London & South East Topper Travellers Round 2 at Papercourt Sailing Club
by Andy Wyatt 11 Apr 2019 11:28 BST
7 April 2019
Topper Travellers at Papercourt © Andy Wyatt
The second event of the 2019 Topper South East Traveller series at Papercourt Sailing Club was held in contrasting conditions to the first.
The day started with moderately light winds but the forecast was for lighter winds as the day went on. Needing not to lose any time, the fleet of 27 boats launched promptly for a 10:30 start and ex-Commodore, Frank Brown, used all of his local knowledge to set a course to utilise what wind there was.
The direction of the wind was such that Papercourt's infamous shiftiness didn't come into play. Bjorn Handley took full advantage in the first race and sailed away from the Fleet for a comfortable win.
With the wind easing, the decision was taken to shorten the course. Clearly the start to the second race was going to be extremely important and, with expert positioning, Sam Walton was first to get clean air and led from start to finish.
The timing of lunch couldn't have been better as the lake was becalmed!
The fleet went back out just as the light winds returned, with Bjorn comfortably winning race 3.
With the majority of the fleet disrupting each other's air, the final race became a private battle between the three sailors battling for the podium positions: Bjorn, James Crossley and Johnny Woolgar, with James coming out on top.
Silverware went to Bjorn Handley of Queen Mary SC coming out on top ahead of James Crossley of Datchet Water SC. Third place went to Johnny Woolgar of Papercourt SC and first girl Kaitlyn Wyatt of Papercourt SC in eighth. Thanks go to all those who attended and a special mention to all who persevered in the light winds to finish the races.