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Melges 15

Topper Travellers Open at Shoreham Sailing Club

by Oli Yates 15 Jun 2022 14:25 BST 11 June 2022

Shoreham Sailing Club hosted Toppers Traveller in June, as part of the London and Southeast Topper Traveller Series. 25 boats attended and were presented with amazing and epic sailing conditions with a South westerly with F5 and huge seas following several says of winds, all with clear blue skies.

There was a high standard of racing at the top of the fleet, many sailors having sailed through the winter in Regional Training Groups.

The sailors headed out from the shelter of the inner harbour straight out to open sea. Immediately several boats capsized. And some were struggling even though many sailors had reefed or dropped to 4.2 sails.

Over the day there were probably 100's of capsizes with some kids capsizing many times in each race especially as the day went on and kids become exhausted. There was a constant flow of toppers heading back into the club, but the majority stayed out showing amazing resilience to battle through the conditions.

Race 1 was appeared to have 2 guns on the line and sailor Leo Yates (Island Barn SC) thought he was over and headed back to take under the fleet. The fleet was led off the line by Ed Smith of Chipstead SC. The race was long with many changes in position, but Leo Yates worked his way up the overtaking 2nd place sailor Rhys Griffith of Shoreham SC on the reach fleet to finish 2nd overall behind Ed Smith who one the race.

Race 2, the start line was lengthened and great start by several sailors include Leo Yates at the pin end. Who lead the fleet up the first beat closely followed by Rhys Griffith. Leo held off the challenge and slowly increased his lead to win the race by half a leg.

Race 3 was similar to race 2, with Leo Yates at the pin end heading out to sea, as the wind headed and with south. The fleet followed Leo out to sea and then progressively taken to take the lift up the beat the windward mark. The battle for second place ensued with between Rhys Griffith and the lead was closely chased by Lily browning who finished 2nd and Rhys Griffith. Leo Yates continued to dominate the race and lead all the way to the end to finish first. Lily won the 2nd place battle to come 2nd and Rhys Griffith 3rd.

Race 4 and final race proved exciting with a hug pile up at the pin end where by 1 boat failed to make the pin mark but decided to head up to get around the mark. In so doing hit the mark and caught many boats as the started the race and struggled to make the pin end. Leo Yates however avoided the ensuing buy a matter of meters and being further windward. Leo dominated the race by leading all the way round and finished nearly a leg ahead of second place boat Lily Browning.

Final results Leo Yates won with perfect score of 3 first places and 2nd place being the discard. Lily browning and Rhys Griffith were tied on points, with Lily browning getting 2nd by count back.

It was amazing day on the water with some fantastic sailing in champagne conditions. Congratulations to Leo Yates showing a convincing performance.

Big thanks to the rescue crews in ribs for constant and endless effort to monitor the race and encourage sailor to battle on.

A huge thank you goes to our hosts Shoreham Sailing Club for organising a brilliant event. We look forward to returning very soon.

Overall Results:

PosSail NoHelmClubR1R2R3R4Pts
148153Leo YatesIsland Barn / Shoreham ‑21113
247765Lily BrowningIsland Barn Reservoir SC / Thames SC/Thames SC‑64228
348249Rhys GriffithsShoreham SC323‑78
448878finley southonBough Beech SC53‑6311
547636ed smithChipstead SC1‑85511
647863Rory ClowIsland Barn Reservoir SC45‑11413
748129Otis PerryBosham SC‑964616
848652Lucas SymonsIsland Barn Reservoir SC‑12118928
947647Isla ToddIsland Barn Reservoir SC1397‑1729
1045768Torquil MorrisonEmsworth Slipper SC81514830
1145959Oliver GattonCrawley Mariners YC/Island Barn Reservoir SC1110‑131031
1248709Finn GeriFelpham SC714RTD 311132
1347949Luke TownsendCrawley Mariners YC10‑19101333
1448320Harry MitchellErith YC/King George SC14712‑1633
1547028Leah May ‑171291435
164764Thomas BeckNewhaven and seaford SC1513‑151240
1748349Joseph ShorterPapercourt / Island Barn SC16‑17161547
1847316Vincent ShorterPSC/ IBRSC181817(DNS 31)53
1946919Oscar LayDesborough SC / IBRSC19‑21191856
2045506Finlay ToddIsland Barn Reservoir SC222218(RTD 31)62
2148580Gloria SmithMaidenhead SC/IBRSC2016(DNS 31)RTD 3167
2248666Hannah KewleyIsland Barn Reservoir SC2420RTD 31(DNC 31)75
2346223Sophie ElsdenIsland Barn Reservoir SC2323DNS 31(DNC 31)77
2448717Austin Rogers 25RTD 31DNC 31(DNC 31)87
2548645Oliver WillettErith YC/King George SCRTD 31(DNC 31)DNC 31DNC 3193
2648733Peter TokajukIsland Barn Reservoir SC(DNC 31)DNC 31DNC 31DNC 3193
2748602William BrownIsland Barn Reservoir SC/Queen Mary SC(DNC 31)DNC 31DNC 31DNC 3193
280thomas Starks (DNC 31)DNC 31DNC 31DNC 3193
2920169Harry ElsdenIsland Barn Reservoir SC(DNC 31)DNC 31DNC 31DNC 3193

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