Topper Open Meeting Saturday 19th July 2014

Bearing in mind the forecast of thunder storms sweeping across the UK the turnout of 16 boats was excellent.  As it happened we managed to miss all the storms in the region and the meeting was sailed in medium to light winds and with only a little rain after lunch.

All the sailors were very keen to get going and the first race started with the usual Topper general recall with most of the fleet over the line.  At the second attempt Finlay Brechin took a commanding lead and finished well ahead of the rest.  However the race for second place was very close with four boats finishing within a few seconds of each other.  James Tulley had a brilliant last run and sailed around the group to get the inside position for the last mark and go from 5^th to 2^nd place, with Harriet Lee 3^rd followed by Jenni Parsons and Maddie Metcalfe.  Dennis Beard took first blood in the adult race and finished 8^th, two places ahead of Paul Metcalfe.  Toby Read and Henry Ball also finished their first ever race in boats borrowed from the Sailing Centre next door.

After lunch the wind had dropped a bit making things more tricky.  James took a commanding lead at the start of the second race by sailing round the back of the island and reaching in to the first mark whilst the rest of the fleet were stuck in a hole below it (local knowledge from previous visits perhaps?).  Harriet soon got into second place with Jenni and Finlay hot on her heels.  The wind became very light half way through the race but James still had a big lead going round the penultimate mark and on to the last run.  However he then managed to find a dead part of the tarn with no wind and Harriet gave him a taste of his own medicine and sailed past on the final run to take the win with James 2^nd, Jenni 3^rd and Finlay 4^th.

So going into the last race with the best 2 of 3 races to count any one of those four could take the overall win.  The wind had now gone very light and after another general recall (and the race officer wishing the club owned a black flag!) Jenni showed impressive light wind skills to sail away from the rest.  Unfortunately James couldn’t repeat his start from the previous race and got stuck under the fleet going to the first mark, so the fight for the overall win was left to the other three.  Half way through the race with Felix Baines showing some good form in 2^nd place it looked as if the open title would go Jenni’s way, but Harriet then overhauled Felix to put herself in 2^nd place and in line for the title although Finlay in 3^rd place had other ideas.  Jenni took the race win well ahead of the rest and as with the previous two races the battle for second place went down to the final run.  Finlay managed to overtake Harriet for 2^nd place and Harriet finished 3^rd with Felix also coming back strongly on the final run in 4^th.

So after some very close racing the open meeting win went to Finlay Brechin, one point ahead of the next three who after a discard all had the same points total with Jenni Parsons coming 2^nd, Harriet Lee 3^rd and James Tulley 4^th.  The adult race went to Paul Metcalfe who sailed better in the lighter wind after lunch to finish 9^th overall.

Overall results:

Position	Sailor	R1	R2	R3	Points
1st	Finlay Brechin	1	-4	2	3
2nd	Jenni Parsons	-4	3	1	4
3rd	Harriet Lee	-3	1	3	4
4th	James Tulley	2	2	-9	4
5th	Felix Baines	-7	6	4	10
6th	Franklin Wright	-17(DNC)	5	5	10
7th	Thomas Parkhurst	6	-9	6	12
8th	Maddie Metcalfe	5	-10	8	13
9th	Paul Metcalfe	-10	7	7	14
10th	Lucy Parkhurst	9	8	-11	17
11th	Dennis Beard	8	-11	10	18
12th	Toby Read	11	13	-17(DNC)	24
13th	Harrison Wright	-17(DNC)	12	12	24
14th	Austin Wright	-17(DNC)	14	13	27
15th	Henry Ball	12	17(DNC)	-17(DNC)	29
16th	William Lee	17(DNF)	17(DNC)	-17(DNC)	34