Please select your home edition
Edition
GJW Direct 2024 Dinghy

ITCA Midlands Topper Traveller Series Round 1 at Draycote Water Sailing Club

by Mike Powell 13 Apr 2021 07:08 BST 10 April 2021
Midlands Topper Travellers Round 1 at Draycote Water © Malcolm Lewin Photography

The opening round of the 2021 Spring Midlands Topper Traveller Series was held at Draycote Water Sailing Club where we had an amazing 44 sailors enter the event.

There was a wide range of experience across the fleet with a number of National level sailors in attendance. It was also great to see a many new sailors entering the event who were experiencing Midlands Topper Travellers for the first time.

Wind conditions were good with a consistent Easterly of about 10 knots, this would ensure that there was some very close racing throughout the fleet. A Trapezoidal course had been set by the Race Director and covered a large section of the Draycote Water. Antonio Pascali led the way round for Race 1; beating Ben Paling into 2nd place.

Ben stepped it up a gear by winning race 2, followed by the experienced James Crossley. With 2 different winners from the first races, there would again be a different winner for race 3 in the form of Joe Warwicker. Consistency was the key though with Ben Paling taking two 2nd places and one 1st place so far, putting him in a strong position to take event honours, however it was still all to play for. For the final race, it was again a different sailor who won the race, with James Crossley leading the way to win the final race.

Only 1 point separated the Top 3 Sailors, however Ben Paling took the overall event honours, followed closely by James Crossley and Antonio Pascali.

We had a very strong 4.2 field in attendance with 12 sailors entering, making this the largest number of 4.2 sailors at a Midlands Traveller in recent history. Imogen Green dominated this classification winning all 4 races, with Katherine Gunn and Robert Byne following very closely behind.

Congratulations to Ben Paling (Event Winner) and Imogen Green (4.2 Winner).

Thank you to Draycote Water Sailing Club for stepping in at the last minute to ensure that the Midlands Traveller could go ahead and making it a superb opening round to the 2021 Spring Series.

Next up will be Round 2 at Northampton Sailing Club on 17th April. There area already 40 sailors booked in for this event so this is guaranteed to be another great encounter.

Related Articles

Medway Dinghy Regatta
The perfect weekend After last year's successful relaunch of the regatta, the 2025 Medway Dinghy Regatta welcomed an increased number of boats over the previous year with entrants making the journey to the River Medway from clubs both near and far. Posted on 4 Jul
Chipstead SC Juniors Mid-summer Regatta 2025
Perfect conditions for the 57 sailors taking part On 28th June 2025 Chipmates, the Junior Class at Chipstead SC, arrived to champagne sailing conditions for this year's mid-summer regatta. With lovely warm temperatures and wind averaging 9mph with gusts up to about 18mph. Posted on 3 Jul
Topper Midland Championship at Draycote Water
Consistency key with 8 races held over two days Draycote Water hosted the Midland Championships held over a weekend in June. A regional champs always attracts a good turn out, and as a selection event for the ITCA GBR Regional performance winter training this year it was an extra reason to sign up. Posted on 2 Jul
South and Southwest Regional Junior Championship
Exciting, high-quality competitive racing for 5 classes at Weymouth There were 145 sailors competing in Topper 5.3 and 4.2, Optimist, RS Feva XL, RS Tera Pro and Sport and ILCA 4 classes. The excellent race team led by PRO Paul Kimmens delivered exciting, high-quality competitive racing for all classes. Posted on 26 Jun
NEYYSA Championship at Ullswater
They had it all: heat, sun, torrential rain, wind, calm, thunder and lightning We had it all at Ullswater, heat, sun, (torrential) rain, wind, calm, thunder and lightning but nothing switched the smiles, sailing and socialising off at the North Region Youth & Junior Championships at Ullswater. Posted on 25 Jun
Welsh Regional Junior Championships
74 boats have a glorious weekend alongside a number of Welsh Sailing initiatives The event was hosted with Dale Yacht Club, Celtic Sea Watersports and Windswept Watersports and attracted a total of 74 entries, including 18 sailors keen to develop their racing skills in the coached regatta fleet. Posted on 25 Jun
London & South East Topper Regional Championships
43 sailors enjoy 8 fantastic races at Itchenor Sailing Club This year, Itchenor Sailing Club hosted the L&SE Regional Championship, drawing 43 sailors for eight races over two days in the picturesque Chichester Harbour. Posted on 24 Jun
Topper Irish Nationals at Lough Erne Preview
Around 50 talented young sailors will travel from all over Ireland to compete Lough Erne Yacht Club is looking forward to welcoming Topper sailors to the Irish National Championships over the weekend of Friday 4th - Sunday 6th July. Posted on 22 Jun
All set for NEYYSA Championship at Ullswater
Youth and juniors from all over the NE and Yorkshire will battle this weekend With less than 24 hours until the first warning signal at the North Region Youth & Junior Championships organised by North East & Yorkshire Youth Sailing Association (NEYYSA) and hosted by Ullswater Yacht Club final preparations are in hand. Posted on 20 Jun
Cambridgeshire Youth League at Grafham Water
33 sailors took part in windy conditions The second leg of the Cambridgeshire Youth Sailing League took place at Grafham Water Sailing Club on Saturday 14th June. Despite the forecast for strong winds, 33 intrepid young sailors set sail in gusty conditions. Posted on 18 Jun