If you missed the H2O show with Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on BBC Radio Solent last Friday here's an opportunity to listen to the podcast which includes an interview with Race Officer David Henshaw about the RS Tera Nationals at Netley Sailing Club the following day.

Interview starts after 1 minute.

If your browser is not displaying the media player you may download the interview via the following link:

Download 24MB (right click & "save target as")

Report by Bish Clow

My name is Bish Clow and I am thirteen years old. I have been sailing at Netley Sailing Club for two years now. I mostly sail an RS Feva or a Topper during our Club's sail training sessions and crew for my Dad on a RS Vision. Up until 5 weeks ago I had never sailed a RS Tera but since our club had bought three new Teras as training boats for the Juniors, and we were hosting the National Championship, I thought I would like the experience of racing at this level so I decided to give it a go! 

Two weeks ago the National Tera Squad came down for a weekend's training and I was able to take part in Saturday's training session. Ollie, who is one of the RS coaches, got all the squad moving around and warming up on land first before getting us on the water and practising. This was really great fun and I learnt a lot about the boat. Johnathan, the chief coach, was very generous with his time and knowledge and helped me and Dad learn lots on how to set the boat up and the class in general. Dave Machin, our Junior club training officer, let us make a few new additions to one of the club boats to help make it more comfortable for me, and I was all set to go.

I was a bit nervous on Saturday morning before the race. My friend Thomas Blake from the club was also going in for the championship and his Dad Chris gave us a very helpful chat before the main briefing, about race rules and strarts which helped a lot to focus my thoughts. It wasn’t long before Mum was taking the trolley off me and I was pushing off for the start of the first race. I soon began to really enjoy myself. The weather conditions were bright and hot, with a light, constant sea breeze. I thought my strengths that day were on the run down wind, but my weakness was not doing too well going up the beat in light winds especially when the tide is against you! On Sunday's races the winds were even lighter at first and the first race was difficult for me but my friend Thomas did fantastically well in the light winds and managed a 2nd against 50 other boats. (Wooo go Tom!) I finished 29th overall and am just very happy that I took part. I really enjoyed sailing the Tera and it was an ideal boat for me to get involved in big fleet racing for the first time.

Report by James Hutton-Penman and Rebecca Lewis

The record-breaking RS Tera Nationals 2010 sponsored by Optimum Time were held at Netley Sailing Club on Southampton Water over the weekend 26/27 June.
 
74 entrants from all over the country including a team from the Isle of Man. The fleets were split into two, the smaller Sport sail for those smaller and mostly less experienced sailors and the larger Pro sail for the heavier and usually older sailors.
 
On Saturday the competitors were treated to a beautiful day with light sea breezes. The club atmosphere was really friendly and the parkland surroundings made it fun for children off the water so there was plenty to do when not sailing.
 
Three races were sailed each day in near perfect conditions. The race officer setting nice long trapezoid courses with the Pros doing an outer loop and the Sports an inner loop. Racing was very close and the standard really good.
 
The first RS Tera Pro race was won by Josh Aldridge (Burnham Sailing Club), Matthew French (Dabchicks Sailing Club) was second and Maisie Letten (Hayling Island Sailing Club) third. Both Hamish Eckstein (Dabchicks) and James Hutton-Penman suffered gear failure. However with the help of the Tera parents and RS staff the boats just made the start of the second race  knowing there were no more discards available to them.
 
James won the second race with Tristan Bracegirdle (Castle Cove Sailing Club) second and Zoe Beyerman (Hayling Island Sailing Club) third. The third race took place in a dying breeze which made spotting wind important. Both Josh and James were sitting in the lower part of the top ten when they spotted breeze which took them up to 2nd and 3rd with the race being won by Maisie. Josh was leading overnight, Maisie was second and Matthew third.
 
In the evening the club organized a barbeque followed by a disco. Many families camped in the beautiful surroundings. Sunday started with a light land breeze. The race officer delayed the start until the sea breeze came in and we launched at about 12 noon. James won race one with Jonny Watkins (Dabchicks Sailing Club) second and Hamish was third. Hamish won the second race with James second and Tristan third.
 
The third race was delayed whilst the course was relayed as the wind had swung . In the final race James was lying in third place after the first lap but managed to overtake Hamish and Matthew going up the second beat to finish first with Matthew second and Hamish third. This gave James the title with Josh second and Tristan third. The race officer managed to get us home in time to watch the end of the first half of the England game but I think we all agreed the sailing was far more enjoyable than the match.

The RS Tera Sport fleet raced on the trapezoid course inner loop. There was a fantastic turnout of 52 sports. It was great to see so many there especially so many new faces.

As predicted, when they got us on the water it was light/medium winds.  It was tricky sailing as we had the tide to fight against.  The start line was packed a few people not knowing  which way to go, but we all got off ok in the end and the racing was really good. The tide was really strong in the 3rd race and caught a few people out as it pushed them over the start line. Day one saw a different winner for each race with Dan Venerables trying Tera’s for the first time rather than sailing his Topper to take a win in race one, Chrispin Beaumont lead for race two and James Eales new into Tera’s from Optimists as the winner in race 3.

At the end of Day 1 we all came off the water hot and tired, but after the tasty BBQ we all found some more energy and had a game of football on the field next to the club. This was great fun.

Day 2 was an even hotter day and lots of us went for a dip in the water to keep cool while we waited for the wind to come.  As soon as the wind came we were ready to go and back in sailing mode. Race 4 saw Chrispin convincingly show the fleet the way whilst James again took the gun in race five. It was all down to the last race and in the end it was two of the Tera National Squad sailors who fought it out. A good battle took place between Rebecca Lewis and Elliot Wells but down wind Rebecca managed to catch Elliott and get round the mark just before him and finish in the lead.

This win for Rebecca gave her the title with Dan 2nd and Elliott 3rd.

RS Tera National Coaches Jonathan and Ollie were on hand all weekend and were a great support.
 
Well done to Dabchicks Sailing Club who beat Hayling Island Sailing Club by one point to win the team prize.
 
All the competitors had a great time and we would like to thank everyone at Netley Sailing Club for making us feel so welcome and running such a great event. We would also like to thank the RS Tera Owners Club and RS for the great support. Next year hopefully our numbers will exceed 100 and good luck to all those going to the RS Tera Worlds in Carnac next month.  
 
Results - for the full results of the RS Tera Nationals click here

Photos - for class photos from Day 2 of the RS Tera Nationals click here, or for Fotoboat photos to purchase click here.

The RS Tera joins the Top 10% of dinghy classes with over 50 entries* for the National Championship 2010, sponsored by Optimum Time, at Netley Sailing Club over the weekend 26-27 June.

Netley Sailing Club, overlooking Southampton Water and surrounded by the Royal Victoria Country Park, is an ideal venue for the RS Tera Nationals with racing in front of the clubhouse and free camping available adjacent to the dinghy park for competitors.

The Nationals has already attracted RS Tera sailors from across the UK from Dorset, Essex, Hampshire, Isle of Man, Kent, Norfolk, Somerset and Warwickshire. With 10 days to go till the event there's still time to enter - details and online entry via the Nationals website: RSTera.org/Nationals

RS Tera Training Weekend at Netley SC - photo © Leslie Beaumont

The RS Tera is an ISAF International Class and member of the UK RS Class Association and International RS Classes Association (IRSCA).

* Yachts & Yachting National Championship Attendance Table 2009

The final RS Tera National Squad training session came to a close last weekend but because it has come to the full-on racing season where the squadies' winter training will be put to full effect.

The weekend began on the Saturday as the squadies arrived with their boats to be welcomed by Netley S.C - providers for the squad training and host club for the 2010 Nationals. Jonathan [Lewis] kicked off the weekend by getting the group together to reflect on what had happened since the Squad had last been together as a group which included events and successes or disasters; for example Tommy destroying his boat at the RS Feva Nationals.

After the briefing the Squad got on the water for a mini-regatta which for some people got a bit too competitive due to the fact that Jonathan had told them there were prizes to be won, so there was close racing with positions rapidly changing throughout each race. The objective of the day was to see how the sailors handled pressure at the front of the fleet and how their sailing was affected. 

The next day the Squad had a briefing on the beach discussing ideas on what we should do for the day left. Jonathan decided on doing rolling starts with Pro and the Sport fleet starting together. This caused problems for Sport sailors due to fact the Pro sailors would be able to power up quicker and get on top of the Sport sailors. After going in for lunch the Squad set out again for some racing but by then the wind had picked up and the smaller sailors were struggling to keep the boat flat and powered up. The racing was fast and furious with the heavy weather sailors prevailing over the light and non-aggressive.

Due to the fact that it was an onshore breeze the sailors undid there mainsheets and drifted in instead of grinding their boats up the beach. The weekend ended with a debrief about what each individual had learnt that weekend and what Jonathan and Ollie thought the sailor should improve on.

So the first bunch of National Squad sailors has completed their training and now the real work begins. At the end of this season some of the sailors will move on to bigger boats but will hopefully remember their days in the Tera Squad and for the rest of us we will need to sail as well as we can to ensure selection for the 2011 Squad.