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Rooster Southern Topper Traveller Series at Hill Head Sailing Club

by Roger Cerrato 11 Sep 2023 07:00 PDT 2-3 September 2023
Hill Head Topper Open © Roger Cerrato

Over the weekend of September 2nd/3rd the Southern Toppers headed to one of our favourite venues; Hill Head SC on the sunny Solent for event 6 of the Rooster Southern Topper Traveller Series.

30 sailors participated in the Open Class Training on Saturday, many of these eager to secure their slot in the RYA South Toppers RTG for this coming winter. Under the watchful eyes of the coaching team the participants also had the perfect chance to practice for Sunday's open.

Launching and recovery at HHSC is very much controlled by the tide so Sunday's open had a relatively late start enabling sailors and partners to enjoy the facilities of the club (including some great bacon rolls!) prior to the briefing at 1130am.

Despite the light conditions the 44 sailors (26 with a 5.3 rig and 18 with a 4.2) were told to rig and be ready to launch on time. Once afloat it became apparent that a short delay would be required to allow the wind to build but within 15 mins of the scheduled start time Race 1 was under way. Getting off the line cleanly and heading inshore out of the strong west going tide was key and this strategy worked for both Ethan Rhodes (Warsash SC) and club mate Charles Wood who took the race win in the 5.3 and 4.2 fleets respectively.

Despite the best efforts of the other sailors both Ethan and Charles managed a clean sweep of 3 x 1st places for the day - well done! Other notable performances included Lucas Keen (Stokes Bay SC) who scored a 2nd in Race 2 in his first event with a 5.3 sail and Henry Martin (Portchester SC) 5.3 and Kristian Foltys (Hamble River SC) 4.2 who both sailed consistently well all day to secure 2nd in their fleets.

Event 7 of the Rooster Southern Topper Traveller Series is next weekend at Poole YC where we'll be joining our friends from the South West and London & SE regions for the annual "Super South" event. The Series then concludes at Warsash SC on October 21st/22nd.

Sailor reports from HHSC Open:

Charles Wood (4.2 fleet): "Light winds, strong winds... oh wait... strong tide."

Eve Wealthy (5.3 fleet): "As we launched at 12:30pm, the wind disappeared and many sailors resorted to paddling their boats to the race course. After 30 minutes, the wind started filling in from the south. Race 1 started and sailors were using light-wind techniques to maintain boat speed. In Race 2, with 1 minute left in the 5.3 start sequence, the postponement flag went up due to a dramatic wind shift. With the course re-laid, both fleets completed the race despite the dropping wind. Race 3 was a difficult one with strong tides and even less wind but all sailors did very well."

Ewen Parish (4.2 fleet): "After doing the training on Saturday I felt ready for the day of racing ahead. The first race was postponed until there was enough wind to sail properly.

After the 5 minute signal I proceeded to the port end of the line as I knew the tide was weaker closer to the shore. As the beat was against the tide it was vital to stay in the weaker tide. I was very pleased with my first result and it set a good tone for an enjoyable day.

I kept the same strategy for the first two races and on the third I tried going right, sadly it didn't pay off and I got my worst result of the day. The races were great due to an outstanding race committee and a spectacular group of coaches that really helped me with my starting and upwind tactics. I'd like to thank all the volunteers and HHSC."

To find out more about Topper sailing in the South please visit www.itca-gbr.co.uk/area-pages/southern or email:

Overall Results:

PosChamp NoSail NoHelmClubR1R2R3Pts
Topper 4.2 Fleet
1st52047797Charles WoodWarsash SC1113
2nd22046293Kristian FoltysHamble River SC24410
3rd8348664Hendricks LongWarsash SC62311
4th33948683William SadlerReading SC55212
5th24148133Reuben WealthyStokes Bay SC / Jets46515
6th61647860Finlay RhodesWarsash SC (& JETS)38617
7th2446509Matthew TerryWarsash SC1031124
8th60349081Mattie SvendsenGoring Thames SC97925
9th22744425Phileas RousselleHamble River SC791026
10th 45739Arabella da CostaHill Head SC1313733
11th68744301Ewan ParishStokes Bay SC8121434
12th5646221Joel KeenStokes Bay12111235
13th 11928Henry ConnollyHamble River SC14101337
14th 26935Martha HartHamble River SC1615839
15th52234031Isabelle WoodWarsash SC11141641
16th17847466Alex VarneyWarsash SC17161548
17th62647078Megan CerratoWarsash SC (& JETS)15DNFDNC53
18th3501234Charlie Turner DNCDNCDNC57
Topper 5.3 Fleet
1st61447830Ethan RhodesWarsash SC1113
2nd36048579Henry MartinPortchester SC43310
3rd15648744Thomas RobinsonStokes Bay SC35816
4th37445757James BroadHill Head SC77620
5th34047355Samuel WadeStokes Bay SC/JETs291021
6th11946447Ava FrancisSpinnaker SC511521
7th6648627Lucas KeenStokes Bay1021123
8th64947796Seb SittonWarsash SC815427
9th63245866George HydeHill Head SC681529
10th34649200Henry NoelWarsash SC1141631
11th22846939Sophie Le GriceWarsash SC1361231
12th52848971Toby QuartlyHill Head SC/ JETS1210931
13th24548185Charlie ShiresStokes Bay / JETs1813233
14th19947833William Le GriceWarsash SC15121441
15th4646452Lewis MillerSpinnaker SC1622745
16th51846983Barnaby EverettItchenor SC14141947
17th23948315Eve WealthyStokes Bay SC/JETs9232052
18th51747124Thomas BeckNewhaven and seaford sailing club19211353
19th5731Meg WebbWarsash SC17201754
20th 47494Will WhiteWill White23161857
21st9346593Elena BeckNewhaven & Seaford SC20192160
22nd12416481Amelia LampardHill Head SC / JETS21172361
23rd67646606Alban LandricombeHill Head SC22182464
24th 41604Ewan LampardHill Head SC25252272
25th 44813Emily HydeHill Head SC2424DNF75
26th 45743Freddie PagetHill Head SCDNCDNCDNC81

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