Lorcan Knowles – Topper 4.2 National Champion 2015 – Event report

Five years after the first Topper 4.2 National Championships took place at Leigh & Lowton SC, the class returned to Pennington Flash to compete in the 2015 event.
With 42 helms travelling from all over mainland GB joining the two local helms, Lorcan Knowles and Brandon Banner, the weekend was set for some competitive sailing. Unfortunately, the weather was not on side and made the job of the Race Officer, Peter Baldwin, a very difficult one.
After an initial postponement to allow the wind to fill in a course was set and the fleet launched. The first start got cleanly away but when the fleet started to follow the mark still attached to one of the mark laying boats, rather than the laid windward mark, the race had to be abandoned. The race was restarted with Lorcan Knowles taking the first place with Piers Luxford of Royal Harwich YC second and George Vincent of Parkstone YC in third.
The start of race 2 saw the fleet cleanly away but the wind then interfered swinging violently to the right turning the beat into a fetch and, with the course being a windward/leeward, the RO had no option but to abandon the race. The restart saw the first General Recall of the weekend followed by the first use of the black flag. The result of the race this time saw Vincent taking the line honours with James Deaton, another Royal Harwich sailor in second and Knowles having to be content with third.
After lunch, the third race was started under the Papa flag again with a clear start. Once again, the wind interfered and the race was abandoned and had to be restarted. At the end of the restarted race it was once again Knowles who crossed the line in first place, Luxford second with Drew Gibbons from Redesmere, out of his Optimist and into a Topper, in third.
To try and get a reasonable number of races in for the weekend, Peter Baldwin quickly set up for race four as the last race of the day. The fleet got away cleanly and raced in a slowly diminishing wind. Loracn Knowles snatched the win at the end of the race with Luxford in third place this time and another name, that of William Harrison from Marconi SC in second place. This result meant that Lorcan Knowles was the overnight leader with three first places counting.
Sunday saw the fleet racing a different course and about 6 knots of breeze. Race 5 got away cleanly and the breeze held initially but moved around towards the end of the race. Knowles took the bullet again with Deaton getting another second place and Luxford having to be content with another third.
Race 6 got away cleanly again but with rain added into the mix with a reset course and once again Knowles took the bullet with Luxford second and another sailor appearing in third place; Maxi Tustain from Docklands Sailing and Watersports.
Race 7 started without the rain and once again saw a clear line with variable wind speeds with as little as 3 knots at times. A huddle around the pin saw one competitor hit the pin but took the penalty turns. Lorcan once again took the bullet but Drew Gibbons held onto to second place and Sam Jones from Hill Head SC took third.
Race 8 yet again saw a clean start but with pin end mark collisions. This time Luxford finished the race in first place with Knowles second and Drew Gibbons third.
Race 9 was run but due to an inconsistency in the published course information the results were discarded, leaving the championship decided over the first 8 races. The final results gave Lorcan Knowles the first place, Piers Luxford second and Drew Gibbons third.
For further information on the results go to: https://llsc.org.uk/LLSC/Results/2015/Topper42Nationals.htm.
For the gallery go to: https://picasaweb.google.com/104536170099821426208/42Nationals2015?authkey=Gv1sRgCIawyKTwttDs0gE