The GBR Class Association for Toppers (ITCA-GBR) organised an Invitational Coaching Event at Poole Yacht Club on 1st / 2nd July where we had 24 very enthusiastic Topper sailors from across the country in attendance looking to hone their racing skills ahead of the upcoming World and National Championships.
The class association arranged for 3 amazing coaches, these being the very experienced head coach Helena Lucas MBE along with Tom Scott and Mark Ripley. Tom and Mark bring with them a wealth of knowledge in coaching within the Topper Fleet and with Helena leading the weekend, it was guaranteed to give the sailors first class Topper coaching that they could really benefit from.
The forecast for the weekend looked to be very good with Westerly winds and with the location of Poole YC in the heart of Poole Harbour, the scene was set for the coaches to work through a range of different activities.
Initially the 24 Sailors were broke into 3 groups conducting Rolling Starts and then following this activity, all 3 groups were then brought together to complete this activity as a single group. It was evident that the Topper sailors were enjoying every single minute of the conditions and the coaching with huge amounts of effort and focus being put in by every one of them.
Into the afternoon the focus was to work on how the tide can affect the starts, lay lines and mark rounding's. The individual groups joined back up again which gave the opportunity for the sailors to put this into practise further, along with deploying all the learning they had taken throughout the day into some short course racing.
On Sunday, Helena and the coach team launched the fleet quickly in the morning and by 10am they were into their coaching routines such as beating up to a selection of different windward marks and another activity where the fleet had to manoeuvre in the opposite direction to the lead boat giving the sailors a lot to think about regarding tactical decision making on the water and with the building winds, this was both physically and technically challenging for the sailors.
The sailors all enjoyed the weekend spending an amazing amount of time on the water with sunshine and windy conditions, taking away a great deal of learning and experience from the coaches. The feedback received from the sailors and parents has been amazing.
With the Topper ITCA (GBR) National Series Event 2022-2023 series now drawn to conclusion, look out for entry opening shortly for the 2023-2024 National Series, with Round 1 taking place at Draycote Water Sailing Club on 30th September / 1st October. Keep an eye on the ITCA Website (www.itca-gbr.co.uk/calendar) for when entry opens.
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