Sailing my Topper at Chew Valley Lake
I am a member of both the Chew Valley Lake Sailing Club (CVLSC) and the Chew Valley Lake Association of Disabled Sailors (CLADS).
I sail most Saturdays throughout the summer with CLADS down at CVLSC (April until October). Throughout the winter I sail most Saturday mornings with friends; sometimes in my boats and other times in their Wayfarer.
My favorite boat is my Topper, which I have great fun sailing (and capsizing). I’ve entered a few competitions and come round about last!!! But it is all good fun.
The Topper is a really good boat to lean to sail and race; it is easy to rig and requires very little maintenance. Because the Topper made from injection molded polypropylene it is very light and small enough to transport on a roof rack of an average sized family car. I have transported my Topper on a roof rack on my 2 door Ford Focus, without any problems.
Topaz Omega Sport
As well as the Topper I also own a Topaz Omega Sport, which is also manufactured by Topper International. The Omega is a somewhat larger boat and can take up to 6 crew, although we find that 3 to 4 is the most comfortable, any more than 4 then it does start to feel a bit cramped on-board.
Flying along with the Jennaker
The Omega has 3 sails (main, jib, and jennaker). It is quite a responsive boat and can be quite a handful to sail, especially when the jennaker is up! We have had her over many times. But it is a really fun boat to sail.
We have recently (August 2012) taken my Omega out on the sea at Dale; your can read my blog post about the trip by clicking here.
To celebrate the London 2012 Paralympics I helped organize some fun races for CLADS and I took part in my Omega, click here to read my blog post about the event.