Topper Re-activation Competition Winner
by Dave Rowe 2 Mar 2022 02:25 PST
At the recent RYA Dinghy and Watersports Show we were extremely pleased to be able to present a young Topper sailor with a prize of a brand-new Topper for his sailing centre, the Phoenix Outdoor Centre.
ITCA GBR and Topper Sailboats each year run a competition to encourage the reactivation of Toppers that have been left behind sheds and in boat parks around the country, with the aim to see these boats returned to the water, being sailed again and looking amazing. This year's entries were all fantastic and Russ Dent of Topper Sailboats had the difficult job of picking a winner.
One young sailor's entry stood out. Jadon Brockdorff-Kennedy learnt to sail at Phoenix outdoor centre and took on the challenge to carry out a complete reactivation of the centre's 35 year old Topper sailing dinghy. Jadon still sails with Phoenix on supervised sailing sessions, has also joined the Topper racing circuit and travels all over the country competing in his class.
The boat was donated to the Phoenix a couple of years ago, however it leaked and had parts missing or bodged. Jadon has his own Topper and has donated some of the spare parts including his sail to get the Phoenix boat up and running. He spent a lot of time renovating the hull, deck and foils, replacing the leaky self-bailer, footstraps and replaced parts and ropes. Phoenix are very grateful for Jadon's hard work and determination to get this boat back on the water and entering the Topper Sailboats reactivation competition which will now see a brand new Topper joining 17816 at the Phoenix Outdoor Centre, and help many more sailors on their journey.
It was a great pleasure to have Jadon join the British Sailing Team's Olympic Gold Medallist Dylan Fletcher, Topper Sailboats Russ Dent, and ITCA GBR class chair Martin Cooper at the RYA Dinghy and Watersports Show where he was presented with a certificate to record his achievement and arrange the delivery of the new Topper!
The 2022/23 competition is now open so for more information please visit www.itca-gbr.co.uk/competitions