London & South East Topper Regional Championships 2025 at Itchenor Sailing Club

London & South East Topper Regional Championships 2025 at Itchenor Sailing Club © Mark Lay & Chris Balding

London & South East Topper Regional Championships 2025 at Itchenor Sailing Club © Mark Lay & Chris Balding

This year, Itchenor Sailing Club hosted the L&SE Regional Championship, drawing 43 sailors for eight races over two days in the picturesque Chichester Harbour.

With sunny conditions and winds exceeding 20 knots on Saturday and 15 knots on Sunday, it was an exceptional experience for all participants, from first-time event attendees to seasoned national circuit veterans.

5.3 Fleet Report

The experienced squad sailors were eager to showcase their skills in challenging conditions. By Saturday's end, Henry Noel from Warsash led with four first-place finishes, demonstrating his expertise in strong winds and current situations. He was closely followed by Thomas Matthews with three second-place finishes and Oscar Lay with three third-place finishes.

Sunday's slightly lighter winds seemed to favour different sailors, as Sam Dence, Sam Mason, Ralph Hadley, and Alex Balding started taking the top three positions in races. Henry Noel and Thomas Matthews struggled to replicate their Saturday performances, whilst Oscar Lay was penalised with two UFDs. In the final race, Henry Noel concluded the day with his fifth win, securing the championship with an 11-point lead. Congratulations to Henry, and thanks for sharing his winning strategy:

"Itchenor brought heavy winds and lots of sun. My strategy was to start a few boats up from the pin to avoid getting stuck on the pin, focus on getting a good start, and then lane holding out towards the left to stay out of the very strong tide. This was my strategy in all the races apart from race four on Saturday, where the tide had turned. It was a big weekend for hiking and working the boat hard, definitely not pinching. Downwind was about getting on those waves whilst also making your way left to get the tide back down. Tacks were also important because if you had a bad tack, then the tide had a bigger effect on you, so first find a spot of flat water, then flat boat going into the tack, cross the boat, and start hiking again straight away to help bring the boat back down onto the wind to get speed back up as quickly as possible."

London & South East Topper Regional Championships 2025 at Itchenor Sailing Club - photo © Mark Lay & Chris Balding

4.2 Fleet Report

Thanks to sailor James Martin for his insights on the 4.2 racing:

"Conditions were challenging on both days, with Saturday's wind gusting to almost 30 mph at points. Itchenor Sailing Club was around the corner from the sailing area (almost an hour's sail out) and sheltered from the wind. All sailors were advised that reefing was recommended if in doubt. At the start of the fourth race on Saturday, almost half the fleet had retired back to shore due to the conditions.

Both the 5.3 and 4.2 fleets started together, meaning the 4.2 fleet had to contend with both the conditions and being covered by the faster 5.3 fleet. The ITCA 4.2 GBR squad mostly secured the top six spots in each race, with special mention to Dan Yamamoto from Tonbridge Sailing Club. Dan scored two sixth places in the face of very different conditions to Tonbridge SC.

Sunday's wind was a bit more manageable at 15-20 mph but with a strong tidal current on the narrow course. Sometimes it paid off to go left and occasionally it paid off to go right, but the general rule was getting left first. The racing was closer - in the 4.2 fleet, the top six boats switched positions continually in all four races. The final scores do not represent how close each race was - in the first two Sunday races, the top ten finishers finished within three minutes of one another. Following on from his three 1st places on Saturday, James Martin (Whitstable YC) defended with a 1st and three 2nds from Alfie Tollit (Shoreham SC) and Jonathan Shields (Tonbridge SC)."

London & South East Topper Regional Championships 2025 at Itchenor Sailing Club - photo © Mark Lay & Chris Balding

Thanks are due to the fantastic team at Itchenor and all involved in organising a regional champs.

Overall Results: