Topper Southwest Traveller at Brixham Yacht Club
by Alex Murray 22 May 11:09 PDT
17 May 2026
Topper Southwest Traveller at Brixham © Stuart Browning
On Sunday 17 May, I was one of more than twenty Topper sailors who took part in the south-west Topper traveller event at Brixham Yacht Club. I was excited to sail at Brixham as I had already done an event at this club before, and the club was really friendly and had a great atmosphere.
On the Saturday we enjoyed great coaching with Issy Smith and Amelia Gillboy. This was a great opportunity to practise sailing in similar conditions to Sunday's racing, as well as to have fun with my fellow sailors - everyone is good friends, making for a great atmosphere.
After the training on Saturday, we were very excited to start racing. The conditions on Sunday morning were perfect: we had 8-12 knots of breeze, with some heavier gusts, as well as some shifty conditions because the south-westerly wind was coming over the land. This made for some exciting, tactical racing. The shifts were unpredictable, so it usually paid to tack up the middle, but it was even more exciting as you never knew whether one side would pay more than the other.
In race one for the 5.3 fleet, Edie Phillips and Brooke Browning sailed a great first beat and took an early lead, but I was able to capitalise on a right shift and managed to overtake them and win the race. Edie followed in close second, and Brooke came third, with Jack MacLeod fourth and Harry MacLeod fifth. In race two, I had a great start and led most of the fleet to the windward mark.
However, at the end of the first beat, Edie took advantage of a left shift and went round the windward mark first. At the start of the second beat, Edie and I had an exciting boat-speed fight to the lay line, but eventually I managed to come out on top, and went on to win the race, with Brooke in second and Edie in third.
In the afternoon, the conditions completely changed. It went from the fairly light breeze of the morning to colder and cloudier weather, with around 16-20 knots of breeze, with gusts over 25 knots, and big chop. This was great on the downwinds and reaches, but on the upwinds we were forced to work really hard. The shifts became slightly less frequent, but there were some huge, random shifts, which gave the sailors some difficulty.
This meant that anything could still happen to the results in the last two races. The racing was made even more compelling at the starts with some high-speed and high-pressure collisions, and some U-Flag disqualifications.
In race three, Esme had an amazing race and won by a very long way, with Edie in second and Brooke in third, Jack in fourth and Harry in fifth, and some sailors (me included!) disqualified under U-Flag. In race four, Esme sailed another blinder in the heavy conditions, as she capitalised on a big right shift in the first beat with Leo and Jack, winning the race with Jack coming second. Brooke finished third, with Leo in close fourth, and Edie in fifth.
In the end, the results were extremely close, showing the level of the competition at these events, with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th all within one point of each other. In the end, Edie took a deserved win with a set of very consistent results, Esme took second and I came third on tie-break.
In the 4.2 fleet, Isaac Prue won convincingly with two wins, with Tom Kay and Jonathan Pendle second and third.
Thanks to Rooster Sailing and GP Watercraft for their sponsorship.
5.3 Fleet Results:
1. Edie Philips
2. Esme Hemingway
3. Alex Murray
4. Brooke Browning
5. Jack Macleod
6. Harry Macleod
4.2 Fleet Results:
1. Isaac Prue
2. Tom Kay
3. Jonathan Pendle
4. Harriet Phillips
5. Tabitha Phillips
6. Harry McCormick