The second round of the VW Touareg sponsored SB3 Grand Prix Series was hosted by Sunderland Yacht Club from the 24 – 26 May 2008. 9 Races were planned by the host club over the 3 days however the weather forecast was ominous indeed with 20 – 30 knots of wind and big seas predicted. Saturday dawned presenting what can only be described as champagne sailing conditions; a 15 – 22 knots NE breeze, a 10ft swell and glorious sunshine. There was little margin for error with downwind and down wave planning speeds in the region of 20 knots and upwind wave technique critical.

David Campbell-James and his excellent race team got the first race away under an ‘I’ flag at the second time of asking which saw 2 boats called OCS. Geoff Carveth and crew in Palava and David Hudson’s team in City of Cape Town made clean starts towards the Port end of the line and soon tacked to head out to sea towards the stronger tide crossing the leading boat from the Starboard end bunch – Jono Shelley in Team VW Touareg. At the windward mark Carveth had established a clear lead followed by Hudson, Shelley, Ian Sullivan in Cheeky Monkey and Jerry Hill in 3 Sad Old Blokes. By the final downwind leg Carveth had established an unassailable lead with Hudson and Shelley clear ahead of the chasing pack and locked in a downwind tussle for second and third which ended in Shelley protesting Hudson on a port starboard incident – the protest was eventually dismissed by the protest committee under rule 16 with Hudson counting a second and Shelley a third.

The second race saw Jerry Hill quickly out of the traps and he crossed the fleet on Port and was followed around the windward mark by Carveth, Shelley and Hudson. Hill led most of the way round but was passed on the final downwind leg with Hudson making good use of his downwind speed to close in on the leaders and eventually take the race win from Carveth in second. Shelley finished 4th with Duncan Hepplewhite and the Laser Scotland team in 5th.

The final race of the day saw a small increase in wind strength. Shelley in Team VW Touareg won the favoured starboard end of the line and along with the (well known) new comer to the class Howard Steavenson crossed the boats coming out of the Port side. Shelley played the left hand side of the beat and rounded the windward mark with a clear lead from Carveth, Hill and local boy Neal Piper in Mutley. On the first downwind leg Shelley suffered a breakage to his rudder fittings and was unable to continue leaving the path open for the ever consistent Carveth to take victory from Hill and the flying Hepplewhite in third.

Once again Sunderland Yacht Clubs world renowned catering and entertainment facilities kept all of the competitors extremely well fed and watered into the night with a Commodores Reception on Saturday evening and a Curry and Quiz night on Sunday.

Unfortunately the forecast North Sea weather conditions took hold on Sunday meaning that no further racing could be held on either day to increased winds and very large confused seas. Sunderland YC slick craning facilities assisted by a VW Touareg from the sponsors meant that the competitors were able to pack up and be on their way in good time with memories of an exceptional days racing, quality race management and an incredibly welcoming club. Thanks also go to Ian Mills, Duncan Hepplewhite and Rob Gutteridge from PSE for the provision of event support.

With no discards all of the races held on the Saturday were to count leaving Carveth first, Hudson Second and Hill third. At the prize giving there were prizes for the top 10 and a special prize for the Geronimo crew for their performance in Sunday nights extra curricular activities.

Top 10

Boat SailNo Helm R1 R2 R3 Total Nett

Palava 3053 Geoff Carveth 1.0 2.0 1.0 4.0 4.0

CityofCape Town 3451 David Hudson 2.0 1.0 5.0 8.0 8.0

3 Sad Old Blokes3465 Jerry Hill 5.0 3.0 2.0 10.0 10.0

Laser Scotland 3371 Duncan Hepplewhite 7.0 5.0 3.0 15.0 15.0

Cheeky Monkey 3302 Ian Sullivan 4.0 6.0 8.0 18.0 18.0

Baloo 3057 John Outhwaite 8.0 7.0 7.0 22.0 22.0

Sail Navy 3215 Joe Henry 9.0 10.0 4.0 23.0 23.0

Wet Nuts 3388 Chris King 10.0 9.0 9.0 28.0 28.0

Team VW Touareg 3134 Jono Shelley 3.0 4.0 26.0 DNF 33.0

The Baron 3132 James Williamson 6.0 12.0 16.0 34.0 34.0

Sit back, relax, and enjoy…..

Following the liks below you will find image gallery, video and results  of this last weekend Laser SB3 Italia Cup.

Results Domaso 10-11 May : http://www.lasersb3.it/regata_standalone.asp?stagione=2008&regata=25&tipo=normale

Results: general Italia Cup: http://www.lasersb3.it/circuito.asp?stagione=2008&circuito=5&tipo=normale

Images: http://www.lasersb3.it/immagini_album.asp?page=1&album=19&ppg=1

Video: http://www.youtube.com/LaserSB3Italia

From this link you can download high quality video: http://www.sailingnetwork.it/SB3domaso.zip

Following the electoral polls and ousting of “congestion charge Ken” from City Hall, 45 crews got down to real business for the first SB3 class sanctioned event of 2008. The event hosted by the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Cowes commenced the build up to the inaugural SB3 World Championships this coming September and marked the end of a long winter (particularly for those who didn’t make it to the Primo cup in Monaco).
The forecast for the long weekend promised mild temperatures and mostly light airs and challenging racing amongst the 45 entered teams in the brisk Solent tides. A small majority of crews migrated to the Isle of Wight for the event and partaking in the shore-side festivities whilst the balance “commuted” from Hamble.
Saturday promised the best conditions of the weekend and delivered with 8-12 knots from the South East.

Race one got under way following a general recall into an Ebb tide. Shaun Beaver (Tim Fells) led early starting by the pin and lead the pack into the top mark with the majority of the fleet racking up on the port lay. The run saw the fleet spread across the course with Shaun Beaver continuing to lead until overhauled by Car Jacked (Craig Burlton) at the leeward mark and finishing in that order. Cheekey Monkey (Ian Sullivan) started the event well with a third ahead of Team VW Touareg/PWC (Jono Shelley).
After a long delay while the race committee moved the course a number of times race two saw another general recall and the black flag in use catching out eight teams. When racing resumed City of Cape Town (David Hudson) port tacked the fleet and lead by about ten lengths only two minutes into the race! With the pressure up a little the run was fast and furious, class stalwarts Jerry Hill in 3 Sad Old Blokes and Mini Summerhayes in Team MacLaren stepped up the pace in these conditions finishing in the top three closely following Car Jacked across the line.

Race three was delayed again with a number of teams electing to call it a day as the afternoon drew on. Set under way for a one lap race that lasted less than half an hour Baloo (John Outhwaite) stayed ahead of the other northern Jono in Team VW Touareg, just avoiding being Car Jacked and holding onto second.
After eight hours on the water teams retired to both shores for some well earned recovery time and an early night for some.

Day two resembled the first although somewhat lighter and shifts more pronounced. Race four included a significant right hander the first lap which saw those looking to avoid the ebb tide on the left down the order. The shift to the South persisting down the first run saw David Hudson again in the lead at the leeward mark but suffering as the breeze shifted through 50 degrees on the second beat to fall back to third. Darling Associates (Chris Darling) showed brilliant upwind speed on the second beat, passing the leading group in it’s entirety to lead before being passed by Car Jacked on the run crossing the line second. Chris did however take a penalty and scored 20th despite the fine performance.
Face five again saw John Outhwaite and David Hudson in the mix at the head of the fleet beating Tim Fells and Chris Darling while Craig in Car Jacked took the win passing the team on Baloo at the second leeward mark.
Race six was lead by Craig in Car Jacked at the first weather mark having taken sterns off the start on a heavily port tacked biased first beat. As a result of the bias traffic was very heavy at the weather mark with the tide now flooding and pushing many over the lay. Tim Fells pulled through to first on the run only to be dealt an off hand as their spinnaker caught around the top batten at the leeward mark letting Car Jacked through again. Selden Masts (Chris Jennings) had been alongside the two leaders but chose the right hand mark at the gate and suffered significantly as the running fleet created a vacuum allowing Mini and Team MacLaren to steal third.

Monday morning dawned wet with little promise of breeze, however the rainfall rapidly moved off and the Northerly breeze settled in to allow the final two races to proceed off Hill Head in very shifty conditions.  Race seven saw a very tight finish with John Outhwaite taking his second win of the weekend by a mere second from David Hudson and Colin Simonds third ahead of Sarah Allan steering Palava this weekend (joined by European champion helm and partner Geoff for the final day).

Race eight was notable for a horrible incident shortly after the start when Selden Masts was rolled onto its side by a cruising boat spearing through the fleet. Somehow 40 SB3s heading upwind off a start line was not enough of an obstacle to take avoiding action and dip behind. Chris’s sponsor’s product remained intact but the hull and keel are apparently in somewhat of a state.

Laser Performance (Ian Mills) led around the first two marks on another heavily port biased course with Eau No (Mark Stokes) and Baloo in close company early.  Thereafter Rumbleflurg (Dave Cummins) hit a massive right hand shift to pull ahead briefly before Craig took over in Car Jacked and sped away down the run. Dave Cummins held onto second with Ian Mills finishing third ahead of Mark Stokes.
Overall Car Jacked (Craig, Adam and AB) won from Shaun Beaver (Tim and Sue Fells, Sandy and Jules) with City of Cape Town (David and Roger Hudson) in third. The next month sees plenty of class activity with a Royal southern event in Hamble ahead of the second class GP in Sunderland and the UK Nationals in Largs Bay.

Laser SB3 Northern Area Championships – Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club – April 26/27 2008

24 SB3s came to the line for the start of the second ever Laser SB3 Northern Area Championships at host club Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club.

The event was sponsored by North Down Tourist Board, who assisted with accommodation bookings, and Fleet Clothing sponsors Helly Hansen provided a wonderful spread of Sailing Clothing for event prizes.

In an experimental set up, the boats had been launched at Carrickfergus Sailing Club. They then sailed to Cultra to moor overnight on club moorings, giving a wonderful sight, as the fleet of sleek one-design racing yachts provided a glorious backdrop to some excellent on shore revelry.

Thanks go to Carrickfergus Sailing Club, and Rory Moore of Carrickfergus Boat Yard, for allowing the fleet to use their excellent facilities.

Last year’s winner Ronan Collins was replaced at the helm by his Olympic veteran and usual middleman Killian Collins, with Peter O’Leary, fresh from his Star World Championship race win in Miami last week, in the middle. However it was to be another Cork man who was to take the spoils overall, as Kieran Dorgan and team put in a marvellous series with a 2,13,1,2 to take the Championship title.

All looked set for a repeat of last year, as Killian shot off over the horizon in Race one, which saw a gusty force 2-3, the most breeze of the weekend. With the wind shifting to the right for race 2, Nigel Kearney, the PRO, adjusted the course, and Gordon Patterson, after a third in Race one behind the Cork duo, pulled away shortly after the start, to take the win from Aidan O’Connell, also formerly of Cork, by an impressive distance. Ross Nolan, with Stefan Hyde helming, picked up a Black Flag at the pin end by a whisker, when he might have got a way and crossed the fleet, an expensive error given his next two races saw a second and a first. Ben Duncan and Colin Galavan both showed the usual consistency to be well ranked overnight.

Dorgan won race three from Hyde, in a dying breeze, and the PRO wisely sent everyone ashore, from where a very boisterous and friendly evening commenced with a buffet and band at RNIYC.

Sunday awoke with unexpected sunshine, and no breeze, but unusually for April, there was enough heat to kick of a sea breeze, and the fleet was able to squeeze in a race before the gradient breeze finally pushed in moments after the fourth race finished to call a halt to proceedings, with Kieran Dorgan’s second place being enough to send the Trophy back to Cork again for the second successive year.

All in all, a very successful and fun filled weekend. The fleet now move to Dublin in late May for the Baily Bowl, where the Dublin fleet should see the numbers swell well into the 40s or even 50s.