A brisk northerly breeze met the Topper sailors on Saturday afternoon for a cold day of sailing in what was otherwise perfect sailing weather for the fourth week of the Charles Hurst Jaguar Land Rover Ballyholme Yacht Club Junior Icebreaker Series.
Race one, in what now seems to be predictable, saw Daniel Palmer with a perfectly timed run to the pin at the start take a commanding lead on the first beat which he never looked like relinquishing. The chasing pack was led by Katie Brow, Dan Sherriff, Henry Nelson and Joseph Robinson in that order. The beat to the finish was light and shifty which allowed Dan to overtake Katie just on the line with the others crossing in sequence.
At the end of the first beat of race two, it was Katie leading from Daniel with last year’s winner Faye McCartan in third and that is how they finished. Rex Claney deserves a mention for pulling up to eighth in the race after a capsize and subsequent swim at the start!
With the cool temperatures taking their toll on the fleet (and coaches) the third race saw the windward mark moved further south to shorten the course. True to form Daniel took line honours in the race with Dan in second. Katie took her third podium place of the day and is now firmly in second place overall. Joseph Robinson had his best race of the day in fourth and Faye’s fifth-place saw a consistent day for her too.
Overall after Daniel and Katie, Romy’s good run of form sees her in third overall with Henry in fourth and Joseph in fifth. Evie Pringle’s sixth in the last race of the day along with her previous race win now see her sixth overall.
