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ITCA Midlands Topper Traveller Series 2021-2022 Round 1 at Staunton Harold Sailing Club

by Mike Powell 20 Sep 2021 14:02 BST 18 September 2021
Midlands Topper Traveller Round 1 at Staunton Harold © Martin Gunn

Very soon after the completion of the "Not the Nationals" at Grafham in August, the Midlands Toppers were back in action for the start of the ITCA Midlands Topper Traveller 2021-2022 Series. This is a planned 8 event series starting September and running through to March visiting a variety of Midlands based clubs who our supporting our Topper Traveller Series.

The Series kicked off with Round 1 taking place on Saturday 18th September at Staunton Harold Sailing Club where we had a healthy 27 boats entered. It was great to see so many new sailors taking part in a Topper Traveller Event for their first time. The Weather Forecast correctly predicted light southerly winds so it was going to test the sailor's ability to sail into the gusts and look for wind-shifts when they appeared.

Race 1 was very close with Jessica Powell (Draycote) taking the early lead at the Windward Mark, however Katherine Gunn (Notts County) and Caitlin Thomas (Notts County) were very close behind. At the end of the race, there was less than a boat length between the eventual winner Jessica; followed by Caitlin.

The 2nd race would see the main event contenders battling it out again with Jessica Powell taking a second race win, followed this time by Katherine Gunn and then Joseph Rowe (Draycote), making amends for an OSC is his first race; finishing 3rd.

With the format returning to its usual two races in the morning and two races in the afternoon arrangement; this gave time for the sailors to reset and work out the their race plan for the final 2 races of the afternoon. With the wind starting to drop further, racing was certainly going to be even more challenging for the sailors, however it was Joseph Rowe who came straight out of the blocks to win Race 3 by a convincing margin; followed by the very consistent Caitlin Thomas and then Katherine Gunn.

After race 3, the wind continued to drop and it was beginning to look questionable if race 4 could happen. However with the Race Official's local knowledge and experience, he was able to put the sailors into sequence just as the wind picked up again so we could get the final race on. 4 Sailors were in contention for the event win and this would be between Jessica Powell, Katherine Gunn, Caitlin Thomas and now with a discard coming into effect could Joseph Rowe take the win?

Race 4 proved to be the closest race of the day with the lead constantly changing between Joseph, Jessica and Katherine. Finally it would be Katherine taking her first race win of the day followed closely by Jessica and then Joseph.

With these final race results now completed, Jessica Powell (Draycote) took the honours with her first Midlands Traveller Event win, followed by Katherine Gunn and then Joseph Rowe taking 3rd.

For the 4.2's, fleet wins were exchanged between Georgia Riddell (Notts County) and Traveller newcomer William Mawby-Groom (Banbury), with 4.2 Top honours eventually going William. Watch out for these sailors in the future as they sailed brilliantly in such light winds with only 1 point separating them at the end of the event.

Congratulations go to Jessica Powell (Event Winner) and William Mawby-Groom (4.2 Winner).

Thanks to Staunton Harold Sailing Club for hosting a great event to start the 2021-2022 Midlands Topper Traveller Series.

If any Junior Midland Topper sailors are interested in participating at the ITCA Midlands Traveller events, it is a great opportunity to enter a friendly and local race series. Please contact us on the email address if you would like any more information.

Overall Results:

PosSail NoHelmRigR1R2R3R4Pts
1st46391Jessica PowellTopper 5.311‑424
2nd48571Katherine GunnTopper 5.332‑616
3rd44036Joseph RoweTopper 5.3(OCS)3137
4th46205Caitlin ThomasTopper 5.3242‑58
5th47354Sammy MasonTopper 5.3453‑912
6th48098Hayden MooreTopper 5.3665‑817
7th48651Harriet TempleTopper 5.35‑1410419
8th48664Toby GammondTopper 5.39‑117622
9th48259Edward PalingTopper 5.310‑138725
10th47777Katherine BurgessTopper 5.3799‑1125
11th47488Matthew ChaddertonTopper 5.388‑121026
12th48535Chloe GraytonTopper 5.3‑1510111334
13th48675Kitty DavyTopper 5.31312(RET)1237
14th44012Jake BlakewayTopper 5.312‑17141440
15th48907Keali RhodesTopper 5.3161613‑2245
16th47764Tara EwbankTopper 5.3117(DNC)DNC46
17th45772Rupert AshTopper 5.31715‑181547
18th48193Jasper Focardi DollingTopper 5.314‑19151948
19th45197Polly McMullanTopper 5.3‑1918161751
20th31767William Mawby‑GroomTopper 4.220‑21191655
21st47222Georgia RiddellTopper 4.218‑23201856
22nd46512Jess HedgecockTopper 5.3212217‑2460
23rd46241Oli RogersTopper 5.3‑2220222062
24th36182Alex ChadbornTopper 4.223‑26212165
25th46971Oscar RoweTopper 4.2‑2424232370
26th48798Izzy RitchieTopper 4.2‑2525242574
27th28381Beth EdwardsTopper 5.3(DNC)DNCDNCDNC84

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