Tera Nationals 2023 at Royal Victoria Yacht Club, Isle of Wight report

Published 14:45 on 16 Aug 2023

Ten juniors and their families joined 144 Tera sailors at the Nationals hosted by Royal Victoria Yacht Club on the Isle of Wight. We received a warm welcome from the organisers and faced every type of weather that the Solent had to offer.

Naomi, Oliver and Dexter took part in the 'train and race' regatta fleet. They enjoyed their first time out on the big sea sailing for 45 mins to their race area closer to the shore. They managed the tricky conditions of gusty winds, tides and avoiding the Fishbourne Ferry and came in each day smiling with confidence.

The main fleet was Ella in the pro fleet, and the sport fleet was Noah C, Rollo, Emma, Noah W, Ben and Issac. We were all very appreciative of the support that ESC and the Blake Fund gave, plus the Club rib which provided a support boat for our sailors. In fact the support boat became a safety boat which was very much needed in the strong gusty winds and large waves near the Solent shipping lanes.

Every sailor showed resilience and grit as they were taken well out of their comfort zones. They showed great team strength supporting each other when boats failed and needed replacements on the race course, or when some sailors returned on safety boats after receiving bangs to the head.

Time off the water was enjoyed too with the RVYC hosting a bbq and time at the campsite playing rounders with the very little energy they had left! The sailors all enjoyed themselves and are now looking forward to participating in our Junior Race Week next week and to hosting our Tera Open on Saturday 30 September.

Well done to all our participants!

Emma Gardiner