Craftinsure Topper National Series 3 at Parkstone Yacht Club

Bright and breezy for the Toppers at Parkstone © David Harding / www.sailingscenes.co.uk

Bright and breezy for the Toppers at Parkstone © David Harding / www.sailingscenes.co.uk

Another record turnout of over 200 Topper sailors and their entourage decended on Parkstone Yacht Club in Poole Harbour over the weekend of 11th/12th July 2009 for the third of the Craftinsure sponsored Topper National series.

Saturday morning dawned grey and drizzly, but a hard working Parkstone team managed the smooth dropping off of trailers and unloading of boats, and bacon butties and coffee were ready for those that had travelled from further afield. It wasn’t long before everyone was settled on site and the competitors briefing was underway.

Poole Harbour is a very busy shipping area and a deep water channel has to be crossed to reach the sailing area, which is just off Brownsea Island. Sailors were briefed on the racing and also the process of crossing the channel down which the large cross channel ferries and other shipping passes on its way in and out of Poole Harbour.

Launching got under way around 11:15 and a team of volunteers quickly got the 200 sailors on the water and the trolleys stowed. Although the drizzle continued, for the sailors the wind was filling in nicely by this time and promising to hold for the day. Reaching the channel, the last third of the fleet had to heed the warnings given in the briefing and hold before crossing to allow the 20,000 tonne Barfleur Brittany Ferry to pass in front of them before making their way to the race course – sometimes sail just has to give way to power!

On the race course, a nice F4 had built as the first flights readied for their start. The enthusiasm of 100 boats on their first start of the event though resulted in a general recall. The race officer then decided that the black flag would be the order of the day, and so the first flight got away cleanly second time around heading for the outer loop, followed by the second flight heading for the inner loop.

Christopher Eames and Andrew Bridgman got off to a flying start for the weekend taking first place in their respective flights. As the day progressed, the wind stayed and was whipping up some nice waves for the sailors. Andrew Bridgman took another first place in his flight with Michael Beckett taking his flight. By Race 3 the tide had changed though and in their push for a good start there were a number of general recalls for each flight with more than 20 boats between the two flights black flagged for being over the line. A few of the sailors who were black flagged continued to race after a general recall, unfortunately resulting in a non-discardable disqualification – lesson learnt. First places in their respective flights were eventually taken by Alex Benbow and Tom Bucktrout.

Saturday proved a testing day for the competitors with plenty of capsizes keeping the safety team busy. By the end of racing over 20 of the less experienced or younger sailors had retired leaving strings of Toppers moored to the buoys whilst the sailors warmed up on the mothership. As some of the sailors shivered it was a salutary lesson that in the UK, even in July, plenty of layers are still needed.

The black flag disqualifications in Race 3 left the overnight results somewhat mixed up, and so Sunday dawned with sailors looking for another good day of racing, and they weren’t disappointed. The sun was now out, the rain had stopped and the wind had strengthened a little more – excellent conditions.

Sailors were once again quickly dispatched to the racing area where a steady F4 gusting F5 greeted them. Still under the black flag, racing got underway with Christopher Eames and Andrew Bridgman notching up further first places in their respective flights. Race 5 saw Christopher Eames again in good form with another first place joined by Will Hackney in his flight. The excellent conditions held for the day, allowing the full six races to be completed and Alexander Alcock and Will Hackney took the honours in the final race.

Some beautiful glassware awaited the winners in a closely contested event that saw first and second placed sailors tied on points, but the overall winner with three first places to his name was Christopher Eames. In second place was Michael Becket and in third place Alexander Alcock. First female helm went to Felicity Foulds in 10th place.

Many of the sailors packing up their boats were getting ready to make the journey to Traunsee in Austria for the GUL Topper World Championships, followed a week later by the Craftinsure Topper Nationals Championships in Pwllheli in North Wales, so a busy few weeks lay ahead. The next event in the Craftinsure Topper National series is at Mumbles Yacht Club in South Wales on the weekend of 12th/13th September.

Overall Results: