WPNSA Topper Nationals

Very quickly after the worlds, me and my brother where back in the UK for the WPNSA Topper Nationals.

We stayed in Spain for just under a week to give ourselves a break before taking the long journey back to the UK, and when we were in the UK, we gave ourselves a couple of days’ rest before going back into action for the National Championships. This was by far one of the windiest events of the year and everyone was eager to dive headfirst into the windy weather.

In my experience sailing, I have never seen a better venue than WPNSA. It is never too choppy, the wind is often quite consistent, not too many wind shifts and (most of the time) perfect conditions for sailing. I have even seen dolphins a couple of times there!

In days 1-3, which were the days of qualification for silver a gold fleets, the wind speed was very high, as expected. It was a struggle for the smaller sailors (including myself). After only qualifying for the silver fleet, I felt quite disappointed in myself, however it ignited a fire in my heart to make sure my hiking technique was better for next time the conditions were like this. A big congratulation to the event leader which were Harry Mills (1st), Jasper Focardi Dolling (2nd), and Thomas Semmens (3rd) by the end of qualifications. 

The windy weather continued into the 4th day, and it was very similar to the first three days, with it being another struggle for the lighter sailors and after three races the fleet came in.

On the 5th day, the wind had picked up even more, resulting in the Gold fleet only going out for one race and then coming in and the silver fleet not going out at all as it was due to get windier throughout the day.

On the final day, the wind had dropped a little, making it a bit easier for sailors like myself to prove themselves. On the final day, I got some better results, but it still wasn’t enough to boost me into the top 100 and overall, I finished in 106th. A huge congratulation to Zac Chappel (3rd), Harry Mills (2nd), and finally the winner of the event, Jessica Powell.

A huge thank you to rooster who kept an excellently stocked shop all throughout the event, with discounted prices on a lot of their products.