SW Topper event at Castle Cove sailing club on the 19th and 20th May
Bella Southall has been a member at Chew since she was eight and is a veteran of Chew Crew. Having achieved her RYA 1&2 sailing qualifications at the club, she was looking for fresh challenges in her Topper this year. It was with some trepidation that she attended her first SW Topper event at Castle Cove sailing club on the 19th and 20th May. Upon arriving, she was a little intimidated by the SW Topper regulars. They all seemed to know each other, what they should do do and where they needed to be – all the time chatting and laughing with each other…
Soon enough Bella began to find her place and lost her nerves. The shore training was given by a really good coach and by the time she was on the water, she got into her stride and really enjoyed the exercises. For the race day on Sunday, she was able to focus on her starts and sailing in her lane and managed to keep a number of the other sailers behind her in each of her races; there were 36 Toppers on the water, so plenty of competition at all levels.
We thought she did really well, she was out for nearly 4.5 hours on Sunday with only a small Snickers bar and a bottle of water for company. She dropped the Snickers bar in the boat before eating it, so it had become salted caramel by the time she got to it… She left the water beaming!