July 2015 - World Championships in Italy

Topper Worlds – Riva Del Garda, Italy

a big trip = 1100 miles, 2 ½ days driving and a temperature rise to almost 40 degrees and we finally arrived at Riva Del Garda ahead of the Topper World Championships 2015.  Wow what a great location with amazing wind and wave conditions.

Our campsite was right on the lake, the South West Toppers activation each morning was a swim before breakfast followed by a quick walk or cycle to the club house in time for briefing and launch.  I spent the week as an extra member of the Youth Squad, we had venue familiarisation on the Sunday before the start of the Championships on the Monday.

The weather all week was really hot and windy - except for one day.  

This was a great event for me in that my confidence in stronger wind sailing has improved no end.  I completed all races in some challenging conditions, no breakages, no injuries and lots of smiling, it was a fantastic opportunity and saw me finish mid silver fleet.

My new Neil Pryde 1mm kit was the ideal choice for these conditions and helped me concentrate on my racing.  Thank you Virtual Rigger for your continued support.

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July 2015

National Series 6 –  Carsington

The second National Indicator Event for 2016 Squads and Jeanette’s “Launch For Life” Cancer Research fundraiser, there were men in pink  everywhere and lots of mums who usually don’t venture onto the water as the safety crew, my mum included … until she felt sea sick on a lake!

Saturday dawned bright and sunny with a forecast of 10 gusting 13.  Accommodation for the weekend was a camping cabin that was only 5 minutes from the sailing club so a short drive to the club was followed by rigging, registration and fundraising activities.  

Sunday was wet and breezy with a forecast of 15 gusting 20 with the rain clearing away during the day.  We sailed 6 races over the weekend and I finished in the top 120 so slightly lower than I would have wanted but my results are beginning to become more consistent instead of being spread out across the board so an improvement overall.

We also raised £1400 for Cancer Research.

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June 2015

National Series 5 –  Lowestoft

My best National series event in 2015.

This event was a full day’s travel from Somerset so we left straight after breakfast.  Some South Westies spent a lot longer on the road than us, 7 ½ hours was quite enough thank you!

We parked our motorhome on the green next to the promenade, just 2 minutes from the club.  The 10 minute walk along the promenade to the launch area on the beach gave us our warm up each morning!

Saturday dawned bright but windy, choppy and resulted in lots of breakages.  Almost a third of sailors returned to shore during the course of the day.

Saturday evening saw a late BBQ with friends after the AGM and another walk along the promenade with the dog before bed.

Sunday started off with light winds but soon after we launched these became shifty, the sea breeze kicked in and the wind picked up.  

A good day’s sailing resulted in 3 good results for me and my best overall National Series position to date.

Castle Cove Sailing Club

One of my targets from our winter Zone Squad coaching was more time on the water in between events.  This was going to mean joining another club, preferably with other young topper sailors and even more travelling.  Castle Cove sailing club is within Portland harbour and is home to several of my Zone Squad friends.  They had spaces for cadet sailors so I have joined and had 3 great evenings out on the water this month, thank you to Andrea and Jock Fellows for sorting my membership and the club members for making me so welcome.

Other Sailing Events

World Cup and Red Bull Foiling - living relatively close to WPNSA has its advantages, we made a couple of day trips to see the competitors taking part in the Sailing World Cup and then the Red Bull Foiling.

Thank you for your continued sponsorship VR and 1610 gyms.  Packing for Garda soon so more new kit J

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May 2015

New VR Sailing Kit

New team bibs and t-shirts arrived in time for the ET’s at Rutland.  Fantastic Neil Pride Elite Firewall kit arrived in time for half term (outgrown my GUL kit) and was subject to a test of endurance in the form of the RNLI Passage sail from Plymouth to Yealm, a 16 mile round trip during which the Firewall kit was comfortable, easy to move around in and kept me toasty warm.

National Series 4 –  Inlands at Grafham

An interesting weekend of sailing thanks to increasing strength winds that shifted through 90 degrees, course changes and long beats.  2 bad races but overall I had a good weekend’s sailing including a 28^th when right paid and riding the waves (chop) downwind worked.    VR Race Team HQ were pleased as Coco and myself finished side by side on the results board!  Primary aim for the weekend had been to finish all races, main sheet disagreed with that aim in the last race meaning I had to retire so more knots next time and lesson learned, but I finished all the races I could in some challenging conditions so I was very pleased with my 102^nd at the end of the weekend.

Transition Boat Trials – Grafham Water

Bank holiday provided time for transition boat trails thanks to the various class associations. Lasers, 29ers, 420s and multihulls were on offer.  For me that meant fun in a catamaran. My first time for traipsing and was great fun except for breaking a rudder … oops. 

Eric Twiname Championships at Rutland

Rutland greeted the Zone Squad sailors with high winds and postponements.  As 22 gusting 30 was not sailable the RYA Coaches greeted us with fitness trials, yipee!  Once on the water, challenging conditions remained, the wind chill meant it was bitterly cold, we had a 90 degree wind shift overnight and chaotic starts but our squad worked together, we encouraged each other, trying to ensure we all achieved our personal bests as well as a good team result.  Our Topper Squad finished third overall so we were all very pleased, 6^th was my best result which was fab, 6 of us finished in the top third of the 80 strong fleet and Milly was top girl … go Milly!

It was also great to meet up with fellow VR Race Team members Coco and Jenna who were here with their Zone Squads.  Photo opportunity as we were all sporting our new VR Race bibs.  

Catamaran Training – Plymouth Youth Sailing

3 of our SW Zone Squad took advantage of a day’s catamaran training at PYS.  Millie, Angus and myself had a full day of learning to rig, twin trapeze and maneuver a catamaran.  Fantastic fast sailing but no chance of turning these on a sixpence!  A huge learning curve for me as my sailing has only really been on our Toppers but it is safe to say I am hooked on the idea of the catamaran pathway once the time to transition comes along.  Just need the finances to support that thought now!

RYA Yealm Passage Sail

So whilst at PYS for the Catamaran training Milly and myself were asked if we would double hand a Laser 2000 in the RNLI Yealm Passage Sail in 2 days time.  Mum was not impressed with the thought of another 150 mile round trip, but Milly and myself were very excited so the sailors won the day and back to PYS on Saturday it was!  The Passage sail is a fundraiser for the RNLI and involves racing from Plymouth to Yealm Yacht Club.  This was an 8 mile race with quite a swell once we were out of Plymouth Sound but we persevered and Milly and myself were third place cadets (under 18’s).  A good finish and lots of tea and cakes at Yealm  made the thought of the return 8 mile sail to Plymouth a little less daunting!

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April 2015

After almost 1,000 miles to sailing events last month this was a slightly quieter month with only 500 miles - for a total of just under 2,000 miles for the year.

WPNSA Fitness Camp

the Paralympic Podium Potential Squad who weren’t competing at the Trofeo Princess Sofia in Spain were at WPNSA to work on boat upgrades and team fitness and I blagged an invite to their camp.  En-route we had an text message SOS for clotted cream, mayo and cheese - still trying to work out how clotted cream and a fitness camp go hand in hand!  

Overnight the winds were gusting 50mph but  I slept through most of it even though the van took a hammering in the night.  

It was still blowing 40mph for our cycle ride in the morning - into a headwind equals going backwards on a bike!  We made the most of the times tidy up Carol’s new storage unit and apply stickers to Carol and Alex’s SKUD.  We met Carols’ Helm Alex and his carer Rob for the first time, Alex made me jump whilst I was applying the stickers as he came to ask for my assistance and I suddenly realised he was at my height … but his wheelchair moves at 100mph and it raises Alex 4 foot up into the air!!  We finished the day with several sessions of very active football as our aerobic exercise.

I helped with craning the Skud in on Wednesday, whilst Alex operated the crane controls from above.  There was a gust of wind which mum thought was going to see me going for an impromptu swim as I was holding onto the bow tether! 

The light winds on Thursday meant after all that we craned the SKUD out and put her back in the boat park followed by yet more sessions of applying Team GBR stickers to the sails and boat hull before we headed home for Easter.  Thank you to everyone for a great week.

SW Topper Training and Traveller at Castle Cove

I had the RYA National Head Coach, Natalie for the day and we practiced hard on double tacking, mark rounding and had a few practice races of which I won 3.  I think that the fitness week I spent with the Paralympic team has helped me to be able to hike for longer periods in the racing on Sunday - with 4 races back-to-back out near the edge of the harbour in challenging wind strengths of 20 gusting 28.

SW Topper Zone Squad Camp 6

Our last training weekend was at the Mount Batten Centre in Plymouth.  On Saturday we didn’t go out because it was far too windy to launch in gusts of up to 40 so we spent the day on theory and reviews.

On the Sunday we had some really good wind so we launched as soon as possible. One of my friends launched without their kicker (!) but luckily we had stayed in the Catt Water so it wasn’t too far to return to shore.  By the time we sailed out to Drake’s Island I realised that I didn’t have my bung in properly, so we had some fun trying to drain my boat with the support boats out on the water. 

With the wind at 13 gusting 16 it was perfect to blast around in our races once my hull was emptied.

Thank you to Duncan and Lynn our coaches plus the various assistants we had over the winter.

New VR Kit 

Neil Pride Hiking Shorts fit me really well and are brilliant for hiking in hard wind sailing; my feet are now toasty warm with the combo of Gill Neoprene Socks and Gul Evotherm Hiking Boots; and a pair of Forward Sailing Gloves rounded off the kit purchases.   Thank you to everyone at VR for my sponsorship and all of your hard work.

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March 2015

Freezing temperatures and 30 knots of breeze - GREAT !

Squad points for commitment

Winter Talk 2 - Rules At the Mark 

I won the first cream egg J at our rules session with Natalie, the UK National Squad Head Coach - this time concentrating on mark rounding.  

It was another interactive session with lots of Q&A and I am looking forward to having more confidence on the race course. 

SW Topper Zone Squad Camp 4 

This got off to a good start with mum forgetting the food for the squad so we went into Weybiza via Sainsbury’s, not so easy in a motorhome with a boat trailer in tow!!  

We had just set up camp in the WPNSA Boat Park when another member of the VR Race Team arrived, Bryony - she forgot the gate code so dad had to let her in and we had time to chat over the weekend.  We love the new shiny trailer Bryony.  

Our Zone Squad Camp was a joint squad camp with the South Zone so lots of racing involved.  

The Olympic and Paralympic classes were also here for their ranking events so WPNSA had lots going on.  

Winds were looking good with early teens gusting mid-twenties.  

Coach Duncan tasked me with concentrating on starts not results so my focus was on hovering, acceleration and mark rounding.

In the evening 34 of us headed over to the Cove Inn on Portland and had a social evening with lots of food.  No puddings as we had birthday cake complete with firework candles for 2 parents who were celebrating their 50^th Birthdays.  

Sunday started with poor visibility thanks to the mist that had descended overnight.  I had a terrible start in one race but managed to work my way back up through the whole fleet finishing 12 so my coach was very pleased with my commitment and hard work. 

Mixing it with TeamGBR

SW Traveller Plymouth 

South Westerly gusting into the early twenties saw us moved to the Cattewater for safety but still offering a challenging sailing course.  

The variable conditions saw some interesting racing and it was good to welcome some new Topper Sailors to the circuit.

Nice new sail stickers

National Series 3 – Queen Mary  

I beat National Squad sailors in the last race on Sunday, when I pulled out a 21st place.

we left Somerset at lunchtime on Friday so that we could arrive before the club gates shut at teatime and dad could get my sail numbers from VR.  

Once you had climbed the 62 steps from the carpark to the rim of the reservoir on Saturday morning you realised we had a strong breeze as well as freezing cold water to contend with.  

Ideally you needed to stay upright and dry but with a forecast of late teens gusting mid-twenties that was actually stronger out on the race course there was plenty of getting wet!  I finished 50^th in the first race but having capsized and death rolled numerous times I was cold and bruised so headed back to shore, along with quite a few fellow sailors. 

By Sunday launch the wind had dropped to early teens, gusting late teens, dropping all the time, as well as being very shifty.  This proved a headache for mark layers and competitors alike but I managed to pull 2 good results out of the bag including a 21^st which was a great way to finish the weekend.

SW Topper Zone Squad Camp 5 

Paignton Sailing Club was the “not so sunny Riviera” for our camp.  

We headed out playing follow the rib at full speed with the winds gusting mid-thirties.  

There was lots of screaming, laughing and capsizing so “lets go yachting at full speed” turned out to be great fun.  

We did a windward leeward course, then a triangle course to practise keeping a flat boat under pressure and in strong conditions. 

A relaxed social end to the day with squad lasagne in the club and planning for tomorrow being a spiders web of ideas to be decided upon at the time once the weather conditions were known.

Sunday was as windy and blustery as expected with gusts reaching mid-forties at times.  

Keen to repeat yesterday’s sailing at speed we prepared to launch in two groups of six following the morning’s briefing.  Perched on the slipway 6 of us were ready to go, marks laid, ribs on the water when the wind picked up even more and Duncan decided making the short dash out of the harbour safely was going to be too tricky so we had to stay ashore L  

As if to prove mother nature agreed with that decision, just as Duncan said abandon launching, the wind lifted my boat clear of its trolley and dumped in on the slipway with my centre board skating off down the slipway coming to rest under Millie’s boat.   No boat repairs required but some serious wet and dry work is now in order. 

Being shore side meant we completed the bleep test.  

I took Duncan’s description of the bleep test literally and ran until I could run no more and was slightly unwell.  I tried my hardest so that’s fine and I intend to work on this so I can improve my result next time.       

The rest of the day was theory setting goals for lots of different sailing situations and then we discussed transitioning.  I am still not sure where to go after Toppers but I have quite a while yet and I may look at some of the less obvious choices as well as the popular ones.

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February 2015

February started much the same as January, high winds only this time accompanied with a dusting of snow and bitterly cold conditions. Social Sunday sailing with friends is some 75 miles away so it was a bit of a pain to need to set alarms for 6.30am to then decide to abandon the thought of travelling to Plymouth and head back to bed!

Winter Talk 1 - Rules At the Start Line - I was very lucky to be invited by Paignton Sailing Club to attend a series of winter talks by Natalie Lloyd, RYA Topper Head Coach. Our first talk was “rules on the start line”. Natalie made this an interesting and interactive discussion on definitions and thought provoking on how to use rules on the start line and to be confident in our actions.

I look forward to our second winter talk in March but mum hopes we get home before 11.45pm next time, well it was a school night for both of us!

NS2 – Topper Winter Regatta WPNSA – Saturday was sunny but bitterly cold and accompanied by strong winds so we were soon under a postponement until the gusts had dropped enough to allow the mark layers to set a course. The ribs launched twice before that was successful!


When we launched I reefed to stay safe and to try to complete the race upright! We used the windsurfers’ slipway due to the onshore wind and then made our way to the start line through choppy seas accompanied by strong gusting winds. Red flight had the second start and I finished a very pleasing 40th, after which we all returned to shore to regroup and consider a second race. Sailing kit that proved essential today were my GUL Windward Sailing Gloves for on the water and my GUL Rigging Jacket for when I came ashore. The conditions were no easier for race 2 so I decided to stay ashore and prepare for a full day of three races tomorrow.

Sunday dawned bright and early and we launched on time. The wind had dropped, perhaps a little too much. I posted a couple of reasonable results and was especially pleased with pulling a 15th out of the bag. I finished 86th overall which was great for my first competition on a full rig and it was good to catch-up with friends I hadn’t seen for a few months.

New VR Kit - the land based highlight of the month has to be the arrival of our new VR Jackets. They are soooo cool and I have hardly taken mine off since it arrived.

Now I am looking forward to March which has a full sailing calendar. An interesting mix of RYA Zone Squad training, our second winter talk, a day of Team Racing Coaching (a first for me), a National Series event and a local Traveller to complete the line up  :)

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January 2015

Well after last year’s light wind conditions 2015 got off to the opposite of starts. New Year’s Day Sailing at Paignton Sailing Club was cancelled due to high winds swiftly followed by The Bloody Mary forecasts showing conditions way beyond my abilities with gusts of 40+ so that’s another day off the water

We did however make a trip to London that included visiting the new VR Superstore for the first time. Loads of space and great fun shopping for kit whilst riding VR’s scooter around the store!

SW Topper Zone Squad Camp 3

Yes we were going to be sailing at last! We left home early on Saturday morning in the motorhome, as we drove northwards we started to see snow on the verges. We arrived at Frampton to a lightly snow covered boat park, brrr this was going to be a cold one. Saturday focused on mark rounding techniques and staying warm. My mark rounding definitely improved and I was hugely grateful for my new Helly Hanson thermal top and Gul rigging jacket from VR so staying warm was easy except for cold hands. Plastic gloves underneath sailing gloves is called for.

Sunday saw no wind in the morning so we spent time in the classroom looking at rules and protests. We managed to launch in the afternoon completing some team racing which I really enjoy. This was new to some so a steep learning curve entailed, Olivia and myself were pleased with our efforts though. Today hands were fine but my feet froze! Not suffered from that before so an email to VR is needed for some ideas.

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