South West Topper Travellers at Brixham Yacht Club

South West Topper Travellers at Brixham © James Mills

The last traveller in the SW Topper program for 2022 took place at Brixham Yacht Club over the weekend of October 1st and 2nd. Saturday saw 22 intrepid sailors venture out of the shelter of Brixham Harbour into a blustery Westerly 20 knots for open training led by the excellent Max Todd and his team of coaches. A full-on day of race drills ensured that a good night’s sleep was had by all.

Sunday dawned to pouring rain and a brisk NE wind, but a short delay while the BYC rescue craft rescued an incapacitated boat coincided with the rain stopping, the breeze and waves abating, and the fleet headed out to the race course in perfect English Riviera weather seen off by the local seal.

South West Topper Travellers at Brixham - photo © Colin Bunting

After a short sail to the race area the fleet were greeted by a 10-knot oscillating breeze. 5.3 and 4.2 rigs sailed the same racecourse to maximum start line action, while the 4.2 sailors sailed one less lap of a trapezoid course. The waves proved challenging for some, but 4 races were sailed back-to-back with little down time between races.

For the 4.2 sailors the smaller sail and less power proved hard for some to navigate the waves, yet some incredibly close racing led to plenty of close finishing with just 2 pts separating 2nd to 4th. In the end Tayah Gilboy (Paignton SC) used her Torbaydos experience to help her onto the podium just behind Joel Tidey (Parkstone YC) who claimed 2nd overall. The conclusive winner was Harry Mills (Saltash SC) who won all 4 races.

South West Topper Travellers at Brixham - photo © Colin Bunting

The 5.3 fleet was dominated by graduates from the 4.2 fleet all moving up to the bigger 5.3 sail. Oscar Filtness (Castle Cove SC) claimed 3rdoverall with 4 3rd places, while Holly Norton (Parkstone YC) continued an ongoing rivalry with fellow ex 4.2 sailor Thomas Semmens (Brixham YC), Holly coming 2nd overall chased hard but Thomas clearly capitalising on home waters advantage managed to win all 4 races.

South West Topper Travellers at Brixham - photo © James Mills

A quick derig, followed by refuelling pasta and a prizegiving in the club where there were prizes for all were gratefully received. This concluded a very successful weekend which in turn concluded a very successful SW Topper program.

Thanks to Brixham YC and their army of volunteers for a great event. The Commodore even donned a wetsuit to do a sterling job of helping the sailors launch and return to the slipway.

A very special thanks goes to the event sponsors Bayside Marine. Bayside Marine are the premier chandlery in Torbay and have an excellent online shop at very competitive rate. Brixham Yacht Club are very grateful for their support.

Overall Results:

South West Topper Travellers at Brixham - photo © Sam Norton