Congratulations to Joe Llwellyn, Nigel Wakefield and Ben Vines on Henri Lloyd – Forelle Estates, winners of the 2011 ZHIK UK Laser SB3 National Championships which concluded on Tuesday at the Royal Southern Yacht Club, Hamble.

Racing on the final day of the Championships was abandoned due to the wind conditions. With less than 4 knots of steady pressure, Race Officer Tony Lovell abandoned racing to ensure a fair result for the event. Had a 10th race been run in poor conditions, a second discard would have been applied to the fleet’s results.

Catching up with Joe after the prize giving, he explained, “We’re so pleased with our decision to buy our own boat and join the Laser SB3 fleet. The racing is so close and this event has provided the best sailing you could ask for, with great conditions, strong competition throughout the fleet and first class race management as always from the Royal Southern. Nigel and Ben have been awesome to sail with and I’m absolutely over the moon to have won the event!”

Joe Llwellyn wins the Laser SB3 UK National Championships for a second time, having previously won the event in Largs with Jerry Hill in 2008. Ben Vines replaced Jerry “Pasty” Vigus who is recovering from surgery having dislocated his shoulder in the penultimate race at the 2011 World Championships in Torquay.

Henri Lloyd – Forelle Estates were also winners of the “Best New Comer” trophy as Joe owns and helms his own Laser SB3 for the first time in the 2011 National Championships. However, being the gentlemen that they are, they passed their prize to second placed best new comers Doug Paton, Matthew Thomas and Roddy Anderson on Superfly who travelled from Glasgow to compete. Ray Davies, Ray Newman and Graham Bridle on healthyone.co.uk won the “Salty Sea Dog” prize awarded to the best placed crew with an average age of 50 years plus.

After 10 years of great racing, the Laser SB3 class remains the number one sportsboat sailing choice in the UK. A newly formed fleet of boats will race in Scotland, based on The Clyde in 2012; Torquay remains a strong fleet and there is also regular racing in Brightlingsea on the East Coast as well as the large Solent fleet. Jerry Hill and Craig Burlton, both previous World Champions and long term owners in the Laser SB3 class enjoy racing the boat so much they both claim, “There’s nothing else they’d rather be sailing.” The 2012 calendar is in the final stages of planning, so if you’d like to get involved in this great fleet, contact Katie Ashworth for further details katiesb3@gmail.com.

Thanks from the UK Class Association to our title sponsor Zhik and our supporting sponsors Hamble Yacht Services and LaserPerformance who all contributed to making the event the success it was.

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Top 5 Results:

1.         Henri Lloyd – Forelle Estates, Lewellyn/Wakefield/Vines     31 pts
2.         Gill Race Team, Burlton/White/Heeley                                         34 pts
3.         3 Sad Old Blokes, Hill/Barker/Thomas                                            36 pts
4.         Body Elements, Carveth/Ramus/Wilkinson/Clarke                  38 pts
5.         Baloo, Outhwaite/Boatman/Hivey                                                  48 pts

For full results visit: ZHIK LASER SB3 UK NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS – OVERALL

Last night ZHIK hosted the Laser SB3 10th Anniversary Party at the King & Queen in Hamble. It was a great night, thanks to everyone for coming!

Just a few photos here!

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The Royal Hollywood Ball will be held at the Club on Saturday 10th September.  This is the last Crew ball of the year coinciding with the September Regatta. This is a great social event to finish of the Sailing Season, following on from the successful May Royal Bollywood Crew Ball, this time the club will have a Hollywood theme.

Tickets are £25.00 per person, to include: a Wight Vodka Cocktail on arrival, Two Course Sit Down Dinner, Dancing until Midnight to Mean Poppa Lean, Altobasso Photo Booth and more.
 
The Southern will be turned into Hollywood for the evening so expect to see a red carpet on arrival, Oscars and a glamorous themed Club.
 
This is a great opportunity for all to get together, drink, dance and mingle! The ball is open to Members, their guests/friends and all crews and owners who have or will sail from the Southern.
 
Dress Code is: Black Tie and Dresses
 
Tickets can be purchased online from the Club website by Non Members and Members, please go to: www.royal-southern.co.uk/Calendar/Book-or-Enter-Online. Alternatively please call Reception or the Sailing Office on 023 8045 0300.

Organising authority: Royal North Sea Yacht Club Ostend
Date: 23/25 September 2011

Please find here the Notice of Race (http://www.rnsyc.be/ostend/uploads/entryforms/2011-huys-nor.pdf) and link (http://www.rnsyc.be/ostend/en/calendar.asp) to the Entry Form for the Huysman Open Belgian Nationals Laser SB3, formerly known as the 3-Nations Cup.

The Laser SB3 class is pleased to welcome you all for the 3th time in Ostend. The Belgian class is now growing rapidly and 7 teams are ready to take up against UK, IRL, NED and GER teams. As always, Ostend is a perfect venue to end the season or, even better, to prepare for the Dutch Nationals in Medemblik two weeks later. Don’t miss it!

The Basics:

Date: Fri 23th – Sun 25th September
Club: Royal North Sea Yacht Club, Ostend – Belgium
Expected # entries: 25 and more!
Races: 9 scheduled
First race: 14 PM Fri 23th September
Entries: open now, please enter a.s.a.p. on http://www.rnsyc.be/ostend/en/calendar.asp
Mooring: at RNSYC
Craning: Free, assistance starting from Thursday 22th PM. On Sunday boats will be called to the craning area individually following a craning list. We will ensure priority for overseas teams!
Boat parking: competitors participating at the Dutch Nationals can leave their boat +trailer for free in between both events!
Accommodation: a wide range of hotels or youth hostels is available and for the quickest among you, we can even arrange a free stay on one of the yachts in the harbour.
Social events: Free beers after sailing, what else ? , dinner at the clubhouse on Sat. 24 Sept at 20hPM. Prizegiving scheduled at 17PM at latest on Sunday ensuring everyone of you can leave in time.
Contact details:
Royal North Sea Yacht Club
Montgomerykaai 1
B-8400 OOSTENDE
0032 59 43 06 94 or info@rnsyc.be

If you’ve got any queries, or need personal assistance please e-mail cedric@beweb.com or frank.dobbels@telenet.be and we’ll help where we can.

A few piccies from day 3 at the ZHIK Laser SB3 National Championships 2011. A fairly grey day on the Solent, but 3 good races and everyone is back in the bar by 2.30pm!

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Geoff Carveth, Emma Clarke, Sandy Ramus and Julie Wilkinson (Body Elements) continue to lead the fleet at the 2011 ZHIK Laser SB3 National Championships with a 4 point lead over Jerry Hill (3 Sad Old Blokes). 6 races have now been completed and one discard has now been applied.

For full results, please see below:

ZHIK Laser SB3 UK National Championships Results – Day 2

After day 1 and 3 races at the ZHIK Laser SB3 UK National Championships the fleet is lead by Geoff Carveth and crew on board Body Elements. Jerry Hill (3 Sad Old Blokes) lies second and Sarah Allan (Sailboat Deliveries) lies third.

The full results can be viewed here:

ZHIK LASER SB3 UK NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS – DAY 1

Preparations are well underway in boat yards around the River Hamble as competitors ready themselves for the 10th Laser SB3 Nationals Championships sponsored by Zhik. The forecast is promising brisk westerly’s and Principal Race Officer, Tony Lovell of the Royal Southern Yacht Club will oversee the eleven race championship that will be sailed on windward leeward courses in the central Solent.

The cream of the UK class will battle it out for the final class championship title of 2011. Current World Champion, Geoff Carveth will be aiming to take “The Double” for the 2011 season; Jerry Hill will want to put his disappointing World Championship result behind him and regain his previous form in the class; Craig Burlton will compete with his regular crew of Stephen White and Adam Heeley who are consistently “quick”.

Andy Oddie in Underground Toys will be one to watch, along with Peter Saxton, Sarah Allan, Charlie Whelan and Tom Clay. All are capable of great results at this event. Stewart Reed and his crew on Finitor 7 will, without doubt, win the social award and any crews wishing to be in contention for the title would be well advised to give them a wide berth in the bar!

The class look forward to welcoming David Cheyne, former Class President, from Ireland and Martin Lossie from The Netherlands. All in all, the 10th Laser SB3 National Championships is going to be a great event on and off the water. Over the past decade the Laser SB3 has provided highly competitive one design racing at affordable prices. There are still owners sailing in the class who took part in the 2002 National Championships hosted by Warsash Sailing Club, where Paul Lovejoy, Mike Budd and Robert Greenhalgh were victorious.

Title sponsor Zhik will host the Laser SB3 class at the 10th Anniversary Party in the King & Queen Pub in Hamble on Monday night. All past and present Laser SB3 sailors are welcome to join the competitors for a beer or two from 7.30pm. Thanks also to supporting sponsors Hamble Yacht Services who’s launching and recovery facilities have made this event possible and thanks also to LaserPerformance who will be onsite providing an event repairs service during the Championships.

Please join us on Monday 29th August at the King & Queen, Hamble to celebtrate the 10th UK Laser SB3 National Championships. We’ve had a great decade of sailing and socialising so we felt it was appropriate that we mark the occasion with a kick ass party!

If you’ve owned or sailed a Laser SB3 over the past 10 years, you and your past/present crew mates are welcome to come along!

Full details below….see you there!

The Zhik Laser SB3 UK National Championships begins on Saturday 27th August. To date there are 35 entires and comptition is going to be fierce.

The Sailing Instructions, ABP Bye Law (Notice to Mariners), Course Card and Comptitor Notes (a useful guide to the event, please read) are published below.

If you have any further quiestions, please don’t hesitate to drop me an e-mail: katiesb3@gmail.com

ZHIK LASER SB3 UK NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS SAILING INSTRUCTIONS
ABP Byelaws 10 & 11 and NtoM No 3 v2

ZHIK LASER SB3 UK NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP COMPETITOR NOTES

The Notice of Race for the Scottish Championships can be found at the link below:

GSS Scottish Championships Notice of Race

SATURDAY 17th & SUNDAY 18th SEPTEMBER 2011

Clyde Cruising Club and sponsored by Gareloch Support Services (GSS).

The event will consist of up to 6 windward –leeward races for the SB3 class within an area of approximately 3 miles of Rhu marina and general surrounding sea area. Three races are planned for each day with first race will starting on Saturday at 10.30 and on Sunday at 10.00.

Entries shall be made on the GSS CCC Regatta Entry Form on or before the 10 September 2011. The entry fee is £40. Entries received after 10/09/11 will be subject to additional £15.00 late entry fee. All entries and enquires shall be addressed to the CCC. The Notice of Race and Entry Form will be available from the Clyde Cruising Club and on the CCC website www.clyde.org.

Sailing Instructions will be posted on the CCC web site www.clyde.org. Any amendments to the sailing instruction will be posted on the club’s web site where possible and also at the harbour master’s office at Rhu marina during the time of the regatta.

The Low Points System of RRS Appendix RYA 1 will apply with one discard. Prizes will be awarded for up to the first three yachts overall in each class and to the yacht which has given the best performance of all yachts in the event.

As per our successful event in 2010 the sponsor GSS, has agreed to provide the SB3 class with free crane and berthing for the duration of the event.

A lively social programme will be on the cards kicking off with a free bar on the Friday night at the Royal Northern & Clyde Yacht Club…

More info: Contact Scottish SB3 Class Rep: douglas_paton@hotmail.com

Congratulations to Mark Stokes, James Eastbury and Spike Watson on their victory in the Laser SB3 class at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week 2011.

Mark has competed in the past 6 Cowes Weeks and was clearly delighted with his win. Eau No! beat Red Rocket, helmed by ISAF Number 1 Laser sailor Nick Thompson, with a 2.5 points margin.

Mark was ceremoniously thrown into Cowes Harbour…by his crew…when they returned to the dock this afternoon!

Full results can be found here

Hamilton Island Race Week runs from 19th – 17th August in the glorious Whitsunday Islands, Australia. In December 2012 the Laser SB3 World Championships will be hosted by Hamilton Island, so no doubt the Aussie crews will enjoy some time on the water at the Championship venue.

Rod Jones, summaries the runners and riders…..have a great week!

13 x SB3s ( plus 1 ring in ) in Sports Boat Division for AUDI Hamilton Island Race Week
 
In the fleet
 
·         Multiple Olympic Medallists ( Malcolm Page ( Gold ) and Ian Brown ( Bronze ) and they are on same Sb3 !! )
·         Multiple World Champions ( Ian Brown , Matt Belcher , Malcolm Page , Nick Rogers , Dennis Winstanely , Glenn Bourke )
·         America’s Cup sailors ( Glenn Bourke )
·         Multiple Australian Champions skippers ( Phil Gray , Nick Rogers , Glenn Bourke , Matt Belcher , Dennis Winstanley , Rod Jones )
·         Multiple Olympic Coaches ( Ian Brown AUS / BER and Rod Jones FIJ )
·         Multiple State Champions ( too many too list )
·         2 x female crews ( Shahrzad Pullar and Ali Blundell )
·         1 x SB3 European Champion ( Glenn Bourke )
·         1 Qld State of Origin and Kangaroos Rugby League legend – Mike Mclean
·         4 teams from Tasmania
·         6 teams from Queensland
·         2 teams from Sydney
·         1 team from Melbourne
·         1 Melges 24 !! ( guess he’ll have fun )
·         12 races !!
 
Queensland Championships on the line for the SB3s  (the Melges cant play!!)

Follow the action on the event website: www.hamiltonislandraceweek.com.au

First-time sailor Paul Kendall takes a lesson in riding the waves from Dame Ellen MacArthur .

A sailing lesson with Dame Ellen MacArthur

I can safely say I’ve never, in my entire life, had any desire to go sailing. Paying to sit on deck, sipping a cold beer while other people climb the rigging and man the tiller has always suited me just fine. It’s true that I did once don a sailor’s uniform, complete with a doughboy hat and stick-on handlebar moustache, but that was forced upon me by my so-called best man during my stag weekend. And the attention it attracted in the pub we went to for drinks later in the evening was enough to put me off the nautical life forever.

Which is why I was as surprised as anyone, 10 months on, to find myself on my way to the Isle of Wight to have a sailing lesson.

Three things had changed my mind: first, I’d finally forgiven my best man. Second, Cowes Week in the Isle of Wight was coming up, and I’d always thought that anything that had been part of the sporting calendar for as long as Cowes had – the regatta was first held in 1826 – and managed to attract more than 10,000 spectators every year, must have something going for it. And last, but by no means least, my teacher was not going to be some salt-encrusted mariner smelling of fish; it was to be Britain’s most famous yachtswoman, the inspirational Dame Ellen MacArthur.

Few people alive today embody the great British tradition of extreme fortitude better than Dame Ellen. In her extraordinary career, the 35 year-old has won two classic transatlantic races and set a new world record for sailing non-stop around the globe. Her lonely battles with monstrous waves and horrific weather, which she famously recorded in a series of emotional video diaries, endeared the 5ft 3in champion to millions and propelled her to the status of national treasure.

In person, however, Dame Ellen wears her achievements lightly. I know nothing about sailing, but as we approach our boat for the day, a Laser SB3 keelboat, she’s considerate enough to stop and show me how to get on to the boat from the quay.

“Step over this,” she says, pointing at a wire. “Turn around backwards, holding on to the rail, and lower your foot down on to the side of the boat.” I feel a bit foolish struggling to complete such a basic procedure when my companion has just told me about the time she had to climb up a 100ft mast in a force-eight gale to fix a sail, but she is so unstarry she puts me at my ease.

As soon as we’ve made our way out of Cowes Harbour, she starts the lesson. “One of the most important things you have to be able to do is tell where the wind is coming from,” she says. “That’s pretty fundamental.”

If you can work out the direction of the wind, then you can work out where to position the sails to take advantage of its power. There are two principal manoeuvres she demonstrates: tacking (turning the boat so the wind exerts pressure on the opposite side of the sail) and gybing (the same thing, but reserved for when the boat has the wind behind it).

After a few attempts, I start to get into some sort of rhythm, pulling on the appropriate rope to move the mainsail or the jib and scurrying under the boom when we change direction.

To give it extra authenticity, Dame Ellen insists on calling, “Ready about!” (“Is everybody ready?”) before we turn and “Lee-ho” as we swap sides.

She then shows me how to put up the spinnaker, an extra-large sail for sailing downwind, and gives me a tutorial on using the tiller.

It’s not easy to sail in a straight line; the wind and the waves are constantly moving the boat one way or the other. It’s important to keep an eye on your telltales, the small pieces of ribbon attached to either side of the sails. If the inside telltale is loose and fluttering, then the sail is too loose, she says, and you need to pull in the rope a couple of feet. If the outside is loose, let the sheet out.

You can’t relax for a second. (How Dame Ellen kept on top of everything on her own, on a boat three times the size of this one, in some of the world’s most hostile seas, God only knows.)

But, towards the end of my lesson, as the breeze picks up and we speed towards The Needles, I feel for the first time like I have some sort of control over the boat. It’s an exhilarating feeling and I’m starting to see why she, and millions of others, love sailing so much.

But I’m a bit late to the party. Dame Ellen gave up competitive sailing three years ago to concentrate on her two charities: the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, which organises sailing trips for young cancer sufferers, and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a group that campaigns for sustainable development.

But it’s obvious, even on our mini trip out of Cowes, that her passion for sailing remains. Can she definitely say, hand on heart, she will never race again?

“Yes,” she replies. “Because I’ve realised there’s a much greater challenge out there. Our world has finite resources and we’re using them at a very fast rate. I’ll never ever lose that passion [for sailing] because it’s me, but I’ve never come across a challenge that matters more than this.”

She sounds every bit as determined as she was in her attempts to circumnavigate the globe. And, from a selfish point of view, if I take up sailing seriously, there’ll at least be one less tough competitor to worry about.

TIPS FOR A NOVICE SAILOR

Choose calm, uncrowded waters

Begin on a boat rigged with one sail

Research tide, wind and weather conditions before you set off

Become familiar with sail control. In general, sails should be relatively flat when the wind is either very light or very strong and full when there is a moderate wind

Capsize on purpose. Better to practise in a controlled environment

Respect the boom. To avoid a bump to the head, or even worse, being knocked overboard, always be aware when the boom is about to swing

Learn the sailing lingo
DAME ELLEN MACARTHUR’S TOP-FIVE PLACES TO SAIL IN BRITAIN

1 The West coast of Scotland – stunning scenery and crystal-clear water

2 The Essex coast and Thames Estuary. Full of beautiful old barges

3 Any lake, especially lakes with islands. Swallows and Amazons territory – it reminds me of being a kid

4 Inland waterways

5 The Solent – a lovely protected piece of water with stunning rivers

TelegraphPlayer-8677882 By Paul Kendall
7:00AM BST 05 Aug 2011