Topper Worlds 2024 Mar Menor, Spain

The Topper Worlds 2024 took place from July 20^th to 26^th at Los Alcarzares on the Mar Menor in Spain. The Mar Menor is an unusual location, a saltwater lagoon separated from the Mediterranean by a narrow sand spit on its eastern border, with a narrow opening out to the sea.

The Irish team consisted of over 30 sailors across the 5.3 and 4.2 classes from clubs across the island of Ireland including three from RCYC in the 5.3 class, Kate Deane, Ruby Foley and Gwen Barry. The rest of the fleet included teams from GB, China, Spain, Malta, Brazil, Australia and Switzerland, with over 170 sailors taking part.
Following transportation by container, the boats were unloaded the week before the event, and after a few days training with the three Irish coaches, the event kicked off officially on Saturday July 20^th with the opening ceremony. After a rest day on Sunday, the event started on the water on Monday July 22^nd. Wind conditions were uncharacteristically light for qualifying on Monday and Tuesday with temperatures soaring in the high 30’s and early 40’s, making for challenging conditions for Irish sailors.
For the 5.3 class, the event consisted of 2 days of qualifying ‘flights’ on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday all results were reset and the final series commenced across three classes, Gold, Silver and Bronze. Well done to all the Irish team who performed very well in the event, most notable Leo Doherty (Sligo YC) 4^th in the 5.3 Gold Fleet, Gemma Brady (Lough Derg YC/National YC) 1^st girl, Tomas A Coistealbha (Malahide YC) 3^rd in the 4.2 class and our very own Kate Deane who placed 1^st in the 5.3 Bronze fleet.

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