The first two days of racing (up to 6 races) are the qualifying series and the fleet sails in four flights, with two flights per race. Following these two days the fleet will split into Gold, Silver and Bronze for the Championship series which take place over the final three days.

The afternoon wind took a little time to build but around 13:30 (local time) the course was laid and the Race Committee and the sailors began the process of getting racing underway. At 13:50 the first flights were away and heading off to the outer loop quickly followed at 14:00 by the second flights heading off to the inner loops. The usual first push for the line in the first race caught out around ten sailors in the first flights unfortunately scoring them an OCS. The second flights saw this and were less keen to push the line so hard…

Going hard left up the beat clearly paid on the race course to the point that inner and outer loops were crossing between their upwind and downwind legs. Giovanni Benamati (ITA) and Reuben Murphy (GBR) took the first race bullets.

As the heat built up to 30 deg the breeze strengthened with a few white horses across the lake. The sun was shining and the sailors were enjoying the excellent sailing weather. Race 2 got away at 15:20 with the second flights following ten minutes later. Sailors headed the warning of the first race OCSs and all were cleanly away for the second race. First home for their respective flights were Edward Jones (GBR) and Freddie Chiddicks (GBR).

The Topper class is made up of sailors spanning junior, youth and adult sailors, so quite a mix of ages and experience. Fraglia Vela Malcesine is host for the third time to the Topper World Championships and sailors are all delighted to be here again competing against the backdrop of rugged mountains.

Sunday evening saw the opening ceremony held in Malcesine castle. This was preceded by a march by the competitors from the water front through the narrow winding cobbled streets of Malcesine to the castle. Flags representing the competitors Austria, Germany, Great Britain (including the Scottish and Welsh flags), Ireland, Italy and for the first time this year Korea were proudly flown through the streets to the delight (and occasional puzzlement) of locals and holiday makers.

The opening ceremony at the castle was conducted by the President of Fraglia Vela Malcesine and Roger Proctor acting as ITCA President.

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