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Topper Open Meeting, Saturday 6th June 2026

Published 19:28 on 8 Jun 2026

It was great to have the maximum entry of 25 boats confirmed for the Topper open meeting despite the windy forecast and lots of other sailing events being cancelled. The big decision of the day was whether to go for the 5.3 or 4.2 rigs with gusts forecast over 30 knots. The Southerly wind direction is the perfect wind for racing at Tammy and Race Officer Charlie Morgan set a good sausage course giving us a good beat and a run for all four races and perfect spectating for all of the parents. The starts were pretty hectic and finding a slot to pop through was all important.

The conditions were really tough for all the competitors and keeping the boat flat in general was the hardest part, especially in some of the gusts with lots of boats capsizing across the course. As it was only my second open meeting, it was really nice to sail against some great Topper sailors so I learnt a lot especially tacking on the right shifts which were changing fast as the rain showers kept rolling through. It felt good to complete all four races and special congratulations go to Lena in the 5.3 fleet who was tied on points and count-back with Ralph Hadley but sailed a great final race to take the overall win, and Isabelle in the 4.2 fleet both taking home the trophies to Island Barn Reservoir SC. Prize-giving, unusually, took place in the boatshed as another event was setting up in the clubhouse.

Thanks to Charlie Morgan (Race Officer), Joe McLaughlin, Matthew Peregrine Jones, the ITCA team, the race team and everyone involved in running the busy safety boats, also to Suzy Balmbro for baking some much needed cakes we enjoyed at the prize-giving!

Results

5.3 Rig
1st Lena Tokujak - Island Barn Reservoir SC
2nd Ralph Hadley - Tankerton Bay / Whitstable SC
3rd Alife Tollit - Shoreham SC

4.2 Rig
1st Isabelle Simpson - Island Barn Reservoir SC
2nd Riley Lane-Spollen - Island Barn Reservoir / QMSC
3rd Alannah McGuire - Island Barn Reservoir SC

Report by Max McLaughlin

Full results available here

Highlights video