The National Championships will be hosted by Brighton Marina Yacht Club from Wednesday 1st – Saturday 4th September 2010. Entries are now open. Entires can be made at www.bmyc.org.uk

UK National Championships Notice of Race

Despite the rain, fog and limited wind, six teams of university student sailors set sail to put the SB3 Match Racing Kit through its paces on Friday 19th March from the Royal Southern Yacht Club, Hamble.

This is the first time the SB3 Match has been used in a competitive event in Europe. They key differences following the conversion of a standard SB3 to an SB3 Match include the use of a symmetrical spinnaker and sheets, a symmetric spinnaker pole, spinnaker deck hardware and the re-positioning of the lower shrouds from the mast to the gooseneck. The original design brief for the SB3 Match included a “no rivet gun, no drill” rule, the fitting of the Match Kit was to be achieved without the addition any new holes in the hull or deck. Glen Truswell, LaserPerformance Technical Project Engineer confirmed, “This has been the most challenging part of the kit’s development, but we managed it!”

Following a warm welcome from the members of the Royal Southern Yacht Club,  Truswell briefed the students, many of whom have sailed the SB3 in it’s original form, on a couple of preferred techniques for the SB3 Match, including the spinnaker sheet catcher and the opportunity to hoist the spinnaker either under or over the newly positioned lowers. This was all food for thought as the students headed to the dock to where their rigged and ready SB3’s, provided by Pelican Racing, waited.

The first match of the day was scheduled to start at 10.00 hrs however, with only two knots of wind and extremely limited visibility, racing was postponed. At 11.30 hrs, the first flight of races began. Principal Race Officer, Simon Hand was anxious to complete the full race schedule appropriately shortened the course to compensate for the lack of wind.
 
All matches were completed in good time and some tight, nip and tuck match racing was enjoyed by the competitors and spectator students, press and race officers. Southampton University, helmed by Andy Shaw won the event by a convincing margin.

Nial Myant, helm of Team Myant was taken aback by how well the whole event was organised and delivered. “The Royal Southern Yacht Club ran an extremely professional event and we received such a warm welcome, we’re not really used to that at Student Sailing Events!” Having achieved second place overall Myant clearly had a great day on the water, when quizzed on the SB3 Match Kit his response was extremely positive, “The SB3 converts to the match racing format beautifully, the design is so simple. The pole system is the best design of any of the boats that I’ve ever match raced before. Our bow girl enjoyed using the lightweight carbon spinnaker pole, a fantastic feature of this kit! The boat was extremely responsive in the match format; the symmetrical kite sailed really well, heating up easily but also able to sail deep. All in all the SB3 Match is a fantastic boat for match racing!”

Coinciding with the launch of the Match Racing Kit by LaserPerformance was the second launch event of the Royal Southern Yacht Club Youth Academy for 18 – 25 year olds. The aim of the Academy is to make the Royal Southern the hub of sailing and socialising for this age group on the south coast. Following the event laid on last Friday, the Royal Southern will have no trouble attracting new members to the Club!

Event Organiser, Guy Jackson of Southampton Solent University is to be congratulated for arranging an excellent event, he successfully co-ordinated a large number of different parties who all pulled together to make the event possible. Thanks also go to Pelican Racing for their support and Robinsons’ Family Brewery for their generous supply of prizes.

Results:

Southampton University, Andy Shaw, 5 points, 1st overall
Team Myant, Nial Myant, 3 points, 2nd overall
Southampton Solent University, Chris Witty, 3 points, 3rd overall
Portsmouth University, Tom Cheney, 2 points, 4th overall
Cardiff University, Dom Breen-Turner, 1 point, 5th overall
Southampton University, Ben Pym, 1 point, 6th overall

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Singapore has been going through a dry spell, however the weather gods decided that it was time to unleash a torrent of water on the island, unfortunately this coincided with the running of the Causeway Race on Saturday 20th March. No doubt the grey, drizzly conditions kept some crews at home (the first decision), 5 eager and not so eager SB3′s took to the water and joined the rest of the keelboats for a race from under the second link to the Causeway at Woodlands. With 2 husband and wife teams Bandit and Hullaballoo, the father and sons’ team on Glasgow Kiss, and the fleet newcomers of Xoco and Pyxis, the racing was going to be tight.

Starting with the tide, the fleet got away in 8 knots of wind (and rain), with the big decision being whether to stay out in the tide or go inshore for the breeze, those boats who stayed in the middle of the river with the tide came out on top. For 2 hours the foursome of Glasgow Kiss, Bandit, Xoco, and Pyxis had a great race up the river, trading tacks, pushing into the banks and trying to catch the wind and tide, sometimes the left paid off sometimes it didn’t and being out of the tide cost lots of distance. All four boats led at some point during the beat, having to deal with obstacles which included fish farms, tankers, local fishermen and Kellongs (floating villages), which all provide for an interesting sail. Hullaballoo opted for the inshore start, and were not seen again until the windward mark some 2 hours later, as they dropped into a different wind pattern at the back of the fleet.

At the top mark Chris and Claire on Bandit sneaked into the lead, having judged the tide correctly and managed to make it around the last fish farm, the remaining four bots had a tussle to decide who would be next with Jamie and Ella on Hullaballo making a surprise appearance having managed to catch up in the final few hundred meters.

With the tide now having turned, the planning spinnaker reach to the finish which everyone had been looking forward to evaporated, and a long light wind reach cum run back down the river ensued. Bandit stretched out her lead and managed to get into a different wind pattern, however a tactical error going too far to the right, and out of the tide in the last 500 meters, saw their lead disappear, with Hullabaloo capitalizing on the error and whilst sailing very deep, managed to stay in the tide. The final results saw Hullabaloo, performing a miraculous last to first performance, finish first, with the Cuthbertson family on Glasgow Kiss coming in second, Bandit finishing third, just head of Xoco in fourth and Pyxis in fifth. The first 4 SB3′s all finishing within 3 minutes of each other, after three and a half hours of racing.

Thanks must go to Prakash for running the racing, in the rain. The planned BBQ for the evening was not greeted with enthusiasm by the sailors as it had rained all day, and the customary cold beers in the pool was replaced by hot coffee, under shelter. The cold and wet fleet then went home for a ‘hot bath’ with one sailor muttering ‘I didn’t come to south east Asia to sail in UK weather.’

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Con sei prove il team Negri-Caresani-Ravioli conquista la prima tappa del circuito

Sei il numero massimo delle prove possibili. Sei le prove disputate in questa prima tappa del circuito Volvo Cup per Laser Sb3. Numana e lo Yacht Club Riviera del Conero non tradiscono gli amici del Laser Sb3. Dopo averli coccolati per tutto l’inverno, li hanno accolti al meglio preparando buon vento e tanto agonismo. A dire il vero se nella prima giornata le tre prove disputate si sono svolte con condizioni di mare, vento e temperature praticamente ideali, per quanto riguarda le tre prove della seconda giornata possiamo parlare di condizioni decisamente più impegnative.

Si parte puntuali alle 11 con un vento che soffia da est con intensità crescente da 12 a 15 nodi, con onda formata. Il Comitato, presieduto da Carlo Onadaddio, è rapido a predisporre il campo e a mettere in sequenza le tre prove che rimandano gli equipaggi a terra con piena soddisfazione.

Le condizioni hanno spinto i meno esperti a rinunciare all’ultima regata, ma anche per loro il week end si chiude al meglio. Dopo le 6 prove della due giorni del Conero, Pietro Negri su “Stenghele” è leader della classifica. Non è riuscito a raggiungerlo Luca Maitan, su Flexlogic, che approfittando dello scarto ha potuto eliminare quel quattordicesimo piazzamento della prima giornata. Ma non è stato sufficiente si “accontenta” di un secondo piazzamento, in attesa di tornare in acqua per il prossimo scontro diretto.
Neanche Vincenzo Graciotti su “Bravi – Città di Numana” è riuscito nell’impresa di fermare “Stenghele”. E’ suo, a una sola lunghezza da Flexlogic, il terzo posto del podio.

Ed è proprio Vincenzo Graciotti che, nella duplice veste di armatore e di vice-presidente dello Yacht Club Riviera del Conero commenta questa due giorni, ma anche la stagione che verrà. “E’ vero abbiamo avuto i Laser Sb3 per tutto l’inverno e li ospiteremo anche per le prime due tappe della Volvo Cup, ma quest’anno abbiamo pianificato di coinvolgere tutte le classi che prenderanno parte alla Volvo Cup. Dopo i Laser Sb3 ci saranno i Melges 24 dal 4 al 6 giugno. Chiuderanno gli Optimist e i D-One nel fine settimana dall’11 al 13 giugno. Sappiamo di avere le condizioni ottimali per ospitare barche competitive e performanti, lo dimostreremo”.

Si va all’alaggio, ma la flotta dei Laser Sb3 tornerà ancora a Numana per la seconda tappa del circuito il 17 e il 18 aprile prossimo.
“Abbiamo scelto una stagione relativamente “facile” – spiega Pietro Negri, presidente della classe – con pochi spostamenti per agevolare gli armatori, ma soprattutto per prendere confidenza con il campo di regata del Campionato Mondiale. Dopo Numana, infatti, ci trasferiremo a Torbole sul Garda dove siputeremo le ultime tre tappe, due delle quali coincideranno, una con Campionato Italiano, l’ultima con quello Mondiale”.

“Ci aspettiamo davvero molto da questa stagione – continua Negri – Spero sia davvero l’anno della svolta, quella in cui il Laser SB3 riuscirà a raggiungere i numeri che merita. Il Mondiale in Italia da questo punto di vista ci sta aiutando molto. Basti pensare come siano già quasi cento gli iscritti”.

Intanto si pensa anche al dopo mondiale e alle prossime stagioni: “Oltre che a livello internazionale il Laser SB3 – continua Negri – si sta diffondendo sulla nostra penisola e sulle nostre Isole. Abbiamo infatti altre due flotte che si uniranno alla Volvo Cup di cui sono particolarmente felice, la flotta Sarda di Alghero e la flotta di Taranto. Per il futuro vorrei pensare tappe anche in terra di Sardegna”.

Se i Laser Sb3 vanno al meritato riposo fino ad aprile, la Volvo Cup torna in acqua la prossima settimana che segnerà l’avvio della stagione per gli Optimist, impegnati ad Alassio con il Meeting Internazionale della Gioventù, e anche per i Melges 24, a Sanremo per la prima tappa del circuito.

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Andrea Carloni www.andreacarloni.com

“The best racing I have had in Singapore”

The first regatta of the year for the Singapore SB3 fleet saw 80% of all the SB3′s in Singapore take to the water for the Tiger Cup Trophy over the weekend of March 6th and 7th. With a planned 11 race series it was going to mean long days on the water. The marina was a hive of activity before the 11am briefing with boats cleaned, new sails unrolled, and sun screen applied.

The fleet launched on Saturday to make the expected start time of 12:00 noon, in a sweltering 35°C. A slight delay and the fleet got away in a pleasant 8 knots of wind coming from the north east. As the boats moved towards the windward mark, the wind began to drop and the tide kicked in, within the space of a few minutes, the speedos were reading 0.0, and boats going backward in the tide. After letting the crews sweat it out for another 15 minutes the race office abandoned the race, leaving the 13 boats to whistle for the wind. Fortunately the wind did come and filled in from the south west.

With the wind steadying at a pleasant 12knots, the race office acted swiftly and got race 1 away, with a short 2x windwar / leeward course. With this event having the largest number of SB3′s on the water to date, getting a good start was imperative, so there was much jostling on the start line, and at the turning marks, with many boats having to complete 360 penalty turns. Race 2 and 3 saw the wind increase to 15knots causing a little more excitement when turning corners, with a number of boats seeing what tropical fish they could catch with their spinnakers. Compass Rising had to make a quick trip into the marina to replace a jib block, meaning they were carrying at 14th. A number of other boats incurred breakages, most notably Robin Young on Pyxis who broke the main halyard, putting an end to their days racing. The final race of the day saw the race officer decide to send the fleet 3 X round the course, catching Fabrice on Alidade out, as he was leading the race and heading fast for the finish when the rest of the fleet rounded the leeward mark and set off upwind. Saturday conclude with 2 wins for Alidade, 2 wins for Glasgow Kiss, 1 for Compass Rising and 1 win for Hullabaloo. Scumbag was showing bursts of impressive speed, as was Su Me, and the Dogs 3.

The fleet then made its weary way back to the marina, with many crews trying to get there body temperatures back to something sensible by drinking beer in the pool to try and rehydrate from a long day on the water. The drinks downtown was abandoned as the fleet sought to recover from a long, hot and tiring day on the water. Special mention must go to Sean Cox on Katana, who with ‘direction’ from the helm. Bill Lydens, went swimming 3 times during the day, once to wash the boat, once to free the spinnaker from the keep, and once to clear the windward mark tackle which they had fouled.

Sunday dawned another bright and pleasant day, with racing scheduled to start at 1:00pm and a briefing at midday the decision was taken to wait for the wind. The fleet launched at 1:30 and racing got away at 2:00pm. In a steady 10knots from the south west, with Race 7 completed, the discard kicked in and Bob Comstock on Compass Rising, discarding a 14th place, moved up the leader board.
Race 8, 9, 10 and 11 saw excellent close racing with tight fight for all positions in the fleet. Showing improved speed from Day 1 was the Dogs 3, and Bandit, who whilst fast in a straight line, were suffering at the turning marks sailing only 2 up. Somebody had had a word with the race officer and the final race of the day was kept to a standard 2 x windward / leeward.

On the conclusion of race 11 the fleet made their way back to the marina where the boats were put to bed, and the fleet cooled down with ice cold beer in the swimming pool. The prize giving was held in the swimming pool as the competitors sort shelter from the 35 degrees temperatures. Overall results showed how tight the racing had been with just three points separating the first three boats, and a tie for overall winner, with Bob Comstock on compass rising taking first place on countback from Wallace Cuthebertson on Glasgow Kiss, and Fabrice Piard in 3rd place. Scum bag finished 4th, Hullaballoo 5th and SuMe 6th

Thanks must go to Prakash, from Raffles Marina and to Koobs and the Race team for running an excellent regatta with little wait between races, and excellent course setting.

An often heard comment after the event was that this was “best racing that I have has in Singapore”, It is going to be a great year ahead for SB3 racing in Singapore. The Singapore SB3 fleet is going from strength to strength with an impressive number of boats on the water, the team from Tara sailing in the World Championships in Lake Garda in July and an active calendar of club and regatta sailing with the next weekend regatta will be held over the weekend of 22/23 May.

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