ITCA Midlands Topper Travellers at Shustoke Sailing Club
by Allison Blakeway 20 Oct 19:06 NZDT
6 October 2024
The ITCA Midlands Topper Traveller series ventured out to a new location at Shustoke Sailing Club on October 6th, to complete the third round of the 2024 mini-series.
Three races saw some interesting changes, with series leader Alex Stainton (Hollowell Sailing Club) looking to capitalise on his lead.
The shifty conditions meant that strategic positioning to gain the lifts or take a high or low route across the zigzag upwind course left plenty to play with.
In race 1, Oscar Rowe(Draycote SC), James Burton (Notts County SC), Ed Croxton (Hollowell SC), Will Clarke (Hollowell SC), and Ed Whittaker (Draycote) all gained advantages whilst Alex lost out with a couple of capsizes. All of the front runners had chances at front position but there were regular change in the race lead. A long downwind leg gave Alex a good chance to catch up to fourth position, but his valiant effort was too late, and Will Clarke took the lead, followed by James and Oscar.
The same group started the second race well, with all bunched together on the upwind legs and rounding the mark to come downwind. On the second lap, different strategies were used, with Will going high to round the mark first. James, the meantime went low, and managed to leap from fourth to second by nipping in front of the others at the mark. Going round a third time, the fleet catches up with Will, but he takes the leeward mark the ahead of Oscar, who tacks off to get a better run at the line but misses out to Will who takes his second win of the day.
Further down the field, an interesting race was developing between 4.2 sailors, Thomas Croxton (Hollowell SC), and Audrey Yang (Bartley SC), with Thomas narrowly missing a capsized boat to stay in front for most of the upwind legs. However Audrey takes the high route to sail over the lay line and gains an advantage and crosses the line in front.
The third and final race started in the rain and the wind dropped, so a shorter course was set. Alex led the first lap, and he and Will took the high route whilst Oscar goes low. Alex looses out and Will takes the lead, with the rest of the fleet remaining pretty much in position. Will took the third and final win, resulting in his first overall win, with Oscar, James and Alex chasing.
The 4.2 win was taken by Audrey Yang, followed by Thomas Croxton.
Whilst Alex came out of the day 4th overall, he maintains his series lead, although only 4 points separate the first 5 positions. Our next event at South Staffs on 2nd November promises to be an interesting penultimate event for this series.