RS Tera Open at Desborough Sailing Club
by Zoe Handley 23 Apr 2009 12:56 BST
19 April 2009
Desborough Sailing Club at Shepperton welcomed 17 young Tera sailors from seven clubs for its third RS Tera Open on Sunday 19th April. The sailors enjoyed a tightly contested event and after five races only a few points separated the top of the fleet with Yann Bracegirdle from Castle Cove SC coming out on top to win the coveted Nauticalia Trophy.
This was the first experience of racing for Edward Houghton (Desborough SC), Andrew Leggett (Bough Beech SC) and Ossian Bracegirdle (Castle Cove SC), who was the youngest competitor at just age 6. Despite the testing conditions of fluctuating winds and a brisk current they finished all races they started while staying close to the pack.
Jeremy Leggett (Bough Beech SC) took first place in race one with defending Desborough Tera Open champion Matthew Higgins (Desborough SC) second and Yann Bracegirdle third. Emma Mutch (Desborough SC) was fourth and Oskar Bisset (Waterloo Pirates) crossed the line fifth.
The second race saw a very tight fleet, this time Yann Bracegirdle held Harrison Patrick of Royal Dorset YC into second place. Jeremy Leggett took third with Elliot Spensley-Corfield (Hayling Island SC) just behind in fourth place and Robert Mutch (Desborough SC) fifth.
Race three was a dual between the two older Bracegirdle brothers with Yann pushing Tristan into second place and Harrison Patrick third. Elliot Spensley-Corfield’s flying start took him just over the line on the gun but he returned quickly and managed to claw his way from the back of the fleet to fourth place just ahead of Matthew Higgins.
Local sailor Joe Abell of Desborough SC led the fourth race from the start to finish with a convincing lead. Next across the line was Tristan Bracegirdle with Oskar Bisset just behind him. Yann Bracegirdle took fourth with Alison Gordon (Desborough SC) in fifth.
The final race was crucial for several competitors on equal points. This time Harrison Patrick held on to his lead ahead of Tristan Bracegirdle. Behind them finishing third, fourth and fifth respectively were Joe Abell, Jeremy Leggett and Yann Bracegirdle.
Richard Broughton, Desborough SC Vice-Commodore presented the Nauticalia trophy to the winner Yann Bracegirdle, with the Ayton Endeavour Trophy awarded to top place girl Anya Green. While the young competitors tucked into a delicious tea kindly provided by the hosts, parents and club members borrowed the Teras for an impromptu adult’s race. Club members Paul Handley, Richard Broughton and Chris Abell took advantage of their local knowledge to take the top three places respectively and were handsomely rewarded with a chocolate orange each.
Overall Results:
1st Yann Bracegirdle
2nd Harrison Patrick
3rd Tristan Bracegirdle
4th Jeremy Leggett
5th Joe Abell
6th Elliot Spensley-Corfield
7th Oskar Bisset
8th Matthew Higgins
9th Anya Green
10th Alison Gordon
11th Emma Mutch
12th Robert Mutch
13th Ossian Bracegirdle
14th Ben Abell
15th Andrew Leggett
16th Tom Henfrey
17th Edward Houghton