February « 2010 « Laser SB3 Class Association

Archive for February, 2010

Inland Championships Sailing Instructions

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

The Sailing Instructions are now available for the 2010 Inland Championships at Rutland Water. (more…)

Amsterdam Boat Show SB3 Party

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Remco and Claire of Sailcenter, LaserPerformance Dealers in The Netherlands would like to invite all SB3 owners to a party on the Sailcenter stand at the Amsterdam Boat Show on Friday 5th March at 8pm.

The party is to celebrate the signing of a three year sponsorships agreement with Magic Marine. Magic Marine will support the SB3 Class in The Netherlands until the end of 2012. The sponsorship will climax with the SB3 European Championships in September 2012 in The Netherlands.

Beer and snacks will be served on the stand, number 04100 and all SB3 owners and crew are welcome.

If you are interested in buying an SB3 and wish to visit the Amsterdam Boat, please contact Claire at claire@sailcenter.nl who will be able to arrange complimentary tickets for you.

SB3′s at Hammo, Australia

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

The SB3 class will be racing at Hamilton Island Race Week in 2010 and 2011. 12 races are scheduled over 4 days. Hamilton Island Race Weed runs from Friday 20th – Saturday 28 August 2010, the SB3 fleet will be racing 22nd – 25th.

It is also proposed that the Australian National Championships will be held at Hamilton Island in 2012 and 2013, maybe the carrot will be big enough to get Bourkie into a boat for the World Championships at Geelong in 2012?!

The Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta is the next event for the class, over the weekend 6/7 March on Sydney Harbour. With 6 windward leeward races and 11 boats entered so far, it should be a great weekend! The next stop is the 2010 National Championships at Port Stephens, 15th – 18th April. Port Stephens is one of God’s beautiful places (apart from it being the breeding ground of the worlds Great Whites!) 4 days of racing and a further 12 races are scheduled. The entry list currently boats 18 boats.

Shifty Sunday at Raffles Marina, Singapore

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

The Singapore Laser SB3 enjoyed some extremely close racing on Sunday the 21st February reports Chirs Holmes. A competitive fleet of 8 boats were on the water and sailed a series of four races in a pleasant, if variable light wind.

Race 1 saw the fleet get away cleanly on a short course of 2 rounds of windward/leewards. Alidade got away from the fleet at the first mark and led to take line honors at the finish. In second place was Hullabaloo, who showed impressive speed, especially as they were sailing two up, beating the heavier team on Glasgow Kiss.

Race 2 was soon underway, using the same course. The wind had become a little more fluky, and Alidade again showed the fleet the right way to go, nosing ahead at the first mark and leading to the finish. Second and third place were the same as the first race with Hullabaloo and Glasgow Kiss coming in second and third respectively.

With grey skies on the horizon, Race 3 was started and proved to be an interesting challenge to the racers, especially on the last downwind leg, where the wind died completely, and the finishing places determined by whether you were in the wind or not! Fabrice Piard on Alidade, led the fleet home, showing that his newly arrived baby is not impacting his sailing performance. Hullabaloo had retired due to food poisoning, leaving Tara to come in second, and Glasgow Kiss finishing in her statutory third place

Race 4, the final race of the day saw the fleet head up the channel, as the wind changed direction, in a strengthening breeze. Bandit led the way round the first mark, but managed to drop the kite in the water during the hoist, giving the rest of the fleet time to catch up. The fast ride downhill never quite materialized, and with boats playing the angles it was unclear as to who would win until Alidade crossed the finish line, just in front of Bandit, followed by Katana and Glasgow Kiss. The close finish provided much discussion afterwards, with the peanuts in the bar being used to great effect to discuss the finer points of the sailing rules.

With the fleet finishing, the wind then decided it had had enough and promptly departed, leaving crews paddling home. The fleet arrived just in time to put the boats away as the rain descended. Thanks must go to Prakash, for organizing the racing, and giving the crews the chance to practice before the Tiger Cup Trophy on March 6th and 7th.

If the rest of the year is going to be like this, then it is going to be a great year for SB3 sailing in Singapore!
# Sail Yacht Race Ttl pts
1 3031 ALIDADE 1 1 1 1 4
2 3227 GLASGOW KISS 3 3 3 4 13
3 3028 BANDIT 4 5 7 2 18
4 3052 HULLABALOO 2 2 9 9 22
5 3051 KATANA 9 7 4 3 23
6 xxxx PYXIS 5 6 6 6 23
7 3361 TARA 9 8 2 5 24
8 3035 SU ME 6 4 5 9 24

Australian SB3 Championship 2010 – Kia Timm faces supreme test

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Kia Timm the exceptionally dedicated SB3 class Queensland champion will face a supreme test of one-design sailing and tactical strategy when he contests the 2010 Audi Australian championship at Port Stephens from April 12-18.

The Yachting Australia qualified coach who has successfully introduced numerous Sunshine Coast primary and secondary school students to the sport through the Noosa Yacht and Rowing club sail training school will continue to focus his personal Australian championship training schedule with after school hour sessions off Mooloolaba.

He will pack his sea bag then drive the busy coast road to rig and launch his high performance Oceanburo sports boat for what he describes as routine training lasting several hours on the open ocean ‘torture track’ north of Pt Cartwright.

The wind disturbed nature of the seaway combining the ground swell with the prevailing wind wave provides both skipper and crew with the perfect environment to perfect their steering, hiking and wave surfing skills.

These mid-week sessions have proved to be important rewarding Kai Timm and crew with a marginal speed sailing edge to win the Queensland championship ahead his arch Mooloolaba Yacht Club rival and former Australian 505 champion Phil Gray.

Kai Timm and his Oceanburo crew expressed the value of their extensive training sessions on the bumpy waters off Mooloolaba Beach to hold the progressive lead after the Sunshine Coast leg of the championship while Phil Gray’s Dulon crew were the star performers winning the Yachting Queensland Sail Brisbane leg of the series to secure the Queensland championship Silver medal.

The Queensland championship ‘quinella’ was an outstanding the result for the Mooloolaba crews however it has re-fuelled the competitive spirit as they prepare for the more important Audi Australian championship at Port Stephens.

Kai Timm has no need to be reminded that his State championship ranking is under threat and –a champion crew is only as good as their next regatta result which is the reason behind his extensive commitment to training and refining their boat handling technique.

Major results in this strict form of one-design class racing are always determined by the crew who have the ‘grit’ to sail fast under pressure and make the smarter tactical decisions in relation to the breeze blowing over the course.

Even the most minor error can become the difference between finishing first or scoring a ‘back in the pack’ result.

Kai Timm, Phil Gray and Queensland’s leading female skipper Lauren Calder who heads up the Audi Sunshine Coast racing team have all experienced the torment associated with a ‘drop out’ and are making the necessary commitment to be individually race ready when the Queensland team faces a strong fleet of interstate rivals to decide the 2010 Audi Australian title over the neutral courses off Port Stephens in mid-April.

International Activity for the SB3 Class

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

The SB3 has seen extraordinary growth since its launch in the UK in 2002. Recently the SB3 World Council have reviewed a number of event bids from some outstanding venues and are delighted to announce that the Calendar of World and European Championships Events for the next three years has now been agreed.

The 2010 World Championship will be hosted by Circolo Vela Torbole, Lake Garda, Italy from 19 – 23 July 2010. The class returns to Lake Garda following the enormously successful European Championships in June 2005. Entries are expected to reach the limit of 120 long before the close of entries at the end of March 2010. The team at Circolo Vela Torbole are working hard to finalise plans for their event, which is guaranteed to be first class both on and off the water. The Notice of Race is available at www.lasersb3.com

The Royal Torbay Yacht Club, UK has been awarded the 2011 SB3 World Championships which they will host in May. Torbay, a previous Olympic venue and host of the SB3 UK National Championships offers excellent sailing conditions and a race area that can more than cope with a multi-fleet championships. The Royal Torbay Yacht Club will provide a magnificent host club with outstanding race management and the use of fantastic harbour side facilities. William Butcher and Adrian Peach will lead the organisation in Torquay. Both William and Adrian have a wealth of experience to draw on to ensure an outstanding event is delivered in the birth nation of the SB3. With this in mind, competition is bound to be fierce and entry numbers high.

In 2012, the World Championships will be hosted for the fist time in a venue outside of Europe. Following a bid that boasts significantly subsidised shipping for forty, 40ft containers from a number of international ports, Geelong, Australia have secured the SB3 Worlds for January 2012. The event will be run alongside Audi Victoria Race Week, using separate race courses but ensuring the big event atmosphere for the visiting crews from across Asia, Europe and North America. Geelong has a huge amount to offer the SB3 World Championships, both on and off the water. Geelong has hosted an annual sailing regatta since 1854 and has a well established network of regatta logistics and facilities services and will provide a happy change to the northern hemisphere winter!

For those unable to travel to Australia for the World Championships the 2012 European Championships will be hosted in the Netherlands in the early Autumn 2012. Following the significant development of SB3 fleets in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands in the last couple of years, this is a perfect location for a significant gathering in Europe.

The SB3 Class proudly claims to be one of the most tightly restricted one design keelboat classes in the world with little variation from the builder’s final product permitted. With minimal maintenance, easy to trail and low campaign cost, the class thrives on its philosophy of providing inclusive, high intensity, great fun and easily attainable high quality racing for it’s members. With the World Championships calendar set for the next three events, the SB3 is the boat to be sailing.

Further news and developments can be followed at the new SB3 International Website www.lasersb3.com which has been developed over the winter months.