The Irish Topper National Championship was held July 6th-8th in Wexford Harbour Boat and Tennis club .
There was a total of 75 dinghies taking part of which there were 61 in the 5.3 fleet with 14 in the 4.2 fleet. There was also a GBR Team who always make the trip to The Nationals.
The Royal Cork had an impressive 18 sailors taking part in the event, with some sailors competing in their very first event.
The weather was amazing with wall to wall sunshine, very warm with sufficient but unpredictable light wind to make the competition interesting.
As many of you know the race area is in the outer harbour which is some distance from the club, but the sight of 75 toppers heading out under the bridge to the race area was very impressive.
We had 9 races over the weekend but because the winds were very shifty and light at times the first day was very slow in getting the 3 races in.
Ellen Barbour (CYAC) ended day 1 as clear leader with Team GB 2nd and 3rd.Best of RCYC were Ciaran Ryan, Dorothy Matthews and David Jones.
Day 2 had much better and settled winds and because conditions were so good and the forecast was for zero winds for the 3rd day the race officer got in 4 races. Team GB took first and second spot with Erin MCllwaine taking 3rd place. Rcyc”s David Jones moved up to 6th place at the end of day 2. Christian Houlihan had another excellent day in the 4.2 fleet.
Day 3 – Winds were poor so we had a later start as we were only trying to get in 2 races. Team GB took all top 3 spots with David Jones finishing 8th oveall (3rd U-17) ,Dorothy Matthews 13th, Ciaran Ryan 16th, (First local sailor) Hugh Lynch (who got a bullet in the 8th race ) 17th ,Emma O’Sullivan 18th,Neil O’Leary (who got a bullet in the 9th race ) 19th ,Cillian Foster 20th,Charlie Neville 25th, Anna Carroll 36th, Eva Spillane 37th , Lola Kohl 39th(1st U-12),Darragh Collins 44th,Leah Hanlon 49th,Andrew O’Leary 50th Max Coveney 51st.
In the 4.2 fleet we had Harvey Matthews 5th and Joe O’Sullivan 7th.
Thanks to our senior coach Tom McGrath for the coaching over the 4 days, to Rear Admiral Brian Jones for providing his rib for Tom and myself and all the parents who travelled with their sailors and for their rib support. We had a great weekend altogether in Wexford and Thanks to Don and Fiona Ryan for their warm welcome and hospitality.
Diarmuid Lynch
Topper Class Captain
No comments yet.