GOAT Marine SW Topper Traveller round 8 at Plymouth Youth Sailing

SW Topper Traveller round 8 at Plymouth © James Willis

Sunday 8th September, Plymouth Youth Sailing at the Mount Batten Centre kindly hosted the 8th SW Topper Traveller, which doubled up as a RTG selector. Sponsored by GOAT Marine Plymouth was also hosting the World Power Boat championship, giving extra challenges for the race committee team and the safety crew.

With this in mind, and the forecast tricky, 37 boats completed four back-to-back races and it was an amazing day. Not an easy task!

The day started off with a quick briefing, outlining the restriction zone for the Powerboats which limited the sailing area available and ensuring all sailors safety. We made a prompt get away from the slipway, carefully sailing within the safe waters, to get out to the race area in a hope to get the first race off. The intention was a trapezoid course, aiming for three rounds or until shortened.

Unfortunately, the wind didn't want to play favours to the race committee, resulting in a 2 hour postponement. All competitors dealt with this well, but were glad when the wind began to fill in and the start signal went up.

Race 1 saw some difficult conditions for sailors, with light wind and huge shifts. Harry Mills led Thomas Semmems to a close 1, 2 finish. Daniel Cullen, Parkstone YC, myself and Edward Lee, Saltash SC took the next three spots.

Race 2 quickly began, with the mark layers doing a great job to move marks to make the course true. Harry and Thomas dominated again, finishing a two round course, followed by myself third, fourth Charlie Mackenzie, Salcombe YC, and fifth Edward Lee.

Another quick turn around between races saw race three start with winds finally begin to increase. Race 3 results mirrored race 2 for the top three places, with Holly Williams and Daniel Cullen, both from Parkstone, battling it out for fourth and fifth.

The race committee did as they intended, despite all the challenges, completing a 4th race and allowing for a discard. The wind was steadier but everyone was getting tired. Thomas managed to get his first win over Harry, with three new sailors getting their best results of the day. Charlie Mackenzie third, Charlotte Moyes, fourth and Sacha Gerra fifth.

The fleet were safely escorted/towed back to the slip way at just after 4pm. All in all a great day!

Many thanks everyone involved in the event, on and off the water. A special thanks to GOAT Marine for sponsoring the event.

Final results:

1st Harry Mills- Saltash SC
2nd Thomas Semmens - Brixham YC
3rd Harry MacLeod - Brixham YC
4th Charlie Mackenzie - Salcombe YC
5th Charlotte Moyes - Parkston YC