Rooster Topper North East Championship at Scaling Dam Sailing Club
by Dave Fisher 24 May 2021 12:32 BST
22 May 2021
On 22nd May, 24 sailors turned up to the 2021 NE Topper Championships at Scaling Dam Sailing Club. Overnight rain and fog had cleared to leave a blustery and cold North Westerly wind.
23 sailors headed to the start line for the first race with 624 Alex Smith a little eager and was OCS. With gusty conditions on the first beat 658 Tom Moss squeezed past 519 Daisy Fisher on port to be first to the windward mark. These 2 stretched out a lead with the next 5 battling behind them. The strong gusts had caught out a few of the younger sailors. By the 3rd beat Daisy had overtaken Tom and she held the lead for the next beat but Tom overtook her when a back marker pushed her wide and he looked like winning the race until a navigational error caused him to miss the finish line with Daisy in 1st, Chloe Mills 158 2nd and Tom finishing 3rd. Several boats were whiskied in order to get race 2 under way.
Race 2 started in challenging conditions with 21 on the start line. Close racing at mark 1 with Daisy rounding 1st followed by Tom and 398 Charlotte Cooper third. 243 Chris Hampshire was in the thick of it but hit both the mark and Daisys boat, and had to do turns. As the wind settled and the sun came out, there were less capsizes and from there it was Daisy leading all the way. The race finished with Daisy 1st followed by Chloe and Charlotte.
Race 3, after lunch, started in lighter conditions and with all 24 sailors on the start line. Erin Young 179 led from the start with a small group chasing and the rest spread out behind. Erin increased her lead on the first downwind chased by Tom, Daisy, Charlotte and Chris Hampshire. At the end of the 2nd downwind Daisy had an overlap on Tom and was catching Erin. On the next upwind, Erin and Daisy took different courses allowing Daisy to take the lead. The 2 girls were well out in front and Daisy just took the race win followed by Erin with Tom and Charlotte next, a little way behind.
By the time Race 4 started, the wind had dropped and the sun disappeared. Erin once again led followed by 599 Harriet Wood and Daisy Fisher. It was great to see some of the younger sailors at the front of the race in the lighter conditions. Erin, Daisy and Harriet pulled out a lead on the others. After mark 4 Erin and Daisy took different tacks with Erin gaining an advantage. These 2 fought for the lead but Erin kept her advantage and took the win from Daisy with 362 Rosanna Joyce battling hard with Harriet to take 3rd place.
After 4 races of mixed conditions the girls have dominated the 2021 NE Topper Champs with Charlotte (West Lancs SC) in 4th, Chloe (Pennine SC) 3rd, Erin (SDSC) 2nd and this years' Champion with 3 bullets and a 2nd in the 4 races and for the 2nd year running was Daisy from Hollingworth Lake SC.
Top 4 boys were Tom (Ripon/SDSC) 5th, Hayden Moore (NCSC) 6th, Kian Lawlor (Budworth SC) 7th and Chris Hampshire (Ripon SC) 8th.
1st 4.2 Girl was Julia Smith (WRSC) and Top 4.2 Boy was Theo McGonigle (Ripon SC).
The Endeavour Prize went to George King and the Newcomer Prize went to Will Howard, both SDSC.
A big thanks to all the volunteers at Scaling Dam Sailing Club for a great day's racing.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Rig | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 5.3 | Daisy Fisher | Hollingworth Lake | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑2 | 3 |
| 2nd | 5.3 | Erin Young | Scaling Dam SC | ‑6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| 3rd | 5.3 | Chloe Mills | Pennine SC | 2 | 2 | ‑7 | 6 | 10 |
| 4th | 5.3 | Charlotte Cooper | West Lancashire YC | 4 | 3 | 4 | ‑8 | 11 |
| 5th | 5.3 | Tom Moss | Ripon SC/Scaling Dam SC | 3 | 6 | 3 | ‑7 | 12 |
| 6th | 5.3 | Hayden Moore | Notts County SC | 5 | 4 | 6 | ‑11 | 15 |
| 7th | 5.3 | kian lawlor | Budworth SC | (NSC) | 13 | 5 | 5 | 23 |
| 8th | 5.3 | Chris Hampshire | Ripon SC | 8 | 7 | 9 | ‑10 | 24 |
| 9th | 5.3 | Harriet Wood | Elton SC | 10 | ‑11 | 11 | 4 | 25 |
| 10th | 5.3 | Rosanna Joyce | Budworth SC | (RET) | 15 | 8 | 3 | 26 |
| 11th | 5.3 | James Alexander | Budworth SC | ‑11 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 27 |
| 12th | 5.3 | Finn Goodman | Teesdale Sailing & Watersports Club | 7 | 12 | ‑18 | 12 | 31 |
| 13th | 4.2 | Theo McGonigle | Ripon SC | 9 | 10 | ‑14 | 13 | 32 |
| 14th | 5.3 | Alex Smith | Windermere School | (OCS) | 9 | 13 | 18 | 40 |
| 15th | 5.3 | Will Howard | Scaling Dam SC | 12 | 16 | 17 | (RET) | 45 |
| 16th | 5.3 | George King | Scaling Dam SC | 13 | 19 | 16 | ‑21 | 48 |
| 17th | 5.3 | Izzy Fisher‑Stout | Scaling Dam SC | (RET) | DNC | 12 | 14 | 51 |
| 18th | 5.3 | Lara Eagleton | SDSC | 14 | (DNC) | 20 | 20 | 54 |
| 19th | 5.3 | Annie Howard | Scaling Dam SC | (NSC) | 17 | 23 | 15 | 55 |
| 20th | 5.3 | Kiera Cowell | Ripon SC | (NSC) | NSC | 15 | 16 | 56 |
| 21st | 4.2 | Julia Smith | West Riding SC | 15 | (NSC) | 24 | 17 | 56 |
| 22nd | 4.2 | Patrick Tulloch | Scaling Dam SC | (NSC) | 14 | 22 | 22 | 58 |
| 23rd | 4.2 | Lewis Blythe | Yorkshire Dales SC | (NSC) | 18 | 19 | RET | 62 |
| 24th | 4.2 | Ava Harris‑Scott | Elton SC | (RET) | DNC | 21 | 19 | 65 |
