Boxing Day Frozen Out

Sorry folks, the Boxing Day Bonanza at Royal Tay Yacht Club is the latest event which has had to be cancelled due to the freezing winter weather.  Rumour has it that even the lifeboat exercise last weekend was cut short due to the risk of damaging the boat on the ice flows in the estuary.

I can only suggest you stay at home and play monopoly...Or hit the gym?

Cabin Fever?

With severe winter weather forcing the cancellation of the planned Christmas Regatta at Strathclyde Loch today we all have a chance to enjoy festive fare in our own homes for once.  However if all this time trapped at home beside your roaring log fire is leading you Topper sailors to Cabin Fever there are still some sailing events planned if you know where to look.

First up is the Royal Tay Yacht Clubs legendary Boxing Day Bonanza which takes place on the river Tay at Broughty Ferry on (yes - you've guessed it, on Boxing Day).  Watch carefully and check the club web site though as this is another event which might well fall to further snow.  www.royaltay.org

Next up is the traditional New Years Race at Largo Bay Sailing Club which is planned for January 2nd at Largo Bay in Fife.  Further details are included below and as always - check the website or phone a club official before you travel.  This one may be cancelled if the beach is inaccessible due to snow or ice.  http://www.largobaysc.org.uk/

Finally, don't foget the ITCA (GBR) Winter Regatta which is planned for Datchet Water Sailing Club on 29th and 30th January 2011.  Enter by the 14th of January via the class website on www.gbrtopper.co.uk
, if you race a Topper you can pay your annual class subscription at the same time please.

There is SNOW way to hold the Christmas Regatta

Hi All,

As you will have already gathered, the recent weather has created havoc through-out the country, with snow and ice everywhere, Strathclyde Loch is no exception and has succumbed to the elements, as a result the Christmas Regatta planned for Sunday 19th has had to be cancelled.

It is our intention that, should the present weather pattern change and the ice melts, then we would have an event at some later date.
Meantime, may I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and hope to see you sometime in the New Year.

All the very best

Crawford Reid

Winter Squad Regatta Postponed

Sadly, due to the adverse weather and on the advice of local police re road conditions the planned winter squad regatta on 5th and 6th December has had to be postponed with a new date to be set in the new year.

A relief for us in Fife as we were still digging our way out through very deep snow on Saturday morning.

The Second Squad Regatta planned for 12th and 13th December is still on but watch your e-mail for updates if this very cold and snowy weather continues.

Strathclyde Christmas Regatta

Here are the details of Strathclyde Christmas Regatta, not a formal Topper traveller but very much a traditional winter gathering for the Topper class.


Sunday 19th December 2010 at Strathclyde Park, Briefing at 10 am, first race 10.30, 3 races are planned.  Please check the club website before travelling in case of ice or severe winter weather.

Topper Worlds 2011.

2011 TOPPER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 

At the conclusion of the 2010 Topper World Championships at Fraglia Vela Malcesine on the beautifulLake Garda, Bill Brassington ,the new ITCA President  announced his intention to publish the date of the 2011 Topper World Championships by the end of September.  Last Saturday he was able to complete the initial discussions with the prospective host clubs and make the final selection.

Therefore I am pleased to announce that the 2011 Topper World Championships will be held at theNational Yacht Club (www.nyc.ie) in Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Dunleary) in Eire from Sunday August 14^th until Friday August 19^th 2011.   A full programme of racing and shore based events will be published shortly.

The team at the National Yacht Club are in detailed discussion with local hotels and Irish Sea ferry operators so that the very best deal can be offered to the sailors and their family and supporters.   Since these discussions have not been completed, competitors are recommended to delay making any bookings at present.  The club will publish information about accommodation and ferries in due course, and details will appear on the international web site.

G.

Scottish Topper Squad 2010/11

With the squad gathering for the first time at Inverclyde for their orientation weekend I can now confirm the squad members for this year will be

Aaron Murray

Jack Aitken

Jo Barrie

Jo Foster

Iain McLaughlan

Kae Clark

David Abraham

Jessica Milford

Lewis Marr

Dean Malcolm

Andrew Mitchell

Ryan McIntyre

G.

Carsington Nationwide

Five determined Scots headed off for Alton Towers last weekend and took the chance to drop in on the final Topper GBR Nationwide event at Carsington.  The weekend started well with a promising 10-14 mph Northerly breeze but alas the forecast was for it to drop steadily through the day which unfortunately it did making for very testing conditions on the racecourse.

In the 4.2 fleet Lewis Marr was consistently at the front end of the 27 boat fleet scoring 3,3,5,4,2,4,2 to take third overall.

In the 5.3 eevnt it was Samantha Foster who showed the early form opening with a 9th and a tenth to place 12th overall after 2.  Alas the dying wind put an end to that with a 33 in race three!  Next Scot overnight was Joanne Foster in 55 with Aaron Murray close behind on 59.  Jack Aitken was also inside the top 100.

Sunday dawned and exactly as forecast the lake was a beautiful mill pond.  The AP was broken out and the waiting started.  Around 11 the wise owls in the bar were proved right as a fairly steady Southerly filled in and the fleet set out into a light but race-able 6mph breeze.  Race two was a good one in 10 mph with several sailors seen to be sitting out but alas for race six it was back to tip toes and roll tacks.

Sammi again led the way including an impressive 4th in race 5 but found the light winds very difficult and actually dropped to a dissapointing 39th by the end.  Aaron on the other hand was getting better as the wind got lighter and finished with an 18 and a 15 to overhaul Jo and finish second Scot in 57th.  Jo dropped to 70th and Jack had another steady day and came home 87th.

Final places
Samantha 39th (10,9,33,39,4,42)
Aaron 57th (37,25,38,32,18,15)
Jo 70th (33,25,30,47,35,29)
Jack 87th (42,22,50,58,41,39)

This was the final event of the 2010 Nationwide Series and six Scots made the top 100.
Samanatha 29th, Alexander 33rd, Aaron 36, Jordan 62, Jessica 69, Jack 98.

Topper 4.2 National Squad Selected.

For 2010/11 the National Topper 4.2 Squad will be supported financially by the RYA.  The growing popularity of the Topper 4.2 for younger and lighter sailors resulted in a growth to 28 applications this year for the ITCA (GBR) Topper 4.2 National Squad. The standard of sailing during the indicator events was extremely high which made the selection process very hard. Congratulations to the following sailors who have been offered a place in the squad:

Nicola Stagg • Haydn Griffiths • Ella Methven • Elliott Kuzyk • Crispin Beaumont • Megan Bailey • Lewis Marr • Ethan Dawson • Elsa Robinson • Georgie McKenzie • Elizabeth Sherwood • Eleanor Hutchings • Nina Tilley • Miles Weekes • Alexander Hughes • Joseph Mullan • Rhiannon Flack • Halden Neilsen-Timms • Hannah Stowe.

Well done Lewis, Scotland will be relying on you to retain the Nationwide Championship won by our very own Joanne Foster in 2010!

Chuckie's Topper for Sale

Click here for details.

Photograph courtesy of fotoboat.

Scottish Laser Radials Blog

Well it comes to us all - well to most of us - in the end.  We just reach that point when the attractions of the Topper class are insufficient for our growing needs and we find ourselves moving on. For some it is a matter of age, for some it is the lure of Olympic competition and for some it is just size that proves the deciding factor.

But fear not, for those of you who have to leave us for the Laser Radial at least, there is now a Scottish Laser Radial blog to remind you of those halcyon days of Topper sailing and to act as a notice board for all things Radial in Scotland.

Check out www.scottishradials.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

Welsh Zone Championships on BBC Wales

BBC Wales carried a nice report on Welsh Junior and Youth Sailing on the 8th of October.  It is currently available at the link below but may not be there for long.

The sailing starts at 17 minutes and 13 seconds into the 30 minute programme so you will want to jump forwards.  See if you can spot anyone you know

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00v8qgl/Sport_Wales_08_10_2010/

Killer shrimp contained

 

Killer shrimp found in UK waters has been contained.

Grafham Water Sailing Club suffered some minor disruption to its sailing schedule last month due to a small but voracious shrimp found in the reservoir.

Dikerogammarus villosus, nicknamed the "killer shrimp" is a particularly aggressive predator. It preys on a range of invertebrates, particularly native shrimps and young fish, sometimes wiping out entire populations.

Previously unknown in the UK it was spotted by two keen eyed anglers fishing at Grafham Reservoir, early in September who caught some specimens and sent them off to the Environment Agency (EA) for identification.

Ban at Grafham Water now lifted

The club had to cancel a scheduled open event on September 19th – 20th, when a temporary ban on boat movements was imposed on the club whilst the EA investigated.

However the ban has now been lifted and the club has been permitted to operate a regime in which any boat leaving the club premises is first washed down with fresh water.

 For the full story see the RYA web site. www.rya.org.uk

Toppers Wanted

One of the disadvantages of the Topper being such a versatile and durable little boat is that they are always in demand.  That is great news if you have one to sell but not so great for welcoming new sailors to the class.

If you know of any Toppers for sail please drop me a line at arearep.scotland@gbrtopper.co.uk

I would be happy to list boats for sale and I often have enquiries from new sailors looking for boats or bits.

Graham

Royal Tay Winter Series 2010

Why not try something new this year?  If you are within range come and join us on Sundays as below:-

 

Go on - you know you want to!

G.

Winter Squads

For those of you who are awaiting news of your winter squad applications here is a little taster to wet the appetite...

Cick here for video

And remmeber if you do not get picked for a squad, or you did not apply we are going to offer some ITCA Open training this winter or next spring if the ice age weather of last year returns.  Emma Wilkie will be our head coach and the training can be tailored to all your needs from first steps afloat through to National Championship preparation.

If you are interested please e-mail me at arearep.scotland@gbrtopper.co.uk and I will ensure you are on my mailing list.

We are having a rest this weekend after the worlds, the travel then four race weekends on the trot and school and work and scouts etc etc etc.

See some of you at Carsington?

G.

Zone Champinships 2010 - Scotland

Newly selected GBR Junior Squad member Joanna Barrie showed the Topper fleet a clean pair of heels and was crowned 2010 Scottish Topper Zone Champion having dominated in the light and variable conditions at Helensburgh.   The picture shows Joanne (right) demonstrating excellent downwind technique.  Click on the picture to link to a gallery of pictures from the weekend taken by Neil Ross.

For full results on the Helensburgh SC site click here

RYA Zone Championships

Over 700 of the nation’s most eager young Olympic sailing stars of the future will be tussling for titles this weekend (25-26 September) as they do battle at the 2010 RYA Volvo Zone and Home Country Championships at eight venues across the UK.
With all eight Zone and Home Country Championship events sponsored by Volvo Car UK again this year, racing will take place in eight RYA-supported Junior dinghy and windsurfing classes at the six English Zones, Wales and Scotland.
The RYA Volvo Zone and Home Country Championships traditionally mark the end of the Junior racing season and the start of a hard winter’s training. They are a key event for any young sailor wishing to be selected for the RYA Zone and Home Country squads, which are the first step on the pathway to Olympic Classes sailing.
Having honed their skills at club training and competitions throughout the year, the annual Championships give the sailors the chance to pit their wits against the best of the rest within their Zone under the watchful eye of their local RYA High Performance Managers (HPMs) and other senior RYA racing staff.

Ellie Williamson, RYA

Results from Loch Tummel

Loch Tummel SC was a fine venue for MICSLtd.com STT6 last weekend. With a surprisingly good breeze on Saturday the race team elected for four races on a standard trapezoid course shared with the Optimist Main, Laser and Radial fleets plus Fevas and Europes. Sunday dawned with steady drizzle and the loch resembling a mill pond with no more than 3 mph forecast and the dreaded "variable" direction so after a short postponement the prizegiving was held at noon and competitors enjoyed a rare chance for an early lunch and a relaxed drive home.

Results are final as of 8:40 on September 23, 2010

Overall

Sailed: 4, Discards: 1, To count: 3, Entries: 27, Scoring system: Appendix A

Rank	Class	Sail No.	Helm	Club	1	2	3	4	Total	Net
1st	Topper	44782	Aaron MURRAY	Loch Earn SC	(3)	2	1	1	7	4
2nd	Topper	46640	Jessica CAMPBELL	Annandale SC	(6)	1	2	5	14	8
3rd	Topper	46940	Joanne FOSTER	Loch Tummel SC	1	4	5	(7)	17	10
4th	Topper	46575	Joanna BARRIE	Annandale SC	(11)	6	3	2	22	11
5th	Topper	45644	Calum WILSON	Helensburgh SC	(13)	5	4	6	28	15
6th	Topper	45772	Jack AITKEN	Helensburgh SC & RNCYC	4	3	10	(11)	28	17
7th	Topper	45806	Ross MACLEAN	Dalgety Bay SC	(9)	9	7	3	28	19
8th	Topper	46611	Iain MCLAUGHLAN	Largs SC	2	8	12	(14)	36	22
9th	Topper	46172	Lewis MARR	Largs SC	(16)	7	6	9	38	22
10th	Topper	46272	Rosalind DUNLOP	Largs SC	5	12	8	(19)	44	25
11th	Topper	45517	Niall FERGUSON	Chanonry SC	14	10	(16)	4	44	28
12th	Topper	45152	Jessica MILFORD	Loch Tummel SC	10	(16)	11	8	45	29
13th	Topper	46836	David ABRAHAM	Helensburgh SC	8	(13)	13	10	44	31
14th	Topper	43842	Dean MALCOLM	Largs SC	12	11	9	(13)	45	32
15th	Topper	43195	Peter BARNES	West Lothian SC	15	14	(28 DNF)	12	69	41
16th	Topper	43563	Scott JOHNSTONE	Largs SC	(17)	15	14	15	61	44
17th	Topper	43995	Reuben ROBERTSON	Peterhead SC	7	22	22	(24)	75	51
18th	Topper	45420	Jack BEASLEY	Chanonry SC	(22)	17	18	17	74	52
19th	Topper	40212	Gavin LOGAN	Loch Tummel SC	18	19	17	(20)	74	54
20th	Topper	28183	Rosie Beskaby	Loch Tummel SC	(21)	20	19	18	78	57
21st	Topper	36830	Dougal Wilson	Loch Venacher SC	20	18	20	(23)	81	58
22nd	Topper	41791	Martin Blewett	Loch Tummel SC	(28 DNF)	28 DNF	15	16	87	59
23rd	Topper	45003	Izzy MILFORD	Loch Tummel SC	19	(21)	21	21	82	61
24th	Topper	40624	Rachel Dingley	Loch Venacher SC	23	(28 DNF)	23	22	96	68
25th	Topper	25279	Rory Wilson	Loch Venacher SC	(28 DNF)	28 DNF	28 DNF	28 DNF	112	84
25th	Topper	43356	Stephen KEENAN	Royal Gourock YC	(28 DNF)	28 DNF	28 DNF	28 DNF	112	84
25th	Topper	23351	Robbie Callander	Loch Venacher SC	(28 DNF)	28 DNF	28 DNF	28 DNF	112	84