ITCA London and South East Topper Regional Championships at Shoreham Sailing Club
by Mark Dence & Tyler Harmsworth 5 Jun 2023 09:51 BST
27-28 May 2023
Jessica Powell wins the Topper L&SE Regional Championships at Shoreham © Warwick Baker /
www.warwickpics.com
Shoreham Sailing Club hosted the L&SE ITCA Topper Regional Championships. A record entry of 39 Toppers were treated to fantastic sailing conditions with 12-18 knots north easterly without a cloud in the sky across the two days.
The competition was red hot with a strong turnout from the core L&SE racing fleet and guest appearances from the Midlands and East Region. Seven races were sailed across the two days providing great offshore experience for the many who are entered for the Topper Worlds in Cork and The Nationals in North Wales later in the summer.
Saturday the winds were light and shifty coming off the land, the starts were competitive however the fleet heeded the PRO warning of the black flag and apart from a couple of individual recalls were remarkably well behaved all weekend. The first two races were sailed on a trapezoid course.
As the second race finished the wind swung 45 degrees and built which also built the waves to enable some good surfing downwind. As the team reset the course it was also changed to a windward-leeward with a gate, which unfortunately caught out some competitors.
Harry Mitchell led the series for L&SE sailors at the end of day 1 with Rory in second place.
Amongst the non-L&SE sailors Jess Powel was leading with four firsts, followed closely by Kat Gunn.
On the Sunday, winds were more consistent, again the fleet disappointed the PRO and didn't allow him to use his favourite flag! The increase in wind made the downwind exciting with the unwary being caught out and tested the water temperature.
There was some very close racing throughout the whole fleet. Rory achieving two first places and two second places to secure his win of the event. In the girls Leah May managed a second and fifth winning her First Girl.
In the Non-L&SE sailors two Midlands guests Jess and Kat both turned in very impressive performances at the top of the leaderboard. In particular, well done to Jess Powell who took the prize for the first non L&SE sailor with seven first place finishes.
Huge thanks to Richard Harris and the whole team at Shoreham Sailing Club for hosting a truly fantastic event. We hope we'll be invited back next year!
4.2 Fleet Results:
| ank | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | GBR 49180 | Oscar Lay | Desborough SC/IBRSC | 1 | ‑2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 2nd | CHN 49000 | MuEn Zhong | Island Barn Reservoir SC | 2 | 1 | (DSQ) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 3rd | GBR 48476 | Toby Lay | Desborough SC/IBRSC | 3 | 3 | 2 | (DNC) | 3 | DNC | DNC | 21 |
| 4th | GBR 45093 | Tom Brown | Papercourt SC | 4 | 4 | (RET) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 28 |
5.3 Fleet Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | GBR 48677 | Jessica Powell | Draycote Water SC | ‑1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 2nd | GBR 48571 | Kat Gunn | Draycote Academy | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑6 | 2 | 3 | 17 |
| 3rd | GBR47863 | Rory Clow | Island Barn Reservoir | ‑12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 19 |
| 4th | GBR 48320 | Harry Mitchell | Erith YC | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 5 | ‑13 | 28 |
| 5th | GBR48733 | Peter Tokajuk | Island Barn Reservoir | 11 | ‑18 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 13 | 4 | 44 |
| 6th | GBR 46430 | Seb Robb | Downs SC | 4 | 6 | 8 | 13 | ‑14 | 6 | 8 | 45 |
| 7th | GBR 47028 | Leah May | IBRSC | 3 | 8 | ‑15 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 48 |
| 8th | GBR 49176 | Harry Dence | Island Barn Reservoir | 10 | 5 | 7 | 5 | ‑18 | 16 | 6 | 49 |
| 9th | GBR 49178 | Sam Clancy | Desborough SC | ‑14 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 11 | 9 | 52 |
| 10th | GBR 47949 | Luke Townsend | Crawley Mariners YC | 6 | ‑17 | 9 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 12 | 53 |
| 11th | GBR 47524 | Dan Hebditch | Chipstead SC | ‑17 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 54 |
| 12th | GBR48974 | Nathan Clark | Waveney and Oulton Broad | ‑26 | 9 | 14 | 14 | 3 | 15 | 14 | 69 |
| 13th | GBR 48349 | Joseph Shorter | Papercourt/Island Barn SC | 9 | ‑24 | 17 | 21 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 74 |
| 14th | GBR 48580 | Gloria Smith | IBRSC | 7 | (OCS) | 13 | 12 | 10 | 17 | 19 | 78 |
| 15th | GBR 47316 | Vincent Shorter | PSC/IBRSC | ‑25 | 11 | 10 | 22 | 15 | 9 | 16 | 83 |
| 16th | GBR 48652 | Lucas Symons | Island Barn Reservoir | 13 | 19 | ‑20 | 19 | 7 | 14 | 18 | 90 |
| 17th | GBR 46305 | Ian Ma | Papercourt SC | 8 | 25 | 18 | 8 | 26 | ‑27 | 11 | 96 |
| 18th | GBR 47730 | Henry Moss | Downs SC | 19 | ‑22 | 12 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 15 | 99 |
| 19th | GBR 45506 | Finlay Todd | Island Barn Reservoir | 15 | 13 | 19 | 17 | ‑23 | 20 | 17 | 101 |
| 20th | GBR 47647 | Ilsa Todd | Island Barn Reservoir | ‑23 | 20 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 8 | 20 | 106 |
| 21st | GBR47124 | Thomas Beck | Newhaven and Seaford | 22 | 21 | 16 | 9 | 20 | (RET) | 28 | 116 |
| 22nd | GBR 46465 | Callum Harris | Shoreham Sailing Club | 16 | 12 | 21 | 16 | ‑32 | 31 | 31 | 127 |
| 23rd | GBR 48645 | Oliver Willett | King George SC | 21 | ‑27 | 23 | 23 | 19 | 19 | 27 | 132 |
| 24th | GBR 49182 | Isobel Jefferies | WPSC/QMSC | 24 | 14 | ‑28 | 27 | 22 | 25 | 22 | 134 |
| 25th | GBR 46623 | Sam Dence | Island Barn Reservoir | 20 | 23 | 25 | (DNC) | 27 | 21 | 21 | 137 |
| 26th | GBR 45975 | Fraser Ferguson | Shoreham Sailing Club | 18 | 16 | 24 | 25 | 31 | 29 | ‑33 | 143 |
| 27th | GBR 44598 | Evan Hellyer | | 28 | 15 | 26 | 26 | ‑30 | 24 | 25 | 144 |
| 28th | GBR 34440 | Harry Baldwin | King George SC | 29 | 28 | ‑30 | 29 | 21 | 28 | 26 | 161 |
| 29th | GBR 42919 | Susan Lewis | Papercourt SC | 33 | 26 | 29 | (RET) | 28 | 22 | 23 | 161 |
| 30th | GBR 49075 | Austin Rogers | Buzz Active | ‑30 | 30 | 27 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 29 | 161 |
| 31st | GBR 49183 | Sylvia Jefferies | WPSC/QMSC | 27 | ‑32 | 31 | 28 | 29 | 23 | 24 | 162 |
| 32nd | GBR 42113 | Matthew Larner | Shoreham Sailing Club | 31 | 34 | 32 | (RET) | 24 | RET | 30 | 188 |
| 33rd | GBR 41019 | Lili von Wehrenalp | Wembley SC | 34 | 29 | 33 | (DSQ) | 33 | 30 | 32 | 191 |
| 34th | GBR 41980 | Rudy Williams | Papercourt SC | 32 | 31 | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 211 |
| 35th | GBR 44502 | Alfie Tollit | Shoreham Sailing Club | 35 | 33 | (DNC) | DSQ | DNC | DNC | DNC | 216 |
| 36th | GBR 12162 | Stan Malenczuk | | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 222 |