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Rooster 2025

Rooster Southern Area Summer Topper Traveller Series Round 1 at Spinnaker Sailing Club

by James Oborne 29 Mar 2022 12:20 BST 27 March 2022

Sunday 27th March gave us near perfect conditions for the Topper Traveller at Spinnaker Sailing Club. As is traditional the club hosted the first leg of the Rooster Southern Area Summer Traveller Series, a great chance for sailors to get back out on the circuit after a winter of training! With warm sunshine, and a great breeze the day made us all think more of an event in June than late March.

27 sailors raced in total, representing clubs from as far a field as South Wales, with 16 sailors using 5.3 rigs, with a very healthy turnout of 11 sailors in 4.2s! As the host club Spinnaker was very proud to see 7 of our young sailors amongst the fleet, sailing against many of the friends they have made over the winter during the RYA Regional Training Group, ITCA Open Training Days and the JETS Programmes!

Seven races were scheduled for the day with a target time of 22 minutes, giving everyone lots of opportunities to use their starting skills and take advantage of Spinnaker's famous wind bends and shifts. With a wind veering between North East and South West (and back again) at various times the race team were kept on their toes to keep the course orientated to give the best possible racing opportunities. The first start went away on time at 10.30 and all four planned races for the morning were completed by 12.45, a great achievement considering the whole course had to be relaid between races 3 and 4 following a sustained shift! As the sailors headed ashore for lunch the results there was the opportunity to reflect on the morning's racing, and think of what strategy and tactics would get them ahead in the afternoon!

The afternoon's wind was slightly lighter than the morning's, with a greater emphasis required on picking the right side of the beat to work, and making best use of the gain features around the lake. Thanks to the sailors great attitude (and good timekeeping throughout the day) the final 3 races were completed in good time before the wind started to drop away as forecast. While the results were calculated ashore the sailors enjoyed a picnic tea before the all important results were announced and prizes awarded!

In the 4.2 fleet Warsash Sailing Club had a clean sweep at the top of the fleet with Ethan Rhodes in 1st, Jake Davies in 2nd and Marcus King in 3rd! In the 5.3 fleet Henry Martin (Porchester Sailing Club) took a very well deserved 1st Place, Seb Davies (Warsash Sailing Club), with Max Morgan (Spinnaker Sailing Club) taking 3rd. In the 5.3 fleet it came down to a tie-break Seb and Max showing how close the competition was throughout the day.

A big thank-you to everyone who made the day happen, and good luck to all the sailors at the next Traveller event in Bosham!

Overall Results:

PosSail NoHelmR1R2R3R4R5R6R7Pts
Topper 5.3
148579Henry Martin214611815
247676Seb Davies4811332624
347432Max Morgan1053453424
446364Matthew EmersonCS)96846336
543911Flo Tovey61592651038
648315Finn Brook‑Holmes132152ET)ET)39
748685Ed Smith910153124240
847658Alex Van Doren131181119141
846892Ed Upton‑Brown12271087741
1047078Ffion Cerrato5414913101253
1146447Ava Francis 1161079131356
1246293Orla Parker8131212148558
1347746Thomas Peace37111410141459
1447833Ella Harris141213515121167
1546933Jasmine McQuillin1514516711NC)68
1616481Amelia Lampard161616111615983
Topper 4.2
147830Ethan Rhodes441211110
247776Jake Davies814123213
345364Marcus King432939324
334031Charles Wood323566524
546771Henry Noel556454427
646509Matthew Terry277642728
747796Seb Sitton 6893105839
831836Jack Baskett11658781044
946452Jessica Baskett71010787645
107078Megan Cerrato109810910955
1145779Wilf Tovey911111111111164

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