Keep Warm

Dave Cockerill GBR Topper Coach and Sailing Solutions Topper Sprint Guru has put together an excellent article on keeping warm. Click the title above to open the link.

Doc's top tip - bin those rash vests and get yourself a thermal vest or ask your sponsor (parent)for a Rooster Poly Pro!

Blustery Conditions?

Scottish Topper Squad sailors gathered on 10th and 11th January for the first training weekend of 2009. With the winds providing "interesting" conditions challenging even the Largs-Cumbrae ferry the squad wisely left their Toppers at home opting for a weekend of stategy and tactics in the safety of the Inverclyde National Sports Centre.

A plus for Effort

Spot the Topper Nationals photo on page 92 of the February 2009 Dinghy Magazine. The keen eyed amongst you might even spot that the sailor getting an A plus for effort is none other than our very own Scottish Topper Squad member Patrick Shellcock from Loch Tummel Sailing Club. Keep up the good work Patrick but perhaps a little flatter next time?

West Squad Update

The next West Squad training is on the 31st Jan/1st Feb 2009 at Annandale. Then 14/15 March at Loch Lomond and the final weekend is on the 11/12 April with venue yet to be confirmed. Consent forms etc will be available from RYA Scotland website soon.

Largo Prizewinners

Prizewinners at Largo Bay New Year Regatta, Sammi (2nd) Calum (3rd) and Aaron (1st).

Scottish Toppers at Largo Bay

The Scottish Toppers winter mini series continued at Largo Bay on 2^nd January. A light northerly breeze and an all class mass start with the handicap fleet meant clear air was key and in race 1 it was Scottish Topper squad newcomer Aaron Murray from Loch Earn who found the breeze first disappearing into a seemingly unassailable lead on the short wind ward-leeward course. The chasing pack led by Samantha Foster tried hard but Aaron held his one minute lead to the finish with Joanne Foster finding a late burst of speed to take a delighted third. Race two initially seemed a carbon copy of the first but proved much closer in the increasingly testing conditions with the leading pair actually overlapped as they crossed the finish line. This time it was Largo Bay’s Calum Gibb in third. For race three it Samantha’s turn to sail off into the distance with Calum in second and Aaron in third despite a determined early challenge from St Andrew’s Sailing Club’s Robbie Paterson.

Don’t forget the ITCA Winter Regatta at Bassenthwaite on 21/22 March 2009. Participants strictly limited to 100 by the Parks Authority. Enter now to avoid disappointment.

Overall Results

1st Aaron Murray, Loch Earn SC. 2pts

2nd Samantha Foster, Loch Tummel SC. 3pts

3rd Calum Gibb, Largo Bay SC. 5pts

Scottish Topper Traveller Series 2009

Below is a provisional list of the Travellers Venues and Dates for 2009.  Some have only just confirmed the date and one is still to confirm. As a number of clubs do not hold their AGM until late November they are often reluctant to agree until the new committee is elected. 

Those events which will form the Inlands and the Area Championship will be announced in due course. As there are 9 events listed 5 from 9 will count. 

4/5 April         Annandale Sailing Club              Traveller 1

25/26 April       Loch Venacher Sailing Club          Traveller 2

30/31 May         Largs Sailing Club                  Traveller 3

6/7 June          East Lothian Yacht Club             Traveller 4

4/5 July          Chanonry Sailing Club               Traveller 5

18/19 July        Glencoe Boat club

Traveller 6       Topper tbc

15/16 August      Royal Forth Yacht club              Traveller 7

12/13 September   Prestwick Sailing Club              Traveller 8

19/20 September   Loch Tummel Sailing club            Traveller 9

Liz

Scottish Toppers at Strathclyde Loch (click for link)

Despite forecast gales and winds gusting to 39 mph across Scotland 16 hardy Scottish Toppers arrived for their annual midwinter gathering at the Strathclyde Loch Christmas Regatta on December 21st. For the first time in several years temperatures were well above zero and it was not necessary to clear any ice before sailing!

The stiff wing blowing across the loch was always going to be a serious challenge and only 14 boats made it to the start as the fleet got away first time. Capsizing was a universal feature in conditions that had the Toppers literally flying downwind over the flat water and places changing frequently.

At the end of the day it was Angus Gray Stevens who held the lead at the finish with only seconds separating main challengers Andrew McGowan and Samantha Foster. As the fleet gathered for the restart a major squall flattened virtually every one of the 49 boats afloat including all but 5 Toppers with many drifting quickly onto the lee shore.

The OOD wisely sent the fleet ashore where the event concluded with a fantastic spread of hot soup and festive fare.

Next event Largo Bay SC on 2nd January weather permitting.

Overall Results:

1st Angus Gray Stevens (Tarbert Loch Fyne YC)
2nd Andrew McGowan (Helensburgh SC)
3rd Samantha Foster (Loch Tummel SC)

Scottish Topper News Blog - An adventure in experiential learning

Many moons ago I made my first tentative step into publishing a web site.  It was for sailing club results and a simple site it was.  Every Sunday after the long drive home I would hurry to my PC and upload the weekly results.  Later I developed another website using Microsoft Frontpage so when I look at the Scottish Toppers web site and tut at the broken links and outdated content ("next event" is still North Berwick which took place some seven months ago) I think I must get back in to Frontpage and produce some updated pages for the site.  But sitting here, at the end of my New Year holidays I discover Frontpage is no more.  Why? The internet has moved on in to a new era. A fast paced, always changing, immediate news updates era of real time information and RSS feeds.  So what is the answer?  I type my question into google and dive into the information super highway.  "You need a blog" the web guru's say so here it is the new scottish toppers blog.