Craftinsure Topper National Series at the WPNSA

Craftinsure Topper National Series at Weymouth © Tim Yeates

Craftinsure Topper National Series at Weymouth © Tim Yeates

The host venue for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sailing events, Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Acadamy, attracted a record 230 Sailors for the 3rd of the 2010 Craftinsure sponsored, ITCA (GBR) organised Topper 5.3 National Series events over the weekend of 10th/11th July.

Anyone for whom this is a first visit to this venue cannot fail to be impressed by the facilities on offer, there are few other such places where 230+ Toppers can take over what felt like a small portion of the dinghy park, where car/motor home parking, changing, restaurant & launch facilities can cope with the demand – where the local attractions are on hand to entertain parental support teams & sailor siblings, hotels & retail therapy within easy distance & where the TV was available for Formula 1 & Football spectators. All this adds up to a very comfortable weekend by the sea.

Add to this, weather that typifies what we have all come to ask of a real English Summer, Blue Sky with fluffy white clouds after some early mist, 20 degrees heat & a steady wind forecast of 10-12 knots – Champagne Sailing conditions prevailed this weekend.

Charles Glover, current ITCA (GBR) Chairman was on hand to welcome everyone to this, his last National Series event in charge, he raised a cheer when he confirmed that all those taking part do like being Topper Sailors & it is evident that the claim to being the friendly class still holds true. John Burgoine was introduced as the PRO for the weekend, he indicated that the sailing would take part within the harbour, straight out from the dinghy park, he confirmed that he planned to start all races under the P flag but would bring out the dreaded Black Flag if the starters became too enthusiastic.

Trevor Lewis, the RYA appointed Class Judge reminded the sailors that he was on hand to ensure that everyone gets fair sailing, he was particularly keen to remind all about the rules regarding propulsion! Bill Brassington, Vice Chair Safety, pointed out that the sun & heat would require proper preparation, food, drink, hats & sun cream – sufficient for a prolonged spell on the water as 3 races, back to back were planned for the afternoon with the 1st start to be on schedule at 12:30.

The racing on day 1 did go to schedule. With this number of competitors, the fleet was split into 4 flights & each race had 2 starts with 2 flights in each, the flight colours were changed each race so that all the competitors get a chance to race against each other. The wind behaved perfectly, a steady direction and recorded strength of 8 – 15 knots led to really efficient racing as the course did not need any major changes, just a small increase in beat length after race 1 which was done without delay. No black flags and only 2 OCS led to lots of smiley faces being reported by the PRO.

All 3 races were carried out prior to a late afternoon finish which left time for families to visit the area, for the sailors to text, chat & socialise with each other whilst the adults did similar (mainly without the texting bit). The 6 different race winners today were Ellie Meopham, Finn Lynch, Alexander Still, George Meredith, Edward Jones and Tom Scott. With a truly international set of winners from England, Scotland, Wales & Ireland, it was RYA National Squad member Tom Scott who held the overnight lead due to a consistent showing in the other 2 races where he got a 2nd & 3rd place.

The fleet dispersed around the area with the Motorhome village ringing to the sound of chinking glasses & laughter – the other ITCA was in town (International Topper Camping Association)! The forecast for Sunday? Well there were 2 schools of thought either 5 knots more or 5 knots less – each sailor had their own preference but it was really quite windy overnight!

Day 2 dawned & the sailors launched in sunny weather & a slightly lighter breeze, the competitors waited on the slipway whilst a Triathlon took part a few metres away, they had a 7am start whilst the Topper fleet was looking at a 10:30 start to race 4. The wind was reasonably consistent in strength today however there was a 40degree swing in direction that resulted in a major change to the course between races. The enthusiasm of the starters brought out the black flag for 2 of the 6 starts & with only 2 registered OCS today that made a tally of 4 for the weekend, a very well behaved fleet considering there were 1380 boat starts over the 6 races! – hard luck to Ben, Ellie, Tom & Annabel for being caught!

It's worth a special mention to some new members to ITCA – Docklands Sailing & Watersports Centre – they brought a team of 4 who all ended up within 12 places of each other, quite a close little competition going on there, welcome to the fun. There was an announcement over the tannoy system that a competitor was coming ashore with a leek in their boat – the Welsh contingent were kept informed!!! Race winners today included youth sailor Simon Bennett, 2 for George Meredith which was still just enough to get into 4th overall, Tom Scott sailed nicely but finished 3rd , equal on points with Ed Jones who got a win to finish 2nd & the winner overall was youth sailor Tobias Hamer who got a race win to add to his consistent run of 3 2nds and a 5th.

Entry remains open to the Magic Marine Topper National Championships which are being held at Pwllheli SC during the 1st week of August, over 290 competitors are already signed up to what promises to be one of the biggest dinghy events in the UK during 2010 – all are welcome to join “The Friendly Class”.

Overall Results: