International Topper 4.2 and 5.3 World Championships 2024 at Mar Menor
by International Topper Class Association 31 Jul 09:21 PDT
20-26 July 2024
Mar Menor 2024 will be long remembered for the hot weather, the hot racing and the hot competition with some extremely impressive performances from the sailors. 178 sailors from 8 nations gathered at the CAR Región de Murcia sports centre on the shores of the Mar Menor for a great week of international youth racing for the International Topper 4.2 and International Topper 5.3 World Championship titles.
The week began on Saturday evening with an impressive Opening Ceremony, led by a great drum quartet, that saw all the competing nations parade along the seafront to an open stage where the Mayor of Los Alcázares and ITCA Commodore Bill Brassington declared the World Championships open, followed by a moving display of traditional flamenco dancing by a local youth dance troupe.
Monday's opening races in the Topper 4.2 class saw Hari Clark GBR147, (Draycote Water SC) score three straight bullets, in the patchy 6-10 knot breeze to head the leaderboard from Sam Mason, GBR 55, (Silver Wing SC) and Tom A'Coistealbha, IRL 485, (Malahide Yacht Club)
In the 138-strong Topper 5.3 fleet, Ireland's Leo O'Doherty (Silgo YC) led the overnight standings, from Zac Chappell, GBR (Parkstone SC) and Gemma Brady, IRL (National YC). Not far behind were the impressive Spanish team, selected from the Mar Menor's best Optimist and ILCA 4 sailors, who had only been training in the Topper for the past month. Watch the impressive port tack start in race one in the video clip below that saw Angel Penalver and Sergio López Palacios tack on to port seconds before the gun, cross the fleet and take the lead for a Spanish 1,2,3 at the finish!
Day 2, Tuesday 23rd, International Topper 4.2 fleet, Race 4.
A postponement flag greeted sailors as they arrived on the 4.2 course, as the wind had already started to shift to the right and was barely 5 knots at the committee boat. However, the regular afternoon wind soon arrived and racing got under way in an 8 knots easterly sea breeze.
GBR 055, Sam Mason (Silver Wing SC) got the best start and covered his rival, GBR 147, Hari Clark, up the beat. Sam and Hari enjoyed very close, competitive racing with Hari Clark, pushing hard to gain an overlap on the reach to mark 2. This leading pair in the overall standings fought a great battle well ahead of the rest of the fleet, both rounding the starboard gate ahead of GBR 606, Toby Hailey (W&OBYC). On the second upwind, Hari Clark managed to pull out a 10-boat length lead from Sam Mason, as he exploited the slightly stronger wind on the left side of the course.
In race 5, the roles were reversed as Tom Mason led the fleet after GBR 147 picked up a yellow flag for body pumping off the start line as he just cleared the pin. By the second upwind Hari was hot on Sam's heels. As the afternoon breeze built to 13 knots Sam Mason stretched out to a comfortable lead from Hari Clark and Ralph Hadley (Tankerton Bay & WSC). In a rare blip from his cool and controlled demeanour, Hari Clark ended the day with a DSQ for failing to make a second turn when flagged by the Jury. The lesson learnt - do your 2-turns swiftly and then channel that annoyance calmly into catching up again.
Over on the Topper 5.3 course, the last races of the qualification series were taking place, as the sailors battled to get into the gold, silver and bronze fleets for the final series. In the red & blue flight race, GBR 264 Emily Shearer from Clyde Cruising SC rounded the windward mark first from ESP 817 Manuel Barrionuevo, (RC Cartagena) and CHN 822 Lijian Zhong but Emily was eventually overhauled as the late afternoon sea breeze built to its zenith of 15 knots, to finish 5th. Manuel Barrionuevo, using his local knowledge, headed to the right-hand side of the beat to seize the lead which he held to the finish, fighting off the attentions of George Spence GBR (Ripon SC) and Lijian Zhong, in third.
In the final race for the Yellow and white flights, ESP 815 Sergio López Palacios revelled in the stronger wind to take his third straight race win of the day, this time from Leo O'Doherty, IRL 493 (Silgo YC) and Thomas Semmens, GBR 505 (Brixham SC).
International Topper World Masters Championships...
Once the sailors were all safely ashore, the action switched to the Topper World Master's Championship - a fun but also incredibly serious race for the parents, coaches and older siblings over 18! The stadium-style race has become an annual favourite for the supporters, who after days of standing on the shore were itching to get out on the water and prove 'they still have it'. Over 30 sailors signed up, ranging from keen racing parents to previous world champions, coaches and current sailors over 18. Traditionally half the entry fee goes to a local charity, this year the national Spanish Cáritas social enterprise charity was the chosen beneficiary of Mar Menor '24.
The course was laid just off the long finger dock, as a triangle/sausage course with the start midway up the beat. The evening conditions were perfect; a steady 15 knots, full sun and a cheering crowd just meters away from the action. It was a tight fit to get all 30 boats on the startline, with lots of shoving and shouting as the gun went. At the first mark, the fleet was tightly bunched, but it was Pitor Tokajuk (GBR) that led from the hotly pursuing Liam Glynn, (IRL) the 2013 Topper World Champion and now coaching the next generation of Topper champions. Liam was certainly giving it 'heaps' downwind and was close to the edge, kiting his boom well forward of the mast, but Pitor, who raced the 2023 Cork Worlds, held the inside berth to execute a tight, neat gybe around the bottom mark to keep the beefier former champ just behind him. Not far astern of the two leaders was one of the Chinese coaches, entered under the pseudonym of 'Sheldon Plankton', one of the China team's favourite cartoon characters! These three held their position to the finish, Pitor keeping a close cover on Liam as they both crossed the line, to wild applause from the watching crowds.
It was a fitting win for Pitor, who having moved on from Toppers last year, changed his mind when he arrived at the event with his younger sister who was competing, saw the fantastic conditions and was desperately searching in vain for a spare boat to borrow.
Day 3, Wednesday 24th International Topper 5.3 Finals Series...
Wednesday saw the start of the Topper 5.3 Final Series, with the sailors now divided into Gold, Silver and Bronze fleets, whilst the 4.2 fleet continued in their finals competition.
The first race of the 5.3 finals started in a building 10-11 knots easterly breeze with most of the fleet favouring the left side of the upwind legs. China took all three top positions in the gold fleet with Che Liu, CHN 831 first (Beijing Sailing Centre), Cheng Zhang, CHN 865 (Shenzhen Jr High School) 2nd and Fengyyi Fu CHN 830 3rd (Beijing SC) as the wind built to a testing 13 knots at the finish. A great result for, Beijing Sailing Centre, and Team China. The start line was perfectly square, thanks to the efficient Race Committee team led by PRO Luky Serrano, and the fleet well spread along its entire length.
The second race for the gold fleet saw the majority of the sailors bunched at the port end of the line, with IRL 729, Gemma Brady (National YC & lough Derg YC) rounding the windward mark first, having taken the best track up the left, followed by her National YC teammate IRL 731, Rory Brennan-Hobbs, ahead of CHN 833 Mingzhu Ye, (Beijing SC). Gemma held her lead downwind in the steady 13 knot afternoon sea breeze, surfing the waves superbly to hold off Rory at the bottom gate. Up the second beat, Chinese ace Che Liu made his move, charging up the fleet but Gemma held her first position to the finish, with Liu second and Leo O'Doherty improving on his first race 4th with a 3rd, shading fellow countryman Rory Brennan-Hobbs into 4th.
In the Silver and Bronze fleet race, CHN 823, Shirley Ma, (Vanhang Sailing) took the win from club mate Chenxi Dong CHN 832 and Zitong Zu in third, whilst in the Bronze fleet, GBR 609 Daniel Plant (Neyland YC) had his best result of the week, winning from GBR 353, Jake Blakeway (Draycote Academy) and CHN 855 Yiqiao Liu (Vanhang Sailing).
Over on the Topper 4.2 course, GBR 147 Hari Clark recovered on the second downwind from a less-than-perfect start to move up from third to first, hotly pursued by IRL 723, Leo West-Hurst (Ballyholme YC) and IRL 485, Tom A'Coistealbha (Malahide YC), finishing in that order, well clear of the rest of the fleet. GBR 160 Ralph Hadley, (Tankerton Bay SC) maintained his highly consistent set of top 10 results with a 5th and another steady performance saw GBR 616, Finley Rhodes (Warsash SC & Jets) follow up in 6th.
Thursday 25th, Day 4, Finals race 4 on the 5.3 course...
Thursday's first race kicked off in 8/9knots from 080/085 degrees, with Zac Chappell winning the pin and then tacking onto port to cross the fleet. However, by mark 1 it was the canny Che Liu who had sniffed out the best route up the beat to round first, from teammate CHN 865, Cheng Zhang, with 3 Spanish boats chasing hard in their wake. Mark 2 had drifted out of position but was swiftly replaced by a RIB flying flag M by the efficient mark-laying crew.
At the leeward gate, the sea breeze had built to 19 knots, tempting some boats to bang the right-hand corner in expectation of the sea breeze clocking further right. CHN 865, Cheng Zhang enough of a shift to pass overall leader Che Liu whilst GBR 505, Tom Semmens slugged it out with Ireland's Gemma Brady for 3rd, with the Silgo girl using her strong wave technique to gain the upper hand on the line.
In the second race of the day for the Gold fleet, (race 5), it was the turn of Elsa Rodado, ESP 816, (RC Cartagena) to show her pace upwind, as she found a great port tack lift. Elsa told us she was in training to sail an ILCA 6 and so was having to put on weight to sail the heftier ILCA boat, but was much more at home in the lighter hull of the Topper.
The expected right-hand shifts did not always materialise, with several knocks to the left offering opportunities for those with their heads outside the boat. At the top of the beat it was Angel Penalver, ESP 820 who rounded ahead of China's Allan Huang, CHN 866, (Chenjnhao Race Team) and GBR 272, Tristan Shaw (Budworth SC). Leo O'Doherty was up there too but got squeezed onto the windward mark, costing him a penalty turn on the reach from which he recovered to finish a creditable 4th. Che Liu again worked his way up to take the gun from Alan Huang and Sergio López Palacios.
The final race of the day, race 6 saw ESP 817, Manuel Barrionuevo (RC Cartagena) take his first win from Che Liu and GBR 611 Jess Powell, (Draycote Water SC) found her pace to secure her best finals result in 3rd.
Meanwhile, on the Topper 4.2 course, all three overall leaders started at the pin, Hari Clark working his boat hard to deliver the best boat speed and maintain his close cover over title rival Sam Mason. Whilst these two were locked in battle, CHN 868 Jiajing Guo, (Chenjinhao Race Team) took the opportunity to slip ahead on the upwind leg. On the second beat, Hari and Sam went left, whilst most of the fleet took the right side, with the result that CHN 877, Zhangling Qi Qi (Whisper of the Wind SC) found herself in the lead, followed by countryman Jiajing Guo and CHN 854 Shaohui Zhuang, (Beijing SC) in third. All three had to hike flat out on the screaming reach to the finish, as Hari Clark and Tom Mason, clearly exhausted after their intense rivalry throughout the day came in in 6th and 14th respectively, after being caught out by the left-hander on the second beat.
Day 5, Friday 26th, Final day showdown...
PRO Luky Serrano was spot on with his forecast for the final day of competition for the Topper Worlds. The gradient North Easterly providing sufficient breeze to allow racing to start at the scheduled time of 12.00 in 10 knots.
On the Topper 4.2 course, the majority of the fleet favoured the pin end and once again the two leading protagonists chose to start close to each other to reduce the risk of one of them getting away on a shift. Hari Clark, GBR 147 and Sam Mason, GBR 055 once more duked it out up the beat with Hari first to round the windward mark from CHN 825, Qiushi Li and CHN 876, Linger Zhou (Hainan Haidian Campus). Sam Mason responded by hiking hard on the top reach to get back up to third, but the lightweight Hari was flying and extended his lead to over 10m. Down the run, Hari chose the port gybe, whilst the following bunch held on to starboard, hoping for some extra pressure.
At the gate, the Brits took the port mark whilst the Chinese team selected the starboard side. Hari Clark looked to be sailing higher on the second upwind, whilst Sam Mason, hot on his heels footed lower to gain pace through the building chop. The pair enjoyed a great battle, as the wind built to 12 knots, Sam hiking as hard as he could on the flying reach to the finish. Hari just managed to hold off his opponent to cross the line a couple of seconds ahead, to record his 10th win of the series.
The wind had now built to a perfect 12 knots for the start of the second Topper 5.3 races of the day, much to the delight of the local Spanish sailors. Throughout the week the local Spanish boats often proved to have an edge when the wind and chop got up. Generally, they were older, bigger and well-experienced in dealing with the tricky short chop of the Mar Menor - torquing their upper bodies fore and aft to coax their Toppers over the short but steep waves without the need to use as much speed-sapping rudder movement.
At Mark 1 it was ESP 815, Sergio López Palacios who led the charge, followed closely by overall leader Che Liu, Ireland's Gemma Brady and Spain's Manuel Barrionuevo. Sergio extended downwind, demonstrating his strong surfing technique and making good decisions on which waves to choose for maximum gain. Not wishing to be outdone by his RC Cartagena clubmate, Manuel Barrionueveo chased hard, pulling up to 3rd at the bottom gate. Che Liu was just as skilled in his technique, holding onto his second position, as he took the left-hand gate to head back up the final upwind leg. All three chose the left side of the beat, Che Liu and Barrionuevo having a tremendous battle for supremacy. Sergio López Palacios stayed out in front to take his first win from Barrionuevo and Liu.
Amongst the Topper 5.3 Silver fleet, Isla Todd, GBR 183 (Island Barn SC) took the first race, following up with a 6th and 2nd in the final race to pull herself well up the rankings to 5th. Club mate Sam Dence (GBR 516), also had a good day, scoring 7, 1, 8, to take the Silver fleet Silver medal trophy behind Chenxi Dong, CHN 832 and was a point ahead of bronze medallist Mingquing Hua (Whisper of the Wind SC).
In the Bronze fleet Kate Deane, IRL 425, (Royal Cork YC) claimed her fourth win of the final series, finishing the day with a massive 37-point lead over silver medallist Messi (CHN 853, (Vanhang Sailing) and Jake Blakeway, GBR 353, (Draycote Academy).
The last races of the Topper 5.3 finals series were held in true 'champagne sailing' conditions of 12 knots and plenty of waves to surf.
Seemingly oblivious to the pressure of the chasing Spanish sailors who were now creeping up the rankings, Chi Liu held his nerve to start well at the port end but soon decided to tack over to the middle of the fleet to keep his eye on the opposition, minimising the chances of being trapped in one side of the course.
This time it was another Spanish sailor, ESP 818 Guillermo León relishing the conditions to lead at Mark 1 from GBR 236 Jake Davies, (Warsash SC & Jets) and Manuel Barrionuevo. Che Liu rounded in Liu in 8th, playing it safe tactically but he was gaining ground fast from his 'safe mode' first beat.
Downwind the fleet was well spread out and by the second upwind Barrionuevo was well clear from clubmates Guillermo León and Sergio López Palacios for an Española 1,2,3! Che Liu pulled up to 6th, a result he was now able to discard as the 9th Finals race brought in a second discard, leaving him as the new International Topper World Champion, 7 points clear with a score of just 12 points.
Shortly after they crossed the line, the Spanish team leapt into the Mar Menor in celebration to then mount their own podium, fashioned from an upturned Topper. These ex Optimist and ILCA sailors clearly relished their racing in the Topper, their size and experience benefiting them in the wind and waves but inexperience in the finer trim settings in lighter conditions showed against the more season Topper experts.
The celebrations continued ashore, as the two new World Champions, in the Topper 4.2 and 5.3 classes were carried shoulder high in their boats up the ramp in the now traditional way of crowning a new International Topper World Champion. Both Hari Clark and Che Liu spoke very eloquently in their post-race interviews, respecting the high quality of the competition this year and acknowledging how tough it was to get past the other contenders for the title.
Fittingly it was also the evening of the Paris Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, highlighting the pathway many International Topper sailors have trod all the way to the Olympics. This year it is the turn of Micky Beckett, a Topper Worlds competitor in 2009 now representing his country in the Olympic Games. How many sailors racing on the Mar Menor will follow in his footsteps?!
At the prize-giving ceremony, the President of the Federacíon de Vela Murcia, the PRO Luky Serrano and ARO Pedro Reyes were all presented with International Topper mementoes and in their response congratulated all the sailors on the high level of competition, good behaviour on the race course and repeated their invitation for the Class to return to the venue soon. It has sewn the seed for establishing a new Spanish Topper class, which Jose Antonio Olmos of the Spanish Sailing Federation was keen to see adopted as a pathway class between the Optimist and ILCA classes.
Great prizes from sponsors Rooster and Ronstan were distributed well down each of the four fleets, with the podium positions awarded hand-cast trophies and medals made by a local disability charity.
ITCA World President Andy Millington closed the ceremony and announced that the venue for the 2025 International Topper World Championships would be Medemblik, The Netherlands, with first-class racing on the Ijsselmeer managed by the Royal Yacht Club Hollandia - see you there!
Full results here.
Medemblik harbour, on the Ijsselmeer, The Netherlands, venue for the International Topper World Championships, 19-25th July 2025.