Topper 5.3 Southern Area Championship at Poole Yacht Club
by Elliott Kuzyk 1 Jul 2015 13:02 BST
28 June 2015
Topper Southern Championship at Poole © Juliette Kemp
Thirty-two boats arrived at Poole YC for the Topper Southern Area Championships, 2015. Elliott Kuzyk, (Parkstone YC) the current 5.3 Southern Area Champion and winner over the last three consecutive years, was vying for a fourth Championship win, but with boats from all over the Southern Region the competition was going to very tough and keenly fought.
Superb and highly sought after prizes from Rooster, the Championship main sponsors, added to the anticipation, with fabulous spot prizes from Kemp Sails, Bainbridge Marine and English Braids too.
With a good breeze already filling in and six races planned, the sailors were quickly launched to get the races underway. The first race was around 10 knots and Elliott Kuzyk managed to claim 1st place, closely followed by Ben Nicoll (West Oxfordshire SC) and Eve Kennedy (Parkstone). Soon after finishing, the second race was quickly underway. The second race was won by Angus Kemp (Poole YC) followed by Millie Aldridge (Parkstone) in 2nd and Kuzyk in 3rd.
Race 3 belonged to Sophie Kirk (Stokes Bay SC) who claimed her first race win of the day, followed by Ishbel Zuurmond (Menegham Rythe) in 2nd and Hakan Digby (Queen Mary) in 3rd place.
In the fourth race of the 5.3 fleet, Kirk got another bullet, claiming her second race win of the day with Aldridge in 2nd and Kuzyk in 3rd. Fortunately, the strong tide meant that there were no OCS's throughout the entire day, keeping the racing close.
Race 5 was quickly underway too and after a great start, Digby won the race followed by Hugo Burrows (West Oxfordshire SC) in 2nd and Aldridge in 3rd.
With only one race to go and a difference of around 3 points between the leaders, it was all to play for. The wind picked up to 15/16 knots, which was great news for our heavy-wind specialist, James Russ (Hill Head). After winning the first half of the beat, Kuzyk overtook Russ before the windward mark and they continued downwind. However, upwind, Kuzyk was no match for the 6ft leviathan of Russ and fell back in to 2nd place. The last downwind leg arrived but the positions maintained, Russ claiming 1st place, Kuzyk in 2nd and Burrows in 3rd place.
Overall Results:
3rd girl was Jenna Vincent (Parkstone) in 11th place overall
2nd girl was Millie Aldridge (Parkstone) in 6th place
1st girl was Sophie Kirk (Stokes Bay) in 3rd place overall
3rd boy Ben Nicoll (WOSC) 4th overall
2nd boy. Hugo Burrows (WOSC) 2nd overall
1st boy and 5.3 Southern Area Champion 2015 for the fourth consecutive year Elliott Kuzyk.
It was an excellent Championship with some good, varied conditions, and great competition, with Poole Yacht Club excellent hosts.
Rooster Sailing, the main Championship sponsors, as well as Kemp Sails, Bainbridge Marine and English Braids all kindly provided superb event prizes.
Thank you to everyone from the Topper fleet!