Topper traveller at Parkstone Yacht Club
by Alex Murray 15 Jun 08:44 BST
7 June 2026
Topper traveller at Parkstone © Stuart Browning
On Sunday 7th of June, I was one of nearly thirty topper sailors who took part in the south-west Topper traveller event at Parkstone Yacht Club. Parkstone is my home club, so I was very excited to race against people from all over the Southwest on home turf and show them the brilliant atmosphere and racing at this club.
On the Saturday we enjoyed great coaching with Mark Ripley, Erin Tinkler and Ben Purrier. The conditions were really fun, with gusts reaching nearly 40 knots while we were on the water. This was great heavy-wind practice for the windy conditions we would face on Sunday. The Saturday was also a great time to enjoy time with friends and the very friendly south-west topper community, as we spent lots of time on land!
On the Sunday we were excited to start racing. The conditions were not as windy as the Saturday, but nevertheless we had a strong breeze averaging just below 20kts and with gusts exceeding 25kts. In Poole Harbour there was lots of big chop, tide, and big shifts, which made for dramatic and exciting racing, with lots of capsizes and some boat breakages.
The winning strategy was usually to keep the boat upright and as flat as possible on the upwind and try to surf the waves without death-rolling on the downwind. The highlight was probably the reaches, because we were planing really fast.
In race one for the 5.3 fleet, Brooke Browning and Esme Hemingway took an early lead and fought it out for the top two positions. Jack, Harry, Edie, Xander, James and me battled for the positions behind, but after a good downwind, and after some other people in front of me death-rolled, I managed to come third with Brooke winning and Esme in second, and Jack and Xander in fourth and fifth.
In race two, Esme sailed an amazing race and was soon clear of the rest of the fleet in the heavy conditions with some incredible upwind speed. It was tight behind, though, with Jack coming in second ahead of Harry in third, with me and Xander in fourth and fifth.
In race three, Esme sailed another blinder, with Brooke in hot pursuit the whole race, but Esme came out on top. I managed to come third, with Edie sailing a great last reach to come close behind in fourth and Leo just behind her in fifth.
In the fourth race, the wind slightly died for the first beat. Brooke had a good start and great speed upwind and soon made a big gap to the rest of the fleet. I made the most of a left shift near the end of the first beat, which allowed me to get to the windward mark second, just ahead of Leo, Edie, Xander, Jack and Esme. On the second downwind I managed to surf the waves well and slightly extended on the boats behind me.
In the end, Brooke won by a significant margin, with me in second place, Esme in third, Xander in fourth, Edie in fifth and Sacha in sixth after a great downwind leg.
Overall, Brooke won on tie-break with Esme, with me in third, Jack fourth and Xander fifth. It was an epic day's sailing in great but sometimes tough conditions.
In the 4.2 fleet, Hattie Steele won strongly with two bullets and a second, Sophie Elliott was second by one point also with two bullets, and Jonathan Pendle third with a consistent set of results, counting three second-place finishes.
5.3 fleet:
1. Brooke Browning
2. Esme Hemingway
3. Alex Murray
4. Jack MacLeod
5. Xander Collins-Black
4.2 fleet:
1. Hattie Steele
2. Sophie Elliott
3. Jonathan Pendle
4. Charlotte Elliott
5. Mary Peats