North East Topper Championships 2022 at Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club

On Saturday 23rd April, 25 eager sailors arrived at Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club for what would turn out to be an eventful day's racing.

It was the fourth event in the Rooster North Topper Traveller series, and with the previous event at Sunderland having been cancelled due to a (severe) lack of wind, this event was also the North-East Area Championships. Leading up to the event the forecast was interesting, to say the least. With an average of 18 gusting 24kts forecast there was a difficult decision to be made in the days leading up to the event, however with a good sailor to safety ratio, the decision was made to go ahead.

North East Topper Championships 2022 at Yorkshire Dales - photo © Paul Hargreaves Photography

Upon arriving I instantly decided that reefing was a good idea, as did most other sailors. As we rigged our boats and were welcomed to the Sailing Club by the Commodore, the Race Committee were out on the water taking wind readings and after a short wait, parents donned their waders and we were ready to go.

With the wind forecast to build, the race officer was (extremely) keen to start the first race and we quickly went into sequence. Even before the start there were multiple capsizes, with some of the less experienced sailors struggling to reach the start line. Unlike most starts there were very few toppers on the start line, with most waiting quite a way behind the line, but able to accelerate very quickly. With even the most experienced sailors prone to a capsize or two there was a lot of change in positioning throughout the race, except for Fin, who, with a good start had taken an early lead.

North East Topper Championships 2022 at Yorkshire Dales - photo © Paul Hargreaves Photography

Starting in around seventh place I quickly made-up ground into fourth, (behind Ben and Rosanna) despite a couple of capsizes along the way and after a tiring three beats finally finished the race in third with Ben in second. With the wind building, we all got a break for lunch.

Yorkshire Dales is known in the North for its good food and they didn't disappoint. Following the morning's challenging sail and having refuelled, a slightly smaller fleet headed back out for a second race. After a few minutes on the water, we went into sequence and I shot off the start line in first closely followed by Ben. Upon finally reaching the windward mark I set off downwind still in first place and was halfway down the run before seeing the abandon flag. There was to be no more sailing that day.

North East Topper Championships 2022 at Yorkshire Dales - photo © Dave Wood

It was a tough day for the race team with lots of difficult decisions to be made and an even tougher day for all of the sailors, however with one race having been sailed and the wind still building, boats were packed up and prizes awarded. Fin got to take home the NE Area Trophy (previously won by Giles Scott), Ben was second and I was third.

Thanks to Yorkshire Dales for hosting the event and providing great food, and to all the volunteers who braved the conditions to set a course and rescue sailors and boats.

Overall Results: