ITCA Rooster Southern Topper Traveller Spring Series 2026 - End of Season Report
by Emily Doughty & Sally Wilson 15 Jul 00:34 PDT
ITCA Rooster Southern Topper Traveller Spring Series © Sally Wilson
This year, an impressive 62 sailors took part in the Southern Topper Traveller Spring Series. Six events were hosted at Spinnaker, Oxford, Hamble River, Weymouth, Bosham and Stokes Bay Sailing Clubs, with competitors counting their best four results towards the overall standings.
The series delivered a fantastic variety of sailing conditions, testing every aspect of our sailors' skills. Here's a look back at each event.
The series opened at Spinnaker Sailing Club, where many sailors were eager to see how much they had improved after a winter of hard training. To the Race Officer's relief, a strong southerly breeze arrived, creating a long beat the length of the lake. Parents were treated to excellent views of the start line from the shore, with a few sailors demonstrating exactly how to execute a spectacular port-end flyer. The windy third race also produced some memorable wipe-outs, much to the entertainment of watching parents.
The second event was hosted by Oxford Sailing Club, where the Southern and Midlands regions combined to produce a strong fleet of 37 entries. Racing against unfamiliar competitors gave sailors the opportunity to test themselves and make new friends. With very light winds and glorious sunshine, success depended on patience, careful boat handling and finding clear air. The Race Committee and mark-laying team had a particularly challenging day in the highly shifty conditions. We are extremely grateful to Oxford Sailing Club for welcoming us to this new Southern Area venue.
Round three took us to Hamble River Sailing Club, familiar territory for many as it is the Southern region's strongest Topper club. Thirty sailors took to the water, including several competing in their very first Traveller event, with lots of additional coach boat support provided. A shifty breeze, combined with a number of protests, made for a demanding day for the Race Committee but competitors learnt much.
The fourth event was at the Regional Junior Championships at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA), where the Southern and Southwest regions combined, alongside several other junior classes. Sadly, fog and patchy winds allowed only one race to be completed, however the conditions gave sailors plenty of opportunity to catch up with friends, meet new competitors and enjoy the social side of the event. Recent girls' training sessions involving the Southwest and Southern regions meant many friendships had already been formed and dancing skills had been well practised!
Our fifth event took place at Bosham Sailing Club, where sailors were greeted with perfect conditions - plenty of wind and lots of sunshine. Tide was a challenging factor, meaning careful tactics were required to make it across the channel fast. With a bird's eye view of racing, parents and coaches groaned as the 4.2 fleet followed each other like sheep - but at least they had all followed coach Sam's instructions!
The series finale at Stokes Bay Sailing Club saw everything still to play for in the overall standings. Many sailors were busy working out the math of who they had to beat and by how much; the dedicated Hamble coach had it on a spreadsheet. The event had tricky gusty winds and Martha Hart, the overall 4.2 series winner, said: "It was a choppy wavy mess out there, making racing challenging." Spare a thought for the parents sweltering on the shore in 34 degrees of heat, obviously requiring plenty of liquid refreshments.
Congratulations to everyone who took part in the Southern area series. It was fantastic to see so many new sailors joining the Traveller circuit, friendships developing across clubs and regions, and impressive improvements from sailors of every age and experience level.
Overall, our 5.3 fleet prize winners were:
1st Hendricks Long
2nd Phileas Rouselle
3rd Thomas Murphy
4th Thomas Jacobs
5th James Willemsen
6th Reuben Wealthy
And the 4.2 fleet prize winners were:
1st Martha Hart
2nd George Klaschka
3rd Emily Doughty
4th Alixe-Constance Rouselle
5th Henry Pashley
6th Sorley Morrison
Newcomer awards are for sailors completing their first whole series, without any previous Traveller events sailed. So congratulations to:
1st Fynn Jamieson
2nd Freya Clatworthy
3rd Laura Doughty
Full series results
Laura Doughty summed up the spirit of the series: "Being a newcomer to the series was fun because I got to make new friends and we all like wearing pink, to confuse our coach. I tested my skills and racing ability in various conditions, making the Southern Traveller series very exciting."
Many congratulations to Hamble River Sailing Club for winning the Keen Club Award for the second consecutive year, with a very impressive 29 sailors competing in the Southern Traveller Series.
A huge thank you to all the sailing club volunteers, race teams, safety boat and parent volunteers who make these events possible. Without your time, enthusiasm and commitment, the series simply could not happen. We extend our warm thanks to Claus Svendsen for diligently organising Southern Area Training events over the past 2 years. Also, thank you to our sponsor Rooster Sailing for helping with prizes.
After the National Championships, Dave and Sally will be stepping down as Southern Area Representatives and Claus will relinquish his role as Training Representative. We have thoroughly enjoyed organising the Traveller Series and watching so many sailors develop their skills, confidence and friendships over the past few years. We would love to hear from anyone who is interested in helping to organise and run the Southern Traveller Series in the future.
Well done to all the sailors who competed in our Traveller Series, whether it was your first event or last. We wish the very best of luck to everyone representing the UK at the World Championships in France, and to all those competing at the National Championships in Weymouth.
We are looking forward to the first event of the 2027 Southern Area Topper Traveller Series, which will be hosted by Hill Head Sailing Club on 12-13 September 2026.
Finally, a fond farewell to those sailors moving on to other classes. Thank you for being part of the Southern Traveller Series—you will be greatly missed, and we wish you every success in your future sailing adventures.