Topper Worlds

Mar Menor, Spain

I was fortunate enough to take part in the Topper Worlds 2024.The journey to Spain was fun but it has its downsides such as the 40° heat in a van without AC was gruelling but at the same time when we arrived at our accommodation it was so relaxing to kick up our feet and cool off.

Once we arrived, we rigged up our boats and headed out to the sea so we could check out the venue. Before anything happened there was a big parade with people from all over the world including Brazil, China, Australia accompanied by a marching band and lively children. Together we marched towards a big stage where we had a talk about the competition where the major did a speech.

I was given a badge by the Chinese team which I was honoured to wear. I was lucky enough to be coached by Alistair Dickson who helped me to improve my skills throughout the competition.

On the first day, we headed out early after a quick briefing. The venue provided quick and easy launching with an extremely fun beach master. The course was a trapezoid with two downwind gates. On the first day everybody was getting to grips with the location and recognising patterns in the wind. The wind strength was fairly strong with 15 to 16 knots of wind. After coming in we had a small meal that was extremely tasty then we had a debrief in which we learnt about how the people at the front usually leave the fleet due to not having dirty air so starts were key.

The wind picked up throughout the competition forcing the sailors to work harder every day. We had to make sure we had plenty of sun cream on and stay hydrated as it was super hot. There were so many HUGE jellyfish that surrounded us as we were racing. Luckily they were ones that didn’t sting.

When the final day came we had a final ceremony where the winners were announced - my fellow sailor Hari Clark who was in my group won the 4.2 fleet. I really enjoyed the evenings playing football in the sea with my brother. Congratulations to Che Liu from China on winning the 5.3 fleet. My brother Daniel came 24th in the silver fleet 5.3 and I came 24th overall in 4.2.

This is our second world championships and I just love meeting sailors from all around the world. It’s so much fun. Our plan over the winter is to train as much as possible to get ready for the world championships in the Netherlands next year and get the best result we can achieve. Me and my brother just want to get better and keep learning whenever we can.

After the worlds we took a slow journey back through Spain – even squeezing some surfing in in Javea on our way through.