Rooster Southern Topper Travellers Series at Stokes Bay Sailing Club

Rooster Southern Topper Travellers Series at Stokes Bay © Roger Cerrato

The Rooster Southern Topper Traveller Series returned to Stokes Bay Sailing Club for the third event in the 2023 series.

With the Topper 4.2 fleet being the biggest fleet with a great turnout of 20 boats, Felix Gladman had some strong competition, but won two of the races to take the event. In the Topper 5.3, Ethan Rhodes's results improved with every race which allowed him to win on countback from Jake Davies.

All four of the races were completed in light westerly winds, which combined with the Solent tides made some of the legs quite challenging, especially the top mark roundings, which caught a few sailors out.

Rooster Southern Topper Travellers Series at Stokes Bay - photo © Claus Svendsen

In the conditions, consistency was not easy, with most of the sailors picking up one big scoring race during the day.

Sailing a 5.3 for the first time in a traveller, Barnaby Everett started well with a second in the first race and eventually finished sixth overall. Merryn Wealthy competed in her first Topper 4.2 traveller, and showed how quickly she was learning, by finishing sixth in the last race.

Once ashore, the sailors were pleased to be greeted with ice creams in return for their tallies, to round out a great day.

Thank you to the team of volunteers on and off the water, and to Stokes Bay Sailing Club for hosting the event.

Rooster Southern Topper Travellers Series at Stokes Bay - photo © Roger Cerrato

4.2 Fleet Results and Prizes:

Endeavour - Ewan Parish (Stokes Bay SC)
Best result in first traveller - Merryn Wealthy (Warsash SC)
1st boy outside top 3 - Thomas Matthews (Grafham Water SC)
1st girl outside top 3 - Megan Cerrato (Warsash SC)

5.3 Fleet Results and Prizes:

Endeavour & Sportsmanship - Connor Parish (Stokes Bay SC)
Best result in first traveller - Barnaby Everett (Itchenor SC)
1st boy outside top 3 - Torquil Morrison (Emsworth Slipper SC)
1st girl outside top 3 - Ava Francis (Spinnaker SC)

Rooster Southern Topper Travellers Series at Stokes Bay - photo © Claus Svendsen