New topper owner - Various Questions

[guinness79]

New to Topper ownership and a few questions.....

Sail Numbers - We purchased a second hand topper, which came with a 5.3 sail - if we want to purchase the smaller 4.2 sail, do we apply the same sail number to it?

Sail Number application - Are the sail numbers easy to apply? Anything we should be aware of before starting this?

Transporting a Topper - If we transport a topper on our roof, however do we launch when we get there - do we have to somehow transport the trolley too - How do folk do this?

Thanks

 

[burgundyben]

Put the Topper on the roof upside down, put the trolley on the topper upside down too.

 

[jmnapier]

Beware the Topper…!
I was a sailing Instructor at PGL Llangorse in 1981/2. The lake was full of green algae in high summer and as a Topper involves having your @rs+ in the water most of the time I succumbed to boils on the backside. The camp nurse(as in nurse of the camp rather than a description)had a freezing spray and a scalpel and I’m sure she enjoyed every minute!

 

[Daydream believer]

Sail number is the same whatever the sail. They are easy enough to fit to a dry clean sail. Buy from a sail maker. Usually can be pre fitted with a new sail.
You do not say where you are based. Club membership will really help you & you will gain much friendship. You will have a car park, somewhere to get changed, somewhere to launch, someone to show you what to do, Someone to save you when you fall in. Someone to sail with. Somewhere to leave the boat rather than drive around with it.
A social atmosphere after & during sailing

 

[guinness79]

Sail number is the same whatever the sail. They are easy enough to fit to a dry clean sail. Buy from a sail maker. Usually can be pre fitted with a new sail.
You do not say where you are based. Club membership will really help you & you will gain much friendship. You will have a car park, somewhere to get changed, somewhere to launch, someone to show you what to do, Someone to save you when you fall in. Someone to sail with. Somewhere to leave the boat rather than drive around with it.
A social atmosphere after & during sailing

Thanks - we are a member of the local sailing club, this is how it all started - sailing cadets!

 

[Daydream believer]

Thanks - we are a member of the local sailing club, this is how it all started - sailing cadets!

So you did not think to ask anyone at the club then?

 

[guinness79]

So you did not think to ask anyone at the club then?

have asked so many questions of late I thought I would try and find some of the info out myself

 

[ylop]

So you did not think to ask anyone at the club then?

That's a nice way to welcome people... ...why didn't you ask someone else!

 

[oldbloke]

The other, possibly better, way to car top a topper is to tie it to the trolley, put them both on the roof right way up and then tie trolley to the car. This gives the proper support to the boat and it is easy to securely fasten the trolley to the roofrack/ bars etc . If you look on the rsaero site there is a video of how to easily (even singlehandedly) get it up there.
Topper sail numbers are supplied as computer number 8s which you trim to suit . Sailmaker will have the numbers, but so will any chandlery.

 

[Andrew_Trayfoot]

The topper was designed to be car topped upside down, so no issues there.
If you hunt around on the Internet there are instructions as to the correct positioning of the numbers. I may have the file so will dig around and see if I can find it.

Don't forget to take the bung out of the back when not using it. The air inside expands and puts the hull under internal pressure. A good test of a topper that is water tight is if you jet of air coming out the bung hole when you take the bug out on a warm day...

 

[Andrew_Trayfoot]

Had a dig around and these are tge Topper resources that I have:
Topper

Also, it is worth converting an older topper to centre main sheet it is dead easy to do. The kits cost loads but it you purchase the parts separately for a lot less.
PM me if you want help with this...

 

[Praxinoscope]

Keep an eye on the deck/ hull join, years ago to make up the numbers in a ragatta I took out a friends Topper, was doing quite well on the first leg, but on the second mark for some unexplained reason I lst controlof it and over it went, recovered back in and off again towards 3rd mark, seemed a bit slow but it wasn't until I tried to round the mark I realised that there was a large volume of free water in between the hull and deck, dragged it ashore and found the join between deck and hull on the port side was splitting apart and allowing water to enter.
It is possible to get the join re-welded, a very temporary repair can be performed using a heavy duty hot glue gun.