Topper Training

Topper Training at NCSC

On Saturday 18th Sept we had a huge Topper contingent come to Notts County to Train as part of a regional training event. We also heard club member Lawerence Logan has made it to the National Squad, which is an excellant achievement and means we will he even less of him next year!

A number of other budding Notts County Topper sailors took part. James is writing a more detailed report to follow, meanwhile some photos on this page.

RYA Topper Training at Notts County

A bright and clear Saturday morning at Notts County saw a number of trailer towed and roof topped Toppers arriving at the club to enjoy Pauline's great value full english breakfast. Whilst that clearly went down well, it became obvious that the 33 visitors and 4 club sailors were there for more than just the eating. The clubhouse had a great buzz from a number of other club members taking advantage of the available breakfast, as well as some hanging over - or was that hung over? - from the previous evening's Quiz Night.

The mini Topper invasion was in response to an invitation from the RYA to take part in a day's coaching by some RYA coaches for any sailors in the RYA North East Zone; Northampton to Northumberland, the Bridlington to Bradford, no small Zone! They came from Hollowell, Tyneside, Hull, Carsington and a multitude of other clubs to enjoy Hoveringham gravel pit. A keen response was due to this being a selection event for the forthcoming winter's Topper Zone Squad, the other events being the Zone Championships next weekend in North Yorkshire and a club open event at Scaling Dam (Whitby) in October.

Suitably fed and with boats rigged and ready the coaches led a briefing and gave some introductions to Squad training before sending them out onto the lake for the first session. Even with pretty prefect conditions for coaching, a gentle breeze gusting up to F3 from the West and plenty of space on the water, the coaches had their work cut out due to the range of experience and capability on show - entirely to be expected from a collection of young sailors; some just starting out on the road to competitive sailing, others battle hardened from a few years of travelling around the Topper circuit.

The training consisted of a number of short, essentially windward-leeward, races with the coaching RIBS darting from boat to boat, cajoling, encouraging, passing on hints etc (imagine 'hike harder...no...REALLY harder' 'sheet in, sheet in, SHEET IN!' etc etc and you get the idea).

In the meantime the supporters enjoyed the sunshine, coffee, tea, cakes on offer, a little banter around the mysteries of Zone Squads, ITCA, the RYA, and so on. A pleasant time had by all. A great lunch from Pauline got everyoneall ready for another quick brief then out onto the water for more great sailing. A light drizzle co-inciding with boats being packed up for journeys home did nothing to dampen enthusiasm for a great day on the water. The coaches were very impressed with the standard of the facilities provided and the sailing seen on the water - another difficult year for the North Zone selectors as they try to get down to the sixteen or so sailors to make it into the squad. The NCSC sailors taking part are not applying for squad places this year, but it was a good day for them to gain some fun experience of sailing in a big one class fleet and perhaps to think about trying out some more of it in the future.

As ever, thanks to all those who helped with the event, the co-operation of the Race Officer and the club Saturday sailors who accommodated the event so gracefully. These type of events really help to promote the club broadly around the sailing community and with the RYA - keeping up the credibility of the Volvo Race Club label - and the understanding of club members towards this is appreciated.

James Logan,

Club Junior Racing Co-ordinator, Sept 2010