing race circuit, via the Tera National Squads. The Watkins and Mathew French are based on the East Coast (Dabchicks Sailing Club), Oskar in Dover (Downs Sailing Club) and the Bracegirdles sail from Weymouth (Castle Cove Sailing Club).

The crossing took place after eight months of planning including consultation with the authorities and a tour of suitable landing sites on the French coast.  The children were accompanied by a 41’ yacht acting as “mother ship” and two sea-going ribs, with a total of eight adults, including the RYA “Tera” National Squad coach, Jonathan Lewis. Everyone was incredibly supportive and we could not have done it without all the volunteers who helped.

So far the eight Tera sailors have raised nearly £3000 for their chosen charities. To read Tony Bracegirdle's account of their adventure or if you would like to make a donation, please visit the library page of theTera website.

An article about the youngsters will also appear in the next issue of Y&Y, (out Thursday)