Midlands Topper Traveller Series at Chase Sailing Club
by Scott Keenan 6 Jul 2019 14:45 BST
29 June 2019
Midlands Topper Traveller Series at Chase © Beth Tate
Chase SC welcomed 27 Toppers on Saturday 29th June for the penultimate Round of the Midland Traveller Series. On arrival the breeze was light and racing was soon under way in the glorious sunshine.
The first race was taken by Thomas Link who managed to keep Charlie Hopkinson at bay whilst the remainder of the pack was strewn the length of the lake as the patchy conditions prevailed.
Conditions were similar for Race 2, Will Thomas getting the better of Kate Robertson, and Thomas Link finishing third. Time for lunch and almost everyone retreated to the shade of the clubhouse as the heat intensified. The breeze made a welcome appearance after lunch and the afternoon sailing proceeded in more appealing conditions to the delight of the sailors.
Race 3 produced a well deserved first Traveller series win for Charlie Hopkinson who produced a great sail to follow his performance in the morning. Charlie was followed by Kate Robinson, Oliver Keenan, Fin Morgan and Taylor Berry.
On to Race 4; after a couple of recalls it was time for the black flag to make an appearance at the start line which made for a clean get away. This Race produced a win for Kate Robertson, followed by Will Thomas and Charlie Hopkinson which was also the finishing order overall for the day.
Notably Sam Grayton came ninth overall and claimed the win for the first Under 13 in consecutive events, and Merryn Attridge finished eleventh, being the first Under 12.
Furthermore, congratulations to Grand Master, Steve Turner from Chase who finished three of the four races. However, I understand there are no intentions to make a permanent switch to the Topper.
Thank you to Chase SC for a great day supported by their enthusiastic, most helpful members, with Alex Walton leading as Race Officer. It was great to see numerous Clubs being represented with groups of sailors from South Staffs, Chase, Trimpley and Notts County.
The series so far has seen the closest racing in the region for at least four years and we have record numbers of sailors joining in in this years series. The final round and series prize-giving takes place at Hollowell SC on the 13th July where it is still all to play for.
Will Thomas has led the series from round 2 onwards but is only 1 point ahead of second place Kate Robertson, a late surge mid series from Ben Paling saw him get to within 2 points of the leader but has just dropped back to 2 points off the lead.
Hollowell should be a great event as usual, we hope to see all as many of you as can get there at the event to finish off what has been a great series so far.
See Full Results [PDF]