Volvo GJW Direct Topper 5.3 and 4.2 Nationals at Pwllheli - Day 1
by Chris Woodard 7 Aug 2017 12:32 BST
5-11 August 2017
Volvo GJW Direct Topper Nationals at Pwllheli day 1 © Chris Woodard
225 young Topper sailors have arrived at the Welsh National Sailing Academy in Pwllheli for the Volvo GJW Direct International Topper 5.3 and 4.2 National Championships. For many it has been a very quick turnaround after the long journey back from the World Championship in Loctudy, with barely time to clear 10 days backlog of washing and get everything ready for another hectic week of competition!
Many National Squad members arrived on Thursday for a few days venue familiarisation and coaching, with Zone Squad sailors getting the same opportunity on Saturday, and then the mammoth task of measurement, which with 225 boats didn't go quite as quickly as many might have desired!
Racing is scheduled over six days, with the first three days being for the qualification series, with four coloured fleets racing in two flights, and then the latter three days raced in Gold, Silver and Bronze fleets.
The weather forecast for the first day's racing on Sunday had been looking pretty ominous in the lead up, and so it proved to be! The fleets tallied and launched from Pwllheli's idyllic and relatively sheltered beach knowing that conditions would be very challenging out in the bay.
Initially the wind was around 18 knots, but it was building steadily and by the time both 5.3 flights had started it was already a solid 22 knots, gusting 26, with some spectacular 3m waves. In these conditions the safety crews were always going to be kept very busy, and by the time the first flight finished race 1 the decision had already been made to send the boats ashore, with the leaders heading back in whilst the second flight concluded their race, before promptly following suit. With multiple gear failures, upturned hulls and abandoned boats the safety crews embarked on a long mop up operation, with an impressive array of recovered equipment and possessions accumulating in the lost property box! This was a day to be really grateful for the volunteers who man the safety boats, who were still out on the water clearing up long after the final competitors were ashore, thank you all!
In terms of results this was a day for the older and bigger sailors. Scott Wilkinson, fresh from being crowned Topper 5.3 World Champion in Loctudy last week, won his flight, with Andrew Homer winning the other, Sam Cooper and William Adler each clinched a second, and Toby Pearce was the only under-15 in the top 10. The fact that no less than 45 boats failed to finish is an indication of just how brutal conditions were today!
Meanwhile the 4.2 fleet launched after the 5.3s, and stayed much closer inshore, and they got their first race started very promptly. However the increasing wind strength and the massive waves quickly took their toll on these generally younger, lighter, and less experienced sailors, and with safety crews at full stretch, and upturned hulls all around, racing was abandoned before the first race could be finished, and the fleet were sent ashore to regale parents with tales of the biggest waves most of them had ever seen!
So, while the rain continues to lash down here, there will no doubt need to be some re-jigging of the race schedule over the next couple of days in order to complete the qualification series by Tuesday evening, with fingers crossed that the weather will cooperate!