North West Topper Championship at Bolton Sailing Club
by Sam Young 29 Sep 2021 00:59 PDT
18 September 2021
North West Topper Championship at Bolton Sailing Club © Andy Young
Thirty-three Topper sailors from clubs across the north of England travelled to Bolton Sailing Club on Saturday 18th September for the North West Championships.
Winds were forecast as light and dropping over the day and, though looking slightly more promising than the forecast on arrival, the race officer decided to launch the fleet swiftly and get 3 races in back-to-back before lunch. If the wind held up, there would still be a chance for a fourth race after lunch, giving the sailors one discard.
The lighter sailors took poll positions in the first race with Jasper (Hollingworth Lake) 1st, Lewis (Leigh & Lowton) 2nd and Rosanna (Budworth) 3rd. Over-eagerness saw a general recall in Race 2 and the race committee quickly hoisted the U flag for the second start. This caught out 5 sailors including the winner of the first race (and first on the water in Race 2 but scoring 38 points for his UFD). Erin (Scaling Dam) having stayed behind the line during the last minute before the starting signal (see rule 30.3!), took the race win, followed by Lewis and Harriet (Elton).
The wind held up for Race 3, though there were some tricky 'holes' and interesting wind patterns. Ava (Elton) won, with Erin 2nd and Rosanna 3rd.
As they came ashore for lunch, the fleet were treated to the Red Arrows flying over on their way to the G7 Speakers' Conference in Chorley (though unfortunately there weren't any red, white and blue contrails to match the Topper sails!). There was a mixed appetite for a 4th race with many eager to discard their UFD scores and improve their positions and others happy to end the day with 3 races (girls were lying in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th place at this stage).
There was still enough wind for the fleet to launch and a tight Race 4 saw Erin lead from the start to seal the Championships. Jasper finished second in the last race and was second overall, with Ava finishing third and third overall. A great day's sailing and thanks to Bolton Sailing Club for hosting the North West Championships; the next event in the North Traveller series is West Riding Sailing Club on 23rd October.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Rig | Name | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 5.3 | Erin Young | Scaling Dam SC | ‑5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 2nd | 5.3 | Jasper Bramwell | Hollingworth Lake SC | 1 | (UFD) | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| 3rd | 5.3 | Ava Harris‑Scott | Elton SC | ‑9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| 4th | 5.3 | Lewis Bacon | Leigh & Lowton SC | 2 | 2 | (UFD) | 7 | 11 |
| 5th | 5.3 | Rosanna Joyce | Budworth SC | 3 | ‑6 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| 6th | 5.3 | Chris Hampshire | Ripon SC | 4 | ‑7 | 5 | 5 | 14 |
| 7th | 5.3 | Tom Moss | Scaling Dam SC | 8 | 4 | (UFD) | 4 | 16 |
| 8th | 5.3 | Harriet Wood | Elton SC | ‑10 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 21 |
| 9th | 5.3 | Seren Green | Ullswater YC | ‑13 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 29 |
| 10th | 5.3 | Matthew Baird | Budworth SC | ‑21 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 30 |
| 11th | 5.3 | Benjamin Greaves | Pennine SC | 7 | ‑12 | 11 | 12 | 30 |
| 12th | 5.3 | Leon Kadioglu | West Kirby SC | 6 | (UFD) | 8 | 17 | 31 |
| 13th | 5.3 | Oliver Lumb | Ripon SC | 14 | 8 | 9 | ‑18 | 31 |
| 14th | 5.3 | Sam Aubrey | Bolton SC | ‑16 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 32 |
| 15th | 5.3 | Sian Baird | Budworth SC | 11 | (UFD) | 13 | 11 | 35 |
| 16th | 5.3 | Kiera Cowell | Scaling Dam SC | 15 | 9 | ‑20 | 15 | 39 |
| 17th | 5.3 | Lewis Blythe | Yorkshire Dales SC | 17 | 14 | 16 | ‑19 | 47 |
| 18th | 4.2 | Millie Hayfield | Hollingworth Lake SC | 19 | 16 | 15 | ‑21 | 50 |
| 19th | 5.3 | Alex Smith | Ullswater YC | 18 | (UFD) | 17 | 16 | 51 |
| 20th | 5.3 | Emre Frankland | Burwain SC | 20 | ‑21 | 18 | 14 | 52 |
| 21st | 5.3 | Oliver Scanlan | Southport SC | ‑23 | 22 | 14 | 22 | 58 |
| 22nd | 5.3 | Anna Stonecliffe | Bolton SC | ‑25 | 17 | 23 | 20 | 60 |
| 23rd | 5.3 | Tobias Khawar | Bolton SC | 22 | 18 | 21 | ‑24 | 61 |
| 24th | 5.3 | Eva Murphy | Budworth SC | ‑26 | 19 | 19 | 25 | 63 |
| 25th | 4.2 | Xavier Bramwell | Hollingworth Lake SC | 27 | 15 | 22 | ‑30 | 64 |
| 26th | 5.3 | Huw Maddocks | Pennine SC | 24 | 20 | 24 | ‑27 | 68 |
| 27th | 5.3 | Paul Roberts | Leigh & Lowton SC | 12 | (UFD) | UFD | 23 | 69 |
| 28th | 4.2 | Hugo Calvey‑Sutcliffe | Burwain SC | ‑30 | 23 | 25 | 29 | 77 |
| 29th | 4.2 | Annabel Hayfield | Hollingworth Lake SC | ‑32 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 78 |
| 30th | 5.3 | Yusuf Hussain | Ripon SC | ‑29 | 25 | 27 | 28 | 80 |
| 31st | 5.3 | Emily Cottam | Bolton SC | 28 | 24 | (DNS) | DNC | 86 |
| 32nd | 4.2 | Julia Smith | West Riding SC | ‑33 | 27 | 29 | 31 | 87 |
| 33rd | 5.3 | Emma Begg | Bolton SC | 31 | (UFD) | 28 | DNC | 93 |
