Rooster RS Tera National Championships 2024 at Thorpe Bay Yacht Club
by Simon Lomas-Clarke 28 Aug 09:51 BST
18-20 August 2024
The 2024 RS Tera National Championships were hosted by Thorpe Bay Yacht Club from 18th - 20th August. The fleet was made up of 52 Pro, 54 Sport and 16 in the Train and Race Regatta fleet.
Sunblock, hats and sunglasses were essential as the summer conditions arrived in time for racing. On day one the fleet launched promptly into a steady 10 knot breeze from the West. The light conditions were quickly mastered by the newly crowned Sport World Champion Rafe Bradley (Gurnard SC) who took the win with Hannah Yates (Gurnard SC) and and Laia Priestley (Ullswater YC) third. In the Pro fleet Mark Soars used his tactical skills to take the win from another newly crowned World Champion, Will Stratton-Brown (Frensham Pond SC) with Harry Mitchell (King George SC) third having stepped back into a Tera for this event.
As the day progressed the sea breeze started to compete with the gradient wind producing some big shifts and then the tide turned. Rafe Bradley didn't let that bother him and won the next two races with Harry Wilson (Filey SC) second in both races. Third places were Aggie Priestley (Ullswater YC) and Zac Carveth (Hayling Island SC) respectively.
In the Pro fleet Mark Soars won both remaining races with Will Stratton-Brown sailing a second and a third. In the second race of the day Willow Osborn (Hickling Broad YC) came third and in the last race Like Rowlands (Rutland SC) was third.
A great barbecue was laid on by the club to refuel the sailors on Sunday evening.
On the second day the fleet had a big four race day and launched to a building South Westerly wind. In the Sport fleet Rafe took the first race with with Hannah second. Molly Wilson (Filey SC) was third. In the Pro fleet the conditions shuffled the finish order slightly with Cas Day (Gurnard SC) taking the first win of the day with Luke second and Will third.
In the second race a big left shift was well spotted by Jasper Jenkinson (Gurnard SC) who took the win from Laia Priestley and Edward Knowles (Royal Lymington YC). The Pro fleet experienced the same shift and Will won his first race of the event followed by Cas and Ben Angel (Draycote Water SC). The wind stepped up a notch for race 3 to a fruity 18-20 knots with a good swell, leading to some downwind capsizes and a few retirements. In race 4 the wind dropped off again to a more manageable 12 knots. Rafe and Hannah continued their first and second pattern for the last two races of the day. Olivia MacAlister (Royal Lymington YC) and Jasper completed the top three in each race.
In the Pro fleet Will had found his mojo in the stronger breeze and comfortably won both remaining races with Mark getting back into his stride with a 3,2. Cas was second in the 6th race of the event and Luke Rowlands 3rd. It was all tight at the top with Will and Mark close on points at the end of the day.
The hog roast was just what parents and sailors needed and the evening entertainment by local guitar/vocalist Mikey in the warm sunshine was an added bonus.
The breeze was up on the last day, averaging around 16 knots, although there were some big holes. Rafe commanded the day, winning the first two races. Hannah was second in both with Molly and Jasper taking the third places. The big boys brought their A game with Will winning every race on this final day. Mark scored two seconds with Cas taking a second in the last race from Mark in third. Luke Rowlands took two third places to keep in the hunt for the podium overall.
The 122 boats from around the UK, great weather and Thorpe Bay Yacht Club provided a truly memorable Championships. Recent form played out with Rafe Bradley taking the National Championship title to add to his Sport World title and Will Stratton-Brown doing the same in the Pro.
And so the sun set on another amazing Rooster RS Tera Nationals. Thorpe Bay 2024 gave us fantastic sailing, lovely weather and the facilities to produce a fantastic Nationals Regatta. Hannah Yates and Jasper Jenkinson completed the Gurnard SC lockout of the Sport fleet podium. Hannah was the lead female sailor. In a similar form pattern, the Pro fleet was won by reigning World Champion Will Stratton-Brown with Frensham club mate Mark Soars in second. Cas Day completed the podium. Zoe Lomas-Clarke won the first female Pro title. A dominant performance from Gurnard saw them take the Nationals team trophy.
The U10s Champion, Harry Wilson, ensured that the trophy stayed on the Wilson family mantlepiece, having been won by elder siter Molly for the last two years.
With both Will and Rafe having previously won the award, Harry is one to watch for the future.
The next generation of Tera sailors in the Train and Race Regatta fleet, coached by UKRSTCA coaches, Finlay Lomas-Clarke, Jack Bew and Sam Blaker, had a fun time and all improved massively from their experiences both on and off the water.
The UKRSTCA is indebted to Thorpe Bay Yacht Club for their help and enthusiasm in staging such an awesome event, from the early arrivals on Friday to the prize-giving on Tuesday, it ran like clockwork. The dedication of the TBYC team, led by Mark Dell and Johnno Gillies and an absolute army of volunteers, made it one of our finest Nationals yet. Commodore Adrian Bunting thanked the long list of supporters who had everything covered from groundskeeping, campsite arrangements, parking, catering and the all important bar. An awesome Thorpe Bay safety team, led by the UKRSTCA's Safety Officer Paul Bew, made sure everything was A-OK in some pretty gnarley conditions at times, and our parent beach team led by the indefatigable Steve Cross, who seemed to spend most of the week in the water, did an amazing job. Thanks go to our two PROs, Tom Rusbridge and James Ripley-Giles, backed up by the comprehensive local knowledge of our ARO, TBYC's Alex Warrington. The dedication of the TBYC team made it one of our finest Nationals yet.
A huge thanks to our Class Sponsors Rooster, event sponsors Allen and RS Sailing for a fully laden prize table.
The generosity of our sponsors provided a table full of raffle prizes with hundreds of pounds raised for our chosen event Charity, the RNLI. Thanks to both the Burnham on Crouch and Southend stations.
Full results can be found at halsail-1e484.kxcdn.com/Result/Public/82420
We are indebted to Nick Alston of NWA Photography, not only for his amazing pictures on the water, but his generosity in making these images available to our competitors and families at no charge - thanks Nick!
Nick's pictures and others from the event can be found on the UKRSTCA gallery at rstera.smugmug.com/RS-Tera-Nationals-Thorpe-Bay-2024
Next up for the UK RS Tera fleet is our season finale, the Rooster End of Season Championships 2024 at Draycote Water Sailing Club in late October, but there are many regional events across the UK to keep are sailors on the water.
For all RS Tera related activity in the UK, check out the UK RS Tera Class Association website at www.rstera.org.uk