Midlands Topper Traveller round 4 at Northampton Sailing Club
by Midlands Topper Fleet 12 May 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