Scottish Topper Travellers' Series Round 3 at Loch Lomond Sailing Club

Scottish Topper Travellers at Loch Lomond © Donald Wood

Scottish Topper Travellers at Loch Lomond © Dougie Bell

Loch Lomond Sailing Club hosted the third Scottish Topper Traveller in the Sailingfast Scottish Series on Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st May.

The Saturday racing was challenging with a strong, gusty wind from the South West. The race officer, David Protheroe, did well to fit four races in before the worsening weather forecast predicted for the next day. Andrew Homer saw the opportunity for his favoured conditions and dominated getting four firsts on Saturday.

Saturday was rounded off by a fantastic Barbecue organised by Cammy Dunn, the Club's Sailing Captain, and we all had a good time socialising after the event.

On Sunday, we arrived at Loch Lomond to find that the previous day's forecast hadn't appeared and the conditions looked very reasonable with a steady breeze from the North. The Race Officer decided we would be racing as soon as possible before the weather front came in. However, the white horses started to build and rocketing wind strength made the first beat challenging for everyone. Just before the leading toppers reached the windward mark the race was abandoned.

Over the weekend I was really impressed with some of the newer sailors, especially Fergus, Tom, Suzie & James sailing with 4.2 sails. Fergus got some amazing starts and was competing well against the full size sails. Tom and Suzie were at their first Topper traveller so I hope they come back to the next one.

In the main fleet, the final results were Calum Bell 3rd, Tom Aitchison 2nd and Andrew Homer 1st. Well done to all the other prizewinners - Christine, Alastair and Olly - and well done also to all the sailors for a good weekend of racing.

Scottish Topper Travellers at Loch Lomond - photo © Dougie Bell

Thanks to Loch Lomond Sailing Club for running a great event, the Race Officer, David Protheroe, and his team for running the racing, the LLSC catering team for breakfasts, lunches and BBQ (meat supplied by Donald at the Drymen Butcher). Finally, a massive thanks to all of the parents for transportation, shore support, repairs and patience.

See you all at Helensburgh Sailing Club in two weeks!

Overall Results: