ITCA Midlands Topper Traveller Series 2022-23 Round 7 at Northampton Sailing Club
by Mike Powell 27 Mar 2023 15:51 BST
25 March 2023
Round 7 of the 2022/2023 Midlands Topper Traveller Series took place at Northampton Sailing Club on Saturday 25th March 2023 with 26 sailors entered and the winds forecasted looking quite strong there was a lot of excited sailors looking forward to get out on the water and start racing.
The wind direction was expected to stay quite consistent in a Westerly direction with a base of approximately 16-18 knots, dropping slightly in the afternoon. A number of sailors sensibly, based upon forecast, opted for the smaller 4.2 sail to ensure they could make the best of their sailing day.
Due to the direction of the wind and the layout of the water, this enabled the race team to set a Trapezoidal course and a very good long first beat to the windward mark.
With the series winner now decided (Jessica Powell - Draycote), the battle was going to be who would put themselves in contention for the remaining podium positions as we move closer to the cconclusion or the series in April. At the start of the day, the 4.2 classification was still wide open with Hari Clark (Draycote SC) and Alex Chadborn (Notts County SC) on equal points and Ed Whittaker (Draycote) just behind.
Our Race officer for the day was the experienced Mike Webster and he was keen to get the sailors away on schedule. Race 1 started on time at 10.30am and at the windward mark, Jessica had a small lead over Jasper Focardi Dolling (Dovey), however Jasper picked up a lift and manged to sail past Jessica on the top reach and defended his lead into mark 2. Jessica covered well down wind and the lead swapped again back to Jessica and with these two sailors battling it out, this enabled Chloe Graydon (Notts County) and Jake Blakeway (Trimpley) to close the gap.
Onto the next lap and Jessica extended her lead on the upwind beat with Chloe and Jake both overtaking Jasper as they looked to start the event very strongly. Chloe had this well under control until a capsize just before the finish line, enabled Jake and Keali Rhodes (Northampton) to pounce, securing 2nd and 3rd place respectively.
As Race 2 got under way, the winds were continuing to be strong which was really testing the sailors strength and sailing skills. Race 1 winner, Jessica put in a very strong first lap and led the fleet away. Katherine Gunn (Notts County), looking to make amends for Race 1, was straight into 2nd place, with Keali and Jasper just behind. Jessica's lead was never challenged and she secured the 2nd win of the day, with Katherine finishing in a strong 2nd place and the duel between Keali and Jasper was resolved with home Sailor, Keali taking 3rd place.
At the lunchbreak, it was Jessica leading the event with 2 wins followed by a tie, on 7 points between Katherine, Jake and Keali. In the 4.2 classification this was being dominated by Thomas Matthews (Grafham) who was making his first visit to the Midlands Travellers with a pair of excellent 7th place overall finishes.
After a short lunchbreak and with a dropping wind forecast for the afternoon, the sailors were straight back onto the water. However following a small rain shower, the winds immediately returned as strong as the morning. The race officer decided to shorten the windward mark slightly just to take it away from the shifting conditions caused by the shelter of the trees and very quickly; Race 3 was under way. Jessica, looking to secure the event win with a race to spare put in a great start and immediately got clear air. She would use this to her advantage with a long first beat and as they reached the windward mark, Jessica rounded first, followed by Jasper and then Katherine. Jake was just behind the front 3 sailors, knowing one mistake or capsize and he straight past. Jessica held the lead and took her third win of the day and winning the event with Katherine fighting back to take 2nd place away from Jasper.
Going into the final race and with a lot of very tired sailors this was going to be a real test of their strength and stamina. Race 4 was soon under way and there was no let up in the wind. Jessica, keen to finish the day with 4 straight bullets pushed very hard and stretched the field out very quickly, reaching the windward mark in first. Jake was having an excellent event rounded second with Katherine right on the back of his rudder in third. Katherine would then go on to make a very clean pass downwind, taking 2nd place from Jake with Jasper knowing that he had to beat Jake to take the final podium spot, chasing hard just behind the lead pack.
It would be Jessica who secured her 4th win of the day and event honours with Katherine coming home in 2nd place in the race and the event with Jake defending very well taking an excellent 3rd place in race 4 and his first Top 3 finish of the series.
Thomas Matthews continued his dominating performance winning the 4.2 classification and taking a very creditable 4th place over all.
The award for the "Top Topper True Grit" award was presented by the event coach, Rachel Heggs to Harry Mallen (Blithfield SC) who is improving so much with his sailing, he always tries hard and achieved his best result of the series in challenging conditions. - Well Done!
Congratulations to Jessica Powell (Event Winner), Thomas Matthews (4.2 Winner) and our "True Grit" Topper Sailor; Harry Mallen.
Thank you to Northampton SC for a superb and excellently run event and to the race officer for setting the sailors such a great course.
With the series wrapped up by Jessica and Katherine securing 2nd place, there are 4 sailors currently vying for 3rd place, these being Jasper, just ahead of Chloe, Sammy Mason and Keali. It will be great to see how it pans out at our final event (Round 8) of the series.
It couldn't be an closer in the 4.2 sail classification, Ed Whittaker (Draycote) is now leading by 2 points, followed by Hari Clark (Draycote) and Alex Chadborn (Notts County) on joint points, making it all to play for.
Thanks also to our event Sponsors; Topper Sailboats; Rooster and GJW Direct for their continued support of Midlands Topper Traveller Series.
The next event in the series is our final round (Round 8) of the series at Draycote Water Sailing Club on Saturday 22nd April 2023 where we will also be presenting our end of series prizes and trophies. In addition to this, we are really pleased to have Russ Dent (Topper Sailboats) supporting the event where you can come along, chat all things topper and get you Topper Dinghy all checked over ready for the summer season ahead.
We look forward to you joining us there.
If any Junior Midland Topper sailors are interested in participating at the ITCA Midlands Traveller events, it is a great opportunity to enter a friendly and local race series. Please contact us on the email address if you would like any more information.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Rig | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 46391 | Jessica Powell | 5.3 | ‑1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2nd | 48571 | Kat Gunn | 5.3 | ‑5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 3rd | 49038 | Jake Blakeway | 5.3 | 2 | ‑5 | 4 | 3 | 9 |
| 4th | 48193 | Jasper Focardi Dolling | 5.3 | ‑6 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| 5th | 48907 | Keali Rhodes | 5.3 | 3 | 4 | ‑6 | 5 | 12 |
| 6th | 48535 | Chloe Grayton | 5.3 | 4 | ‑6 | 5 | 6 | 15 |
| 7th | 46971 | Oscar Rowe | 5.3 | ‑9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 22 |
| 8th | 46007 | Thomas Matthews | 4.2 | 7 | 7 | ‑8 | 8 | 22 |
| 9th | 47613 | Ben Angell | 4.2 | 8 | 9 | ‑11 | 10 | 27 |
| 10th | 48677 | James Burton | 4.2 | ‑11 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 30 |
| 11th | 45747 | Ed Whittaker | 4.2 | 12 | 11 | 12 | (RET) | 35 |
| 12th | 42356 | Oliver Baron | 4.2 | 13 | 13 | 13 | (DNC) | 39 |
| 13th | 47738 | William Clarke | 4.2 | (DNC) | DNC | 10 | 9 | 46 |
| 14th | 45370 | Peter Astley | 5.3 | 10 | 12 | (DNC) | DNC | 49 |
| 15th | 41858 | Harry Mallen | 4.2 | (DNC) | DNC | 14 | 12 | 53 |
| 16th | 47533 | Hari Clark | 4.2 | (DNC) | 14 | DNC | DNC | 68 |
| 17th | 46135 | Jai Dhaliwal | 5.3 | 14 | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 68 |
| 18th | 36182 | Alex Chadborn | 4.2 | 15 | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 69 |
| 19th | 47023 | Charlie Millward | 5.3 | (RET) | DNC | RET | DNC | 81 |
| 19th | 46124 | Laurie Lamb | 5.3 | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | 81 |
| 19th | 381 | Alexander Mulhall | 4.2 | (RET) | DNC | DNC | DNC | 81 |
| 19th | 47762 | Edward Croxton | 4.2 | (RET) | DNC | RET | DNC | 81 |
| 19th | 17515 | Ruby Tildesley | 5.3 | (RET) | DNC | DNC | DNC | 81 |
| 19th | 42830 | Charlie ONeill | 5.3 | (RET) | DNC | DNC | DNC | 81 |
| 19th | 46241 | Oli Rogers | 5.3 | (RET) | DNC | DNC | DNC | 81 |
| 19th | Y1 | Finn Neal | 4.2 | (RET) | DNC | RET | DNC | 81 |