Craftinsure Topper National Series at Datchet Water Sailing Club

Craftinsure Topper National Series Round 1 at Datchet © Peter Newton / peternewton.zenfolio.com

The start of the 2013 Craftinsure National Series kicked off with National series 1 at Datchet S.C on 13th April and continued on into Sunday. With 189 sailors out on the water it was soon apparent that the competition would be fierce. While the sailors waited out on the water, the race committee struggled to anchor the pin end boat resulting in delays. Eventually, through the perseverance of the race committee we were able to start race one. By now the wind had settled at between 17-20 knots from the south.

The first race was won by Joesph Mullan and Daniel Budden followed by James Cummins and Will Birch-Tomlinson in second. The second race took place in the same conditions, Crispin Beaumont and Ben Whaley won their respective flights followed by Joe Mullan and Nick Deveraux. Third race was won by Crispin Beaumont and Arran Holman followed by James Cummins and Joesph Mullan. Normally we would of gone in by now to be greeted with a warm shower but as the forecast for Sunday didn't look good the committee had decided to run four races on day one. So late on into the afternoon we started again. The eventual winners of race four were Joesph Mullan and Daniel Budden, followed by Crispin Beaumont and Ben Whaley.

As everybody began to arrive for day two the wind slowly increased to by the time we launched it was 20-25 knots. The first race was won by Joesph Mullan and Arran Holman followed by Hamish Munro and Hal Sanderson. The last race of the weekend was held in 22-28 knots and was won by Joesph Mullan and James Cummins followed by Daniel Budden and Hamish Munro.

Overall Results: (top five)

1. Joesph Mullan
2. James Cummins
3. Will Birch-Tomlinson
4. Daniel Budden
5. Crispin Beaumont
First Youth: Arran Holman

On behalf of all the competitors I would like to say thank you to all the people who made this event happen. See you at the Inlands.