International Topper World Championships 2026 at St Pierre Quiberon, France - Days 1 & 2
by John Heyes 30 Jul 09:58 UTC
27-31 July 2026
International Topper World Championships 2026 at St Pierre Quiberon, France © Gérard Touren
The International Topper Class travelled to the National Institute Du Nautisme, in St Pierre Quiberon, Brittany, for the 2026 edition of the Topper World Championship, organised by the Société des Régates St Pierre Quiberon (SRSP). It was the fifth visit of the Class to Brittany, but the first to the expansive Olympic training facility of the I2D, which has already hosted the 49er, & 49er RX, Nacra 18, and Tornado World Championships this summer.
The SRSP club hosted one of the best ever Topper Worlds Opening Ceremonies, aided by whole army of club and town volunteers, organised by their Chairman Jérôme Ledoyen and with French Offshore sailing legend and now local MP Jimmy Pahun officially opening the championships. A short parade around the town, accompanied by the local marching band was followed by a marvellous Bretagne buffet, allowing the 178 sailors from 11 nations the chance to mingle and make new friends. It was especially warming to meet the first ever competitor from Ukraine and her family.
Monday's first race was AP'ed after a hopeful start, as the breeze dropped to 3 knots at the windward mark, and the PRO Olivier de Turckeim moved the course north to find a stronger SW afternoon sea breeze that built enough to allow a 2pm start for both Topper 4.2 and 5.3 classes.
After a general recall that led to a black flag start, the majority of the 5.3 fleet kept to right side of the course starting off the slightly committee biased. In the red & white fleet race, Leo West-Hurst, (IRL 473) rounded the windward mark first, ahead of Harry Durrant (GBR 333) and Ralph Hadley, (GBR 160) closely following behind, West-Hurst holding his lead to the finish, from Hadley and an impressive third from Aurele Dion (FRA 346) in his first ever Topper race.
In the first race for the 5.3 yellow & Blue fleet GBR 147, Hari Clark stormed up the beat to round mark 1 with a strong 50m lead, with GBR 181 Joseph Hulse and Bocheng Zhang (CHN 852) following in his wake.
In the Topper 4.2 race 1, World Championship debutant, Léoghan Bath (CAN 809), having chosen the left side of the course, rounded first ahead of Jake Day (GBR 355) and Jimmy Zhao (CHN 845) Jake Day later managed to edge past the Canadian to take the gun. Léoghan Bath slipped to third, but pulled back to second in a dramatic reach to the finish in the last 10 with Jimmy Zhao in third.
For the second race the sea breeze filled in at 270 degrees and built to 15-16 knots, providing the best conditions of the day. In the 5.3 red & yellow flights race, after a general recall and subsequent Black Flag start, Ralph Hadley seized control, taking the win from Leo West-Hurst and Hendrick Long (GBR 083)
Cillian Fitzgerald (IRL 450) took the other win of the afternoon in the blue & white fleet, from Bocheng Zhang, who maintained his very consistent start to the championships, following on from his 3rd in the first race, ahead of Ben Smallwood (GBR 312) from Budworth SC.
The second race of the day for the Topper 4.2 fleet crowned a great afternoon for the Smallwood family, with younger brother, Freddie Smallwood (GBR 588) claiming second place, 30m astern of Isabelle Simpson, (GBR 038) of Island Barn SC and just ahead of Ben Whittaker (GBR 248), and previous race winner, Jake Day, (GBR 355)
A third race was attempted for all fleets, but the 4.2 fleet, starting first, had to be postponed two minutes before their start, as the wind swung 30 Degrees and the sea breeze departed for the day. Mindful of the next day's forecast, the PRO signalled a 10.00am start time for Tuesday's racing, as an attempt to ensure the four races necessary to complete the Topper 5.3 qualifying Series could be completed by the end of the first two days.
Tuesday morning duly dawned with a promising breeze blowing, for the early 8.00 am briefing, with the fleets heading out in a 8 knot easterly. The race committee got the first race off swiftly with the windward mark positioned at 085. The 4.2's lined up at the committee boat end of the line, for a clean start in 7 knots of breeze.
Race 3 for the 5.3 blue and red flights, started under a Black flag start following a general recall. The left side of the beat looked favourite for most, with Leo West-Hurst rounding first, ahead of the consistent Bocheng Zhang and Aurele Dion, from France and Lucy-Laura Miller (GBR 339). It was great to see the first Latvian entry in a Topper Worlds, Jonathan Shields, up in the top 10, ahead of Spain's Noa López Fernadez, in only her second day in the Topper. To add to the European feel to the fleet, ITA 028, planned through on the final reach to secure a top ten finish. Aurele Dion, FRA 346 took places on the run, rounding the starboard gate first followed by Leo West -Hurst IRL 473. Lucy-Laura Millar (GBR 339) chose the port mark to round in 3rd. Fleet is split but most boats keeping on starboard gate mark. Unfortunately, Ollie Sugars (IRL 480) touched the gate mark and had to do a penalty.
At mark 2, Lucy-Laura Millar had taken a 30m lead, with FRA 346 now second, while West-Hurst slipped to third closely followed by Yiyu Hu (CHN 850). The positions were retained on the last downwind leg, Lucy-Laura choosing the port gybe. It was a slow long race as the morning breeze steadily faded and shifted 30 degrees to the right
Sadly, the wind dropped right away for the last leg of the white & yellow fleet, requiring them to be finished at the bottom gate as the downwind run became a crawl. The entire fleet was sent ashore to await more wind expected later in the afternoon.
True to the forecast, the breeze returned at 4.30 and the 5.3 Class was sent back out to complete the final qualifying series race, before the split into Gold, Silver and bronze fleets.
A 11-12 knot westerly greeted the sailors, with the red and white flight first to go. William Clarke (GBR 305) had a great start at the committee boat and tacked shortly after to lead the fleet upwind.
In the blue & yellow start, Hari Clark (GBR 147) won the pin from Yiyu Hu (CHN 850) and tacked immediately and crossed the whole fleet to take a clear lead from Isaac Chapman (ITA 028). Having crossed the fleet, Clark was the first to tack on to port, sniffing out more breeze on the left going on to win by a good margin from Toby Hailey (GBR 606) and Sophie Venning, (GBR 095)
For the red & white flights race, the consistent Leo West-Hurst, (IRL 473) was again to the fore, rounding first a few lengths ahead of Ralph Hadley, (GBR 160), Phileas Rousselle, (GBR 619) and Marina Torralba Zamora, (ESP 818). On the second lap, after a long reaching leg, mark 2 saw a huge pile up, as many boats hit the mark and others were forced into 720 for further infringements. The afternoon breeze was dropping rapidly as the fleet headed downhill to the final gate, West-Hurst held a 20m lead ahead of Hadley, who was engaged in a close tussle with the Spanish boat of Marina Torralba Zamora. The finish was very tight, it West-Hurst holding off Ralph Hadley by less than half a length, who in turn only just manged to hold off the late charge of Jess Marsh (GBR 386). Spanish Topper debutant, Marina Torralba Zamora fell back to 6th after being lassoed by an errant mainsheet from a back maker of the previous fleet race.
The Race officer wisely decided to abandon racing for the afternoon, as the breeze dropped further and became more unstable, with four qualifying heats including one discard now completed, the stage was set for 5.3 fleet to be split into the Gold, Silver and Bronze for Finals Series to start on Wednesday.
Results so far can be found here.