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Rooster 2025

Rooster London & South Topper Traveller at Chipstead Sailing Club

by Jane Marshall 16 Sep 2019 15:47 BST 7 September 2019
Rooster London & South Topper Traveller at Chipstead © Ian Cobb

39 Toppers from 13 clubs around London & South East (L&SE) gathered for the 11th event in the SE Topper Traveller Series that was run in parallel with the annual Chipstead Topper Open. They were greeted with moderate North Westerly, which challenged race officer Bob Murrell to set a fair course, given the long and thin East/West layout of the lake.

The first race was started from the far South East of the lake, with a long fetch to the first mark. Local veteran Tom Collie used his experience to stay clear of the crowded committee boat end of the line and sail into a commanding lead in clear air. He was closely followed around the course by Luka Franklin from nearby Bough Beech and James Crossley of Datchet Water SC - but there were no place changes and they finished in this order. For the second race, the fleet were overly keen on the line, forcing a general recall and inevitably bringing out the black flag for the rest of the day.

By now, the Travellers had figured out the best route around the lake, hugging the South shore to escape the large wind shadow across the North of "the narrows" and they dominated proceedings. James Crossley took the gun, followed by Antonio Pascali of Island Barn SC and then South Bank SC's Henry Koe.

The sailors returned ashore for a well-deserved lunch. Meanwhile the wind was starting to lighten and swing a little to the North East as predicted. This prompted the race officer to start the afternoon races from the South West of the lake, presenting the sailors a new challenge of learning the new course. This swung the advantage back to the local sailors, and so it proved with the top four around the course being from Chipstead SC.

They were led from start to finish by former Chipstead Topper Open winner Luke Hagon, following a bold port tack pin-end start. There were a few place changes in a frantic short final beat, with Hugo Valentine from Chipstead SC, coming back from a dreadful start crossing behind the entire fleet, finishing second and Tom Collie keeping his regatta chances alive with a third.

There was all to play for going into the final race - James and Tom tied for first place with a discard with Hugo and Antonio also tied 2 points behind the leaders. James did a fine job of match-racing Tom out of contention before the start, and then had Antonio and Hugo to worry about as the three broke away from the chasing pack. Extremely close racing on the downwind leg, and fighting between the three of them, allowed Doug Haig of Chipstead SC to close right up and join the battle. Antonio sailed well to hold off the challenges and win the race - but James did enough to take the event by finishing second.

After a very close four races, there were only 4 points separating the top four of James Crossley, Antonio Pascali, Tom Collie and Hugo Valentine. First lady was Kaitlyn Wyatt and first Youth being Anne Fredborg, both from Papercourt SC.

This event is unique on the L&SE Topper circuit, as it mixes the juniors with experienced veterans - equally competing throughout the fleet. After racing, prizes were awarded before all the cakes baked by Chipstead SC members were devoured by the hungry sailors. A big thank you goes to the race committee, volunteers and caterers from Chipstead Sailing Club that helped made the event such a great success.

Overall Results:

PosFleetSail NoHelm NameClubR1R2R3R4Pts
1stJunior48232Crossley JamesDatchet Water SC31‑1026
2ndJunior46919Pascali AntonioIsland Barn Reservoir SC‑52417
3rdVeteran42208Collie TomChipstead SC153‑169
4thJunior45170Valentine HugoChipstead SC‑842410
5thJunior47902Koe HenrySouth Bank SC‑1435614
6thVeteran31578Haig DougChipstead SC410(RET)317
7thSenior45859Hagon LukeChipstead SC7‑1111018
8thJunior47806Franklin LukaBough Beech SC2‑2061220
9thJunior47077Warwicker JosephBough Beech SC698‑1323
10thJunior46520Wyatt KaithlynPapercourt SC11‑1816532
11thJunior45770Handley BjornQueen Mary SC / Island Barn Reservoir SC91212‑1533
12thJunior48177Hudson ReubenNewhaven and Seaford SC / Island Barn SC‑266151435
13thVeteran43693Taylor‑Ingle JohnChipstead SC‑237111937
14thVeteran45865Marshall JaneChipstead SC19147(DNS)40
15thJunior47665Mole JosephPapercourt SC101317‑1840
16thVeteran35135Pringle AlexChipstead SC(DNF)825841
17thJunior48587Hardy JackIsland Barn Reservoir SC20‑2214943
18thJunior46974Machell ThomasChichester YC1517‑191143
19thJunior48666Leake JoannaIsland Barn Reservoir SC171613‑2046
20thJunior47649Bostan JibrielTideway Sailability‑241992351
21stJunior48249Griffiths RhysShoreham SC1621‑231754
22ndSenior31059Prosser JamesChipstead SC12‑28182555
23rdJunior48405Cantor EllaChipstead SC‑272526758
24thJunior46274Sacker HarrietNone221521‑2958
25thYouth47124Fredborg AnnePapercourt SC182324‑3265
26thJunior30119Fletcher DanielIsland Barn Reservoir SC1327‑312767
27thJunior47863Clow RoryIsland Barn Reservoir SC25‑31222168
28thJunior47531Beattie MatthewHOAC / Queensmead31‑35202273
29thJunior48175Childs MaddieDatchet Water SC21(DSQ)283079
30thJunior41400Mitchell TomChipstead SC‑3524292679
31stJunior47719Thomson MeganIsland Barn Reservoir SC29‑32272480
32ndJunior14940Barradell HannahChipstead SC282932(DNS)89
33rdVeteran45878Wilson SueChipstead SC303030(DNS)90
34thJunior23022Cobb IsabelleChipstead SC322633(DNS)91
35thJunior12831Colesmith EleanorChipstead SC3333‑343197
36thJunior4764Beck ThomasNewhaven and Seaford SC3834(DNF)28100
37thJunior48580Smith GloriaMaidenhead SC34‑373533102
38thJunior6528Thorburn HarryChipstead SC‑373636DNS106
39thYouth14010Nomikos CostasChipstead SC3638(RET)DNS108

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