September 21-22, 2019 Dana Point, California, USA
Two awesome days of championship racing with 44 sailors from 15 fleets, age 7 to 15 all the way from: Maine and Colorado, to San Francisco, San Diego and Santa Barbara. The second annual RS Tera North American Championships was held in the waters off Dana Point, California. Dana Point is iconic, known for the birth of the Hobie Cat and now a significant starting point for the RS Tera in North America. Photos Courtesy Bronny Daniels joysailing.com
The inaugural 2018 Championships attracted 31 boats and were won by Emily Rychlik of Westlake Yacht Club. This year we attracted 44 RS Tera sailors from 15 programs with competitors traveling from Maine, Colorado, and all over California. 2019 also featured two divisions: the Sport Class with a 38 sq. ft. Dacron sail and the 50 sq. ft. Pro Class, which uses a full batten Mylar sail on the same mast. This versatility allowed sailors as young as 7 years all the way to sailors age 15 to compete in a wide range of conditions.
Day one of the championships was a qualifying series to determine the Championships fleet, 3 races were sailed in a seabreeze that built to 12 knots by the end of racing accompanied by a nice Pacific Ocean swell. In the Sport Division, the top three for the day were Henry Richter from Colorado, Christopher Daher, and Oliver Ernest both Dana Point locals. In the Pro Division, Tate Christopher from Alamitos Bay YC, William Gear from Maine, and Omar Alami from Sausalito YC took top honors for the day.
For Day two, four races were held in 4-7 knots with an incoming current forcing much of the fleet to choose the tactic of going right along the breakwater for current relief. In the Championship Sport Gold Fleet, Christopher Daher once again dominated the first three races, a poor start in race 4 nearly jeopardized his chances of taking the regatta win but he held on for the overall win. Last year’s defending Champion Emily Rychlik from Westlake Yacht Club put up an impressive performance good enough for Second Overall in the event and could have won if not for an inconsistent 9th place finish in the third race of the day. Carl Richter sailed a consistent day to take home third overall.
Congratulations in the Sport Silver Fleet: Megan Farmer from Alamitos Bay YC, Jonah Barbee from Dana Point, and Vivian Ikeda from Lake Mission Viejo. Eight year old Delany Ernest from DWYC placed 5th in Silver and Miles Gordon from SMWYC, just turned 9, placed 4th in Gold Fleet.
In the Championship Pro Class, Tate Christopher continued to sail consistently to take home the overall win, a late charge from fellow ABYC member Nicholas Mueller was enough to solidly put him in Second overall, followed by William Gear from Maine who had a tough day in the lighter conditions but held on for third overall.
Results posted on Clubspot.
Special Thanks for 18 loaned Teras from: American Legion Yacht Club Dana Point Harbor Youth Foundation Dana Point Aquatic Foundation Dana West Yacht Club For more photos and video please visit “RS Tera Sailing USA” on Facebook.