Midlands Topper Traveller round 4 at Northampton Sailing Club

by Midlands Topper Fleet 12 May 2019 15:48 BST

Midlands Topper Traveller round 4 at Northampton © Victoria Turnbull

As the sailing season starts to get into full swing the Midlands Topper Traveller Series 2018-19 reached the halfway point. So far the first three rounds at Draycote, Carsington and Banbury were all extremely close events with the first two boats at round 2 and 3 each scoring identical points and being separated only by countback. Kate Robertson had won round 1 at Draycote. Will Thomas had won both Carsington and Banbury on countback with Kate Robertson coming second at Carsington and Ben Paling coming second at Banbury.

Notable landmarks achieved by some Midlands sailors in the first three rounds were, finally Kate Robertson won her first ever Midlands Topper Traveller race, Heather Quinn did the same at Carsington and Charlie Guyett and Iris Singleton scored their first race wins at Banbury.

Round 4 at Northampton was a wholly different affair. Good wind in the morning session saw Kate lead the day with two wins and 2 points on the board. The next nearest sailors were on 7 points with Iris Singleton ahead on countback of Series leader Will. Ben Paling and Thomas Link were close behind on 8 points.

After a leisurely lunch break the wind had started to drop a little and become patchy and shifty. It was hard to tell whether these changeable conditions were more frustrating for the sailors or the spectating parents. Race 3 saw three boats leading away with Kate in the lead only for the rest of the fleet to catch up and swamp the leaders at the leeward mark. Rounding ten abreast it seemed in true Topper style the whole pack was shuffled again and Felix Mcmullan led for a while.

The final two races saw much of the same with the shifty patchy wind making the windward leg like a game of snakes and ladders, regularly shuffling the running order about.

A consistent performance by Iris Singleton saw her through to her first open meeting win with Kate second and Ben third.

Meanwhile in the 4.2s Imogen Green, Clemmie Middle and Polly McMullan were racing away amongst themselves with Imogen and Clemmie seemingly joined at the gunwhale vying for the lead spot in the 4.2 fleet. Imogen finally pipped Clemmie by 1 point in what seems to be Midlands style racing, extremely close and well sailed racing.

Overall Results: Series results can be found here [PDF]

Pos	Class	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	Pts
1	5.3	47101	Iris Singleton	Hollowell	2	‑5	1	2	5
2	5.3	48050	Kate Robertson	Swarkestone	1	1	5	‑8	7
3	5.3	47790	Ben Paling	Notts County	6	2	‑10	1	9
4	5.3	46770	William Thomas	Notts County	3	4	2	‑7	9
5	5.3	48252	Thomas Link	LLSC	5	3	‑7	5	13
6	5.3	48098	Charlie Guyett	Cransley	‑9	7	4	4	15
7	5.3	47023	Heather Quinn	Notts County	7	6	‑9	3	16
8	5.3	47765	Oli Keenan	Tamworth	4	‑8	6	6	16
9	5.3	48101	Felix McMullan	Draycote	‑12	10	3	12	25
10	5.3	48437	Taylor Berry	Chase	8	9	‑12	11	28
11	5.3	46391	Ted Ball	Draycote	‑13	11	8	10	29
12	5.3	47388	Amee Bray	Banbury	‑18	12	11	9	32
13	5.3	45991	Keiran Bray	Banbury	10	‑14	13	14	37
14	5.3	20862	Joseph Rowe	DWSC	11	16	15	‑17	42
15	5.3	41145	Matthew Chadderton	Trimpley	‑15	13	14	15	42
16	5.3	42613	Edward Paling	Notts County	17	DSQ)	17	13	47
17	5.3	42911	Remy MacWhinnie	Draycote	14	15	‑19	19	48
18	5.3	46548	Emily Russell	Wysa	16	‑18	18	16	50
19	5.3	27192	Eddie Quinn	Notts County	19	19	16	RET	54
20	5.3	28661	Stefan Murgia	Carsington	‑20	17	20	18	55
21	4.2	31618	Imogen Green	Draycote	‑21	20	21	21	62
22	4.2	13976	Clem Middle	Draycote	‑22	21	22	20	63
23	5.3	46512	Jess Hedgecock	Hollowell	‑23	22	23	23	68
24	4.2	45197	Polly McMillan	Hollowell	DSQ	23	24	22	69

Prizes were awarded to:

1st overall Iris Singleton Hollowell SC
2nd overall Kate Robertson Swarkestone SC
3rd overall Ben Paling Notts County SC

1st 4.2 Imogen Green Draycote SC
2nd 4.2 Clemmie Middle Draycote SC
3rd 4.2 Polly McMullan Hollowell SC

1st U13 Matthew Chadderton Trimpley SC
1st Non Squad Sailor Joseph Rowe Draycote SC