Topper Open at Crawley Mariners Yacht Club
by Michael Thompson 6 Sep 2010 22:57 BST
5 September 2010
Toppers at Crawley Mariners © Hannah Warnett
22 visitors and 7 home boats turned out and enjoyed close racing in F2-3 wind; ideal for the wide ability range.
Race 1 was led to the finish by Tom Howard with Felix Crowther holding 2nd . Katie Wood chasing in 3rd for 2 laps but losing out to finish 8th – Jonty Freeman taking 3rd and Clive Jackson and Rebecca Clarke making significant gains to take 4th and 5th.
Race 2 had Howard leading for 2 laps but dropping to 2nd at the finish from Freeman who had moved up from 7th. Crowther again holding 2nd,until the last lap, to finish 3rd.
Race 3 saw some reversal of fortune, Howard leading with Harriet Ward in 2nd but at the end of lap 2 Crowther had moved to 1st from 4th with James Skulczak holding 3rd. Ward then dropped to 6th . At the finish Crowther took 1st with Skulczak passing Howard for 2nd.
Race 4 got under way with Crowther having to restart. Jackson establishing a long lead with Hannah Ward in pursuit – holding these positions to the finish. Howard recovered from a shaky first lap and moved up from 6th to 3rd.
Overall Results:
1st Tom Howard (Datchet Water)
2nd Felix Crowther (Queen Mary)
3rd Jonty Freeman (Newhaven and Seaford)
4th Clive Jackson (Papercourt)
5th James Skulczak (Bewl Valley)