Topper Coaching and Open at Chichester Yacht Club

by Louise Varley 23 Oct 2013 07:43 BST 19-20 October 2013

Topper Open Coaching - Saturday 19 October

Organised by the Topper Association Southern Area, this pre-booked coaching session was aimed at improving racing skills amongst those with some sailing experience. The session was led by RYA Topper Squad Head Coach Dave Cockerill, with 3 other coaches assisting. Following a classroom session the 20 participants launched and spent 3 hours afloat doing various exercises and mini-races. Although the weather was grey, the winds were not as strong as forecast and the group, of varied levels of skill and experience, all completed the tasks. A round-up session ashore summarised what they had learned, reinforcing the key points. The response from the participants afterwards was universally positive: this is a highly successful format and recommended for all youngsters wishing to improve their competitive sailing.

Topper Open - Sunday 20 October

The weather forecast for Sunday looked windy but manageable for our Topper Open event, with over 30 young sailors expected, from 10 years old upwards. At 8am there was a fierce squall along the coast, with thunderous black cloudsand gusts of 35 knots or more. A "mini-tornado" hit Hayling Island, causing extensive damage to dinghies at Mengham Rythe.

The storm cleared and the weather looked more settled by the time of Race Officer Derek Jackman's briefing at 10.30 - though he was careful to warn the 31 competitors of the forecast, and the need for sailors and parents to satisfy themselves of their ability to participate. The racecourse was set to the north of the marina channel, in clear breeze but some distance from the club. Race 1 started with a gusty 15-20 knots from the SSW. Most of the competitors completed the trapezium - sausage - trapezium course (work it out for yourselves!) without incident, though there were a few capsizes, especially on the downwind run. There was still a little weak sunshine by the start of the second race, but with the wind now gusting over 20 knots a few of the smaller or less experienced sailors stayed ashore.

The third race got away with an ebbing tide against the wind causing choppy conditions, and the gathering black clouds looked threatening. At about 2.15 the fleet of 25 boats had completed two of the three laps and a handful had finished the race: what happened next took everybody by surprise. With a ferocity rarely seen in our sheltered waters, the wind suddenly shifted west by 30 degrees and increased to a spike of over 45 knots, followed by torrential rain.

From the clubhouse visibility was appalling, but it was clear that none of the sailors could have remained upright. On the committee boat, the RO used a loud hailer to advise sailors not to attempt to right their boats, but to remain with them and await rescue. The race was abandoned, and the safety boats on the water were assisted by reserve crews and other volunteers on shore responding very quickly to take out additional rescue boats. Sailors were plucked from their Toppers and ferried to the committee boat or taken ashore, where anxious parents and race team waited. Bedraggled sailors were checked in against the list of competitors, and with the squall now past, a couple managed to sail boats in: all were accounted for, and there were no injuries. Hot chocolate and hot showers restored good humour, while the team of safety boats recovered all the Toppers.

The race was deemed to have finished after the second lap, so that all got a place. As this event was also the final in the Southern Area Travellers, the Chichester Harbour Series, and the West Sussex Schools and Youth Sailing Association series, the results took some time to calculate, but the usual generous CYC tea kept sailors happy whilst waiting. Final results for the CYC Open gave 1st place to Rhiannon Flack of Hillhead, 2nd to Victoria Cowan of Portchester and 3rd to Billy Vennis-Ozanne of Docklands. 4th was Jess Carter and 5th Sophie Kirk, both of CYC, and 6th Hannah Comfort of Cody SC. Girls rule!

Details of our open Winter Series can be found on www.cycdinghies.co.uk.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1st	47207	Rhiannon Flack	Hillhead SC	1	1	1	2
2nd	42247	Victoria Cowan	Portchester	2	2	2	4
3rd	47078	Billy Vennis‑Ozanne	Docklands	3	4	3	6
4th	47183	Jessica Carter	CYC	4	3	4	7
5th	47195	Sophie Kirk	CYC	6	6	5	11
6th	46640	Hannah Comfort	Cody SC	5	13	6	11
7th	41294	Josh Wilkinson	Felpham SC	7	7	8	14
8th	44839	Eden Luke	Christchurch	9	8	10	17
9th	44781	Charlotte Reading	CYC	15	5	13	18
10th	47156	Charlie South	CYC	DNF	10	9	19
11th	42545	Edward Gerwat	Felpham SC	10	9	12	19
12th	47082	Ross Neville‑Jones	Parkstone	16	15	7	22
13th	40039	Rosie Hill	Stokes Bay SC	14	12	11	23
14th	47386	Beth Albone	CYC	8	22	16	24
15th	32211	Douglas Mileham	HISC	11	14	20	25
16th	40617	Hannah Thompson	CYC	17	11	17	28
17th	11172	Owen Aldous	Felpham	20	17	14	31
18th	24570	Alex Mayger	Felpham SC	12	20	DNC	32
19th	35821	Emily Calkin	Portchester	19	19	15	34
20th	47223	Ieuan Harrison	Stokes Bay SC	21	16	18	34
21st	37041	Kate Winter	Stokes Bay SC	22	18	19	37
22nd	37660	Ellen Flewitt	Locks SC	18	23	22	40
23rd	5	Beth Wilkinson	Felpham SC	23	24	21	44
24th	47008	Charles Taylor	Arun YC	25	21	23	44
25th	29641	Angus Kemp	Poole YC	13	DNC	DNC	45
26th	6	James Dadswell	AYAC	26	25	DNC	51
27th	37461	William Lynas	Dell Quay SC	DNF	DNC	24	56
28th	44599	Susannah Olliff	CYC	24	DNC	DNC	56
29th	23420	Jonathan Winter	Stokes Bay SC	DNC	DNC	25	57
30th	47007	Dominic Woodcock	Arun YC	27	DNC	DNC	59
31st	27895	Catherine Albone	Milton Keynes SC	DNF	DNC	DNC	64