This is just a reminder that the Helensburgh Sailing club is to host the 5th Craftinsure Topper Nationwide Event on the 24th and 25th October 2009.
Full entry details are available on the sailing club website – www.helensburghsailingclub.co.uk. Entries for the Main Fleet are taken via the Sail Racer online entry system and I would ask you to note that entries after 10th October will be liable to an additional cost. In addition the more local entries we can get the more likely we can encourage the sailors from further afield to travel to the event. So go on enter now!!!!
For those looking to take their sailing forward and try racing we are keen to encourage you into the Regatta or Development Fleet. This will be run on a separate course but still give you the opportunity to be involved in a larger racing event. There will be assistance on and off the water so please take the opportunity to get try it. You can register for this event via the email link set up on the website. Entry for the regatta fleet will be £20.
There is a full social program and catering facilities at the club throughout the event and again all details can be seen on the website.
Sunday, 27 September 2009
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Fabulous Travellers Finale at Loch Tummel
I have finally recovered from the shock of being OOD at a very well supported Loch Tummel and have produced the following report:-
Thirty nine Toppers gathered at Loch Tummel for the final leg of the 2009 Travellers trophy and also to sail the second leg of the 2009 Scottish Inland Championships which had begun at Loch Vennacher in April. The event was hosted jointly with travellers for Optimists, Solo’s Europes, Lasers, Radials, 4.7 and a small handicap fleet. This made for just over 100 boats on the main course sailing trapezoid courses with varying numbers of inner and outer loops.
Thirty nine Toppers gathered at Loch Tummel for the final leg of the 2009 Travellers trophy and also to sail the second leg of the 2009 Scottish Inland Championships which had begun at Loch Vennacher in April. The event was hosted jointly with travellers for Optimists, Solo’s Europes, Lasers, Radials, 4.7 and a small handicap fleet. This made for just over 100 boats on the main course sailing trapezoid courses with varying numbers of inner and outer loops.
The travellers Trophy has been a close battle between arch rivals Jamie Noyes and Alexander Still this year and the two close rivals could not wait to get on with the action. (see picture)
The Toppers were away first in each start sequence and sailing mostly the outer loop. A light westerly wind built to a good force 3, occasionally 4, shortly after the start. Race one was dominated by Samantha Foster, clearly enjoying home waters for once who led from the first leeward mark and held a clear lead to the finish. Kyle Maxwell Cox led the chasing pack from Alexander “Chuckie” Still.
Race two looked like a replay of Race one with Samantha in commanding form slipping past Chuckie and Kyle up the second beat to round the inner loop windward mark clear ahead. Unfortunately the rest of the fleet were correctly sailing the outer loop course. Kyle led to the finish followed by Chuckie then Jamie Noyes. Samantha recovered to sixth by the end.
Race three and Samantha was clearly taking no chances with the course. Finding herself in the leading pack again she “death rolled” and capsized. Now in virtually last place she had plenty of boats to follow but could only recover to 16th. Chuckie was leading the fleet home, this time holding off a strong challenge from Rory Kilgore and Jessica Campbell. Jamie was 4th and Kyle seemed to be doing the gentlemanly thing, waiting for Sammi and finished 5th!
With 103 boats across 7 fleets and 18 starts we all retired to the beach whilst I tried to make sense of the results!
Sunday dawned with a flat calm and then a gentle Easterly zephyr. The clouds however were saying different and the OOD determinedly launched the doubtful fleet at 11.15 with a warning to expect the same Westerly breeze as the day before. After nearly an hour of boat swapping and mark moving we were toying with the idea of an early lunch when the Westerly arrived as predicted at exactly 12 noon. By 12.15 Race 4 was underway. The gusty wind was swinging from West to South West and causing quite a few snakes and ladders. This time it was Jessica Campbell who made the most of it. Kyle was back on form in second and Rory made up the top three.
Race 5 and an over eager fleet led to a general recall and brought out the first black flag of the weekend. Relegated to the back of the queue the Toppers got away cleanly this time and it was Jamie Noyes who made the best of the opportunity leading the way to a comfortable win. Rory kept on the pressure with a second and Chuckie rounded of the top three. Disappointed Dad award went to me when Joanne Foster, holding her best position of the weekend tipped it over in exactly the same place that her sister had the previous day and lost 22 places!
Race 6 and there was all to play for. Five separate race winners in five races. It was Jessica who made the running in what was the lightest wind of the weekend. Chuckie came through for second with Jamie Noyes pushing him all the way. Rory and Kyle followed on and Ros made her first appearance in the top six. A major port starboard tangle at the top mark saw Sammi shut out with no way back from the middle order and a very dissapointed Aaron dropped from 2nd to 9th with a 20% scoring penalty.
The Toppers were away first in each start sequence and sailing mostly the outer loop. A light westerly wind built to a good force 3, occasionally 4, shortly after the start. Race one was dominated by Samantha Foster, clearly enjoying home waters for once who led from the first leeward mark and held a clear lead to the finish. Kyle Maxwell Cox led the chasing pack from Alexander “Chuckie” Still.
Race two looked like a replay of Race one with Samantha in commanding form slipping past Chuckie and Kyle up the second beat to round the inner loop windward mark clear ahead. Unfortunately the rest of the fleet were correctly sailing the outer loop course. Kyle led to the finish followed by Chuckie then Jamie Noyes. Samantha recovered to sixth by the end.
Race three and Samantha was clearly taking no chances with the course. Finding herself in the leading pack again she “death rolled” and capsized. Now in virtually last place she had plenty of boats to follow but could only recover to 16th. Chuckie was leading the fleet home, this time holding off a strong challenge from Rory Kilgore and Jessica Campbell. Jamie was 4th and Kyle seemed to be doing the gentlemanly thing, waiting for Sammi and finished 5th!
With 103 boats across 7 fleets and 18 starts we all retired to the beach whilst I tried to make sense of the results!
Sunday dawned with a flat calm and then a gentle Easterly zephyr. The clouds however were saying different and the OOD determinedly launched the doubtful fleet at 11.15 with a warning to expect the same Westerly breeze as the day before. After nearly an hour of boat swapping and mark moving we were toying with the idea of an early lunch when the Westerly arrived as predicted at exactly 12 noon. By 12.15 Race 4 was underway. The gusty wind was swinging from West to South West and causing quite a few snakes and ladders. This time it was Jessica Campbell who made the most of it. Kyle was back on form in second and Rory made up the top three.
Race 5 and an over eager fleet led to a general recall and brought out the first black flag of the weekend. Relegated to the back of the queue the Toppers got away cleanly this time and it was Jamie Noyes who made the best of the opportunity leading the way to a comfortable win. Rory kept on the pressure with a second and Chuckie rounded of the top three. Disappointed Dad award went to me when Joanne Foster, holding her best position of the weekend tipped it over in exactly the same place that her sister had the previous day and lost 22 places!
Race 6 and there was all to play for. Five separate race winners in five races. It was Jessica who made the running in what was the lightest wind of the weekend. Chuckie came through for second with Jamie Noyes pushing him all the way. Rory and Kyle followed on and Ros made her first appearance in the top six. A major port starboard tangle at the top mark saw Sammi shut out with no way back from the middle order and a very dissapointed Aaron dropped from 2nd to 9th with a 20% scoring penalty.
A lengthy scoring exercise followed as the results were fed into various programs to calculate the Tummel Traveller Result, the 2009 Inland Championships Result and the 2009 Scottish Topper Traveller Result.
Loch Tummel Traveller
1st Alexander Still
2nd Jessica Campbell
3rd Rory Kilgore
4th Kyle Maxwell-Cox
2009 Inland Champion
Jamie Noyes
2009 Travellers Trophy
Jamie Noyes
Full Results will be posted on sailracer and the Loch Tummel SC website.
Monday, 14 September 2009
Scottish Topper Championships
With our regular correspondent on taxi duty to the Mumbles Nationwide, we have Cameron Still to thank for the following round up of events closer to home:-
Once again the Topper Circus dropped in on Prestwick Sailing Club, this time, however, the conditions were absolutely perfect for good class racing and the event was the re-schedued Scottish Topper Championships postponed from a storm bound Royal Forth.
With 29 starters in shifty conditions the fleet were presented in race 1 with a port bias line.
Alistair Kent absolutely nailed the start on the Pin end, whilst Andrew McGowan slightly to Port pulling an enthusiastic trigger start, capsized. Jamie Noyes clawed Alistair back to take the win with Alistair a credible 2nd and a superb 3rd for Kyle Maxwell with Andrew Recovering well to take 4th. No doubt the result would have been different had Andrew pulled off the trigger start.
Race 2 set off in similar shifty conditions, with Andrew assuming the lead and Jamie following closely behind, Emma Palmer back in her old purple boat 3rd and Emily Robertson 4th.
Race three and final race on Saturday, Andrew once again scored a great start to lead the race, with Alex (Chucky) Still getting to grips with the conditions in 2nd keeping a hard working Jamie into third and Alistair Kent 4th. This meant that Jamie and Andrew tied on the Saturday evening with Alistair Kent 3rd followed closely by Chucky in 4th slot.
Sunday Morning the Clyde was like a millpond with little expectations for breeze to fill until mid-day the race officer flew the AP. With a beautiful sunny day the sea breaze kicked in to about 8 knots to provide further trying race conditions. The younger sailors relishing the opportunity to pitch there wares in lighter conditions. Race 4, provided an interesting mix with Andrew taking an OCS, Emma clearly back in the groove taking the win, Jennifer Abraham keeping the girls on top with 2nd then Jamie consistently up there in 3rd and Rory Kilgore as usual chasing the girls getting a well deserved 4th. Young Lewis Marr pitching up into the top ten for the first time with a confidence boosting 8th.
Final Race of the series and once again Andrew proved to be on song with the win, Jamie closely fought to take 2nd and Jennifer Abraham taking 3rd and Chucky 4th. The overall results stood at Emily Robertson 5th, Alex (Chucky)Still 4th, Emma Palmer 3rd, Jamie Noyes 2nd and Andrew McGowan retaining the Scottish Championship crown.
Andrew reflected on the event with a big thank you to all involved at Prestwick for running the event, made all the better for the near perfect weather.
Just to show those younger Topper Sailors that the good guys get to wrong, Alan Henderson from www.fotoboat.com has some great footage of Andrew capsizing whilst trying to pull off a trigger start.
Cameron
Once again the Topper Circus dropped in on Prestwick Sailing Club, this time, however, the conditions were absolutely perfect for good class racing and the event was the re-schedued Scottish Topper Championships postponed from a storm bound Royal Forth.
With 29 starters in shifty conditions the fleet were presented in race 1 with a port bias line.
Alistair Kent absolutely nailed the start on the Pin end, whilst Andrew McGowan slightly to Port pulling an enthusiastic trigger start, capsized. Jamie Noyes clawed Alistair back to take the win with Alistair a credible 2nd and a superb 3rd for Kyle Maxwell with Andrew Recovering well to take 4th. No doubt the result would have been different had Andrew pulled off the trigger start.
Race 2 set off in similar shifty conditions, with Andrew assuming the lead and Jamie following closely behind, Emma Palmer back in her old purple boat 3rd and Emily Robertson 4th.
Race three and final race on Saturday, Andrew once again scored a great start to lead the race, with Alex (Chucky) Still getting to grips with the conditions in 2nd keeping a hard working Jamie into third and Alistair Kent 4th. This meant that Jamie and Andrew tied on the Saturday evening with Alistair Kent 3rd followed closely by Chucky in 4th slot.
Sunday Morning the Clyde was like a millpond with little expectations for breeze to fill until mid-day the race officer flew the AP. With a beautiful sunny day the sea breaze kicked in to about 8 knots to provide further trying race conditions. The younger sailors relishing the opportunity to pitch there wares in lighter conditions. Race 4, provided an interesting mix with Andrew taking an OCS, Emma clearly back in the groove taking the win, Jennifer Abraham keeping the girls on top with 2nd then Jamie consistently up there in 3rd and Rory Kilgore as usual chasing the girls getting a well deserved 4th. Young Lewis Marr pitching up into the top ten for the first time with a confidence boosting 8th.
Final Race of the series and once again Andrew proved to be on song with the win, Jamie closely fought to take 2nd and Jennifer Abraham taking 3rd and Chucky 4th. The overall results stood at Emily Robertson 5th, Alex (Chucky)Still 4th, Emma Palmer 3rd, Jamie Noyes 2nd and Andrew McGowan retaining the Scottish Championship crown.
Andrew reflected on the event with a big thank you to all involved at Prestwick for running the event, made all the better for the near perfect weather.
Just to show those younger Topper Sailors that the good guys get to wrong, Alan Henderson from www.fotoboat.com has some great footage of Andrew capsizing whilst trying to pull off a trigger start.
Cameron
Sunday, 6 September 2009
Prestwick - Scottish Championships take two.
For those not heading to Wales for Event 4 of the Topper UK Nationwide Series next weekend, good luck at Prestwick. Following the gales at Royal Forth let's hope for better luck this time as we attempt the sail off for the Topper Scottish Championships 2009.
This will be a shared event with Lasers, Optimists and Fevas. For the notice of Race click here.
After Prestwick it is straight off to Loch Tummel for the final event of the Traveller Series. Don't forget this is also leg two of the Inland Championships with the results taken combined with the races at Loch Vennacher to calculate the overall Inland Champion 2009. This is another multi class event combined with Optimists, Lasers, Solos and Europes so it should be great fun. Sadly the miserable summer has left large areas of the club grounds resembling a Scottish bog so camping and motor home space is not available. There are a number of local camp sites together with various B&B and hotels or for the very brave there always seem to be lots of fishermen in tents along the Foss road so you could try that option...
For details of the Tummel Event see the club website - click here.
PS Dont forget to enter for the RYA Zone Championships at Largs. Just three weeks to go!
The link to enter is via the Scottish Toppers Web site.
This will be a shared event with Lasers, Optimists and Fevas. For the notice of Race click here.
After Prestwick it is straight off to Loch Tummel for the final event of the Traveller Series. Don't forget this is also leg two of the Inland Championships with the results taken combined with the races at Loch Vennacher to calculate the overall Inland Champion 2009. This is another multi class event combined with Optimists, Lasers, Solos and Europes so it should be great fun. Sadly the miserable summer has left large areas of the club grounds resembling a Scottish bog so camping and motor home space is not available. There are a number of local camp sites together with various B&B and hotels or for the very brave there always seem to be lots of fishermen in tents along the Foss road so you could try that option...
For details of the Tummel Event see the club website - click here.
PS Dont forget to enter for the RYA Zone Championships at Largs. Just three weeks to go!
The link to enter is via the Scottish Toppers Web site.
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