Local photographer Jim McCarthy of Digimac Photography has created a book of photographs of the GUL Topper World Championships.
Copies of the book can be purchased directly from Jim
E-mail James@digimack.com or phone +353 86 254 7773 (mobile) +353 66 713 6637(home)
Click on the book above or here for examples of more pages
The GUL World Topper Championships in Fenit
was a huge success for the sailors and the local economy.
Photo shows the 3 winners with the organizing committee of the event : from L to R
Brendan Fitzgerald , Jonathan Hewat ( 3 rd overall ), Dr Liam Lynch , Elliot Hanson ( 1st overall) , Dr David Buckley ( Commodore TBSC ) , Richard Cumpsty ( 2 nd overall ), Dr Pat Daly , George Clarke ( Chairman ,ITCA)
Photo shows Tralee Bay Sailing Club sailors at the opening cermony of the GUL Topper World Chapionships in Fenit last week ; L to R Michell Moore, Austin Hynes, Jacquie Browne, Alico Daly , Mark Taylor , Ailling Cearney , Jenifer Stimfig and Michael Lynch
TBSC Toppers at the Worlds
Photos of the event courtesy of James McCarthy Digimac Photography
Gul Topper main page (Results, Press release, List of entries, NOR, etc.)
The GUL Ward Topper Championships was held in Tralee Bay Sailing Club in Fenit from 19th to 25th July 2008. “The enormity and truly international flavour of this event struck home to me on the 1st day when I saw 181 sailors from 5 countries gathered on local waters and supervised by a race management team from as far away as Canada and Norway and South Africa”, said Dr David Buckley, Commodore of Tralee Bay Sailing Club. “It was truly amazing to see all these people gathered together giving up their time voluntarily, all for the joy of sailing and the love for the sea”
A carnival atmosphere prevailed in Fenit trought the event with entertainment on the pier and in the club house for all age groups. The weather obliged and did its absolute best for sailors and their families for their introduction to Fenit in the sunshine.
Dick Spring declared the GUL World Topper Championships open on Sunday 20th July. George Clarke , from the International Topper Class Association, and Peter Crowley ,from the Irish Sailing Association ,both complimented the Tralee Bay Sailing Club Committee and members on the hard work involved in making this event a reality. Mayor Ted Fitzgerald said it was a great honour for Tralee Bay Sailing Club to be hosting this world event.
Following a practice race on Sunday , the launching took a little longer than anticipated on Monday morning and despite a postponed start the sailors had 2 good races.
Having the benefit of experience Tuesdays launching was a swift affair with toppers getting on the water for 4 races.
The ever-elusive summer with sun and heat arrived on Wednesday morning to Fenit. The visibility was wonderful with Brandon, Sliabh Mis and Kerry Head looking very close. Alas with the sunshine came no wind! So, the sailors had a sociable day on the water but no racing!
It was still sunny and summery on Thursday morning but the wind was back and a lively days racing was held with winds gusting up to 25 knots.
Alan Crosby, the principal race officer managed to squeeze 3 races in on the final day on Friday despite light winds.
Seamus Hand, who looked after registration and results, worked day and night to get the results out quickly every evening. David presented Seamus with a picture of Tralee Bay during the prize giving ceremony in recognition of the enormous effort he gave organizing this event .
The prize giving ceremony was held on Friday evening in the Clubhouse in Fenit .
The overall winner of the GUL World Topper Championships 2008 was Eliot Hanson from GPR. The best of the Irish sailors was Philip Doran from Waterford
Daniel Browne won the prize for the best Tralee Bay Sailing Club sailor. Local sailors Mark Taylor, Kate McGowan and Patrick Daly got a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in the last race of the series in the Silver Fleet. Michelle Moore and Jackie Browne got prizes in the senior sailors category
Commodore David Buckley complemented the sailors, their coaches and their families for their good humour, seamanship and sportsmanship throughout the week long event .
Brendan Fitzgerald, Chairman of the events Organising Committee of Tralee Bay Sailing Club got a presentation of a picture of Tralee Bay in recognition of his outstanding contribution to organising this huge event. “Brendan dreamt of hosting this world class event in Tralee Bay Sailing Club. His exceptional organisation abilities, his persuasive personality and his total commitment and hard work for the last 9 months has paid off and made this a truly world class event which we can all be proud of” said Commodore David Buckley.
Not only was it a good week for the sailors but also the local economy. The event
brought almost 1,000 people into Fenit and Tralee for the week, giving a well needed boost to the local economy in what has been otherwise a fairly quiet tourist season.
Tralee Bay Sailing Club will host the Irish National Optimist Championships from the 20th to 23rd August 2008 and this event will attract approximately 240 young sailors to Fenit . Judging by the success of the Topper World Championships, should be another exciting event for Fenit and Tralee .
Commodore David thanked all the members of Tralee Bay Sailing Club who gave up their time to support all the sailors on the water during the World Topper Championships. While he could not thank everybody individually a special word of thanks went to Pat Kearney, Beach Master, and his team of recorders and helpers who managed to launch and retrieve all the boats everyday in record time.
He also complemented Shane McElligott, Principal Safety Officer and his team of 25 safety boats who ensured no major incidents happened throughout the events. David also thanked Pat McConkey , skipper of “Cloud 9” which acted as Committee Boat for the week. He also thanked Padraig and Brendan Kennelly who provided their boat as a ‘Finishing Boat’ for the week.
Liam and Liz Lynch did great work in helping to organize this event and gave us the use of there boat “ Powder Monkey “ as the pin end boat for the week .
Brian Hynes was complemented for his outstanding work at traffic management, rib launching and retrieval and just about anything else that needed to be done around the Clubhouse during the week.
Donal and Lorna Browne and their family did a great job at assisting Alan Crosby on the Committee Boat. Peter Moore worked hard looked after race management from the Clubhouse and Harry Freeman organised the Finishing Boat, ably assisted by his team of recorders.
Raphael Crowley was the principal mark layer from the club who ably assisted Alan Crosby’s team in laying out the courses everyday.
David thanked Marie Hand, Claire Hand and Alico Daly for their hard work looking after registration and the race office throughout the week.
Dr Pat Daly worked very hard on the organizing committee and also was the chief medical officer for the week . Thankfully he had no major accidents to deal with but , as ever , Pat was prepared for all eventualities .
He also complemented Teresa and Thomas in the bar for providing freshly brewed coffee, warm scones and cool beer to all the sailors and helpers throughout the week. David also thanked Steve Barter for looking after fuelling of the ribs every day and John Moriarty for bringing out guests onto the water.
David also thanked all the members , both adults and children , who helped out during the week to make this a truly outstanding event .