KSSA REGATTA at Minnis Bay         Sat. September 16^th 2006-09-21

It was my first Topper race away from my own club (Downs S C) and my third in total.

There was a buzz of activity already when we arrived. The wind was a force three—four. By the time we had taken the Topper off the car roof many more boats of various classes had arrived and were in different stages of being rigged. It was a very friendly atmosphere. The race registration and briefing were all straight forward and the course itself explained thoroughly. We set off for the beach, mostly sand by this time because the tide was going out. Many parents happily got wet helping everyone launch. Then we had to walk a long way out to sea with our boats before it was deep enough to jump in and set sail (at our club we have a relatively short stony beach, so this was quite different)

I learnt a lot in the three races (the fourth was cancelled after the wind went). Watching everyone else sailing and seeing their tactics was really helpful. I enjoyed following the set course but it was also great fun trying to swim the boats back to shore by pushing and pulling them after the wind had gone during the last race.

It was great fun sailing amongst members of KSSA and the experience of sailing at another club.

Atticus Hansell