Robert Murray, who is a member of the RYANI Junior Topper Squad, travelled over to Scotland to compete at the GBR National Championships held at East Lothian Yacht Club, North Berwick, from 4th–11th August.
He was the only local Topper sailor proudly representing Lough Erne Yacht Club and also County Fermanagh, being supported by the Fermanagh Sports Advisory Committee.
There were 289 sailors competing at the Championships from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The competition was extremely fierce and Robert sailed well against the opposition and took on the challenge qualifying for the Silver Fleet and achieved an excellent 6th place and an overall result of 95th.
Robert was disappointed when on Day 3 and Day 6 racing was abandoned as he was hoping to have had the opportunity to improve his position further.
However, competing against the top Topper sailors in the GBR Topper National Squad, he found this to be a most challenging and invaluable experience competing at this level.
SUNDAY 5TH AND MONDAY 6TH AUGUST – DAY 1 AND 2
After a long wait, the main fleet was able to finally go on the water with a north-easterly breeze picking up to a steady force three. The race area was to the East of North Berwick towards Bass Rock. Although the wind was not strong, it still managed to produce a sea with short, choppy waves creating challenging conditions for the sailors completing three races.
Despite many forecasts to the contrary, Monday morning had a good breeze now from the south-west. The breeze was stronger than on the Sunday and at times the gusty conditions made it difficult for the smaller sailors.
TUESDAY 7TH AUGUST – DAY 3
Unfortunately, on the last of the qualifying days the main fleet was faced with wind speeds of 30 knots at the race area and with such a large fleet it was decided to postpone it.
During the postponement period, the wind continued to build and with the blustery conditions the sea state deteriorated. It was decided to abandon racing for the day.
Thus the final results for the Qualification Series remained as they stood at the end of the second day, and three fleets of gold, silver and bronze were calculated from these results.
WEDNESDAY 8TH AUGUST – DAY 4
Day 4 was sunny and hot, with many sailors using sun block. However, the early morning breeze died at midday as the sea breeze started to establish itself. Launching was delayed for a couple of hours until the sea breeze became steady and reliable. Despite the late launch, three races were able to be held.
THURSDAY 9TH AND FRIDAY 10TH AUGUST – DAY 5 AND 6
Three races were able to be completed. The wind was from the east and the sea state deteriorated producing big waves rolling in from the North Sea. This made conditions extremely testing with long beats into the mountainous waves and down wind legs like rollercoaster rides.
For many competitors it was the largest seas they'd experienced. One sailor had to be airlifted to hospital after being hit by a Topper falling off a wave. Fortunately, the sailor did not sustain any serious injury.
Day 6 – the final day of the Topper Nationals– was a waiting game for the breeze to build and the main fleet remained on shore. There was just two races to be completed.
After some delay, they finally launched and after several hours of trying, racing was eventually abandoned owing to the unreliability of the breeze.
The first race was abandoned during the last beat when there was a 90° wind shift.
After resetting the course, the next race had to be abandoned as the Gold Fleet was struggling to make headway against the tide, so the positions at Day 5 remained.
