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Long day on the water shuffles the top, Another Affair continues the lead

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Different winners in all four races of Day 3 with the most consistent sailing from Another Affair (POR3723) who continue to lead on the overall standings.

Great job by the Race Committee to conclude 4 races today with wind stable to acceptable limit with shifts on the racecourse. With every day of the championship the low tide happens later and later in the day, so starts are still super tricky. The day opened with a general recall, but quickly switched to Black flag, which caught a couple of boats in Race 5.

Glasgow Kiss took the lead followed by AP Hotels and Trio (NED3445). Ares, Another Affair and SquiB followed closely. On the second upwind rounding AP Hotels took the lead from Glasgow Kiss and finished first. Team Xcellent did a great job and finished second leaving the Singapore team in third.

Pleasant surprise for Race 6 was a clear start on uniform flag! The sky turned grey, but without the wind picking up. Already on the second downwind the sun came back to brighten the racecourse for spectacular photos. First on the upwind mark were team Freedom (POR3803), followed by Skipjack (NED3575) and France Youth Team of Ian Garreta (3653).

For the 2nd rounding the leaders changed with PBII in first, followed by Porco Rosso (AUS3827) and Freedom. In this sequence they reached the finish line. Exciting moment for Paul Hine and the team on PBII winning this race as they have never scored a bullet at a World Championship. This also puts them in top 10 two days before the end of the championship. Well done, Poor Bouy-20!

Maximum number of boats that jumped the line on Black flag reached six in Race 7. It was won by team Ares who sailed a very consistent race. They took early lead on the first rounding and dominated the fleet for the rest of the game. John Pollard and France Youth of Ange Delerce put some pressure on Will Sargent and his team, but they did a great job keeping the focus and sailing their best. Race 8 had a clear start with the wind dropping to 6-7 knots. Ian Garreta (FRA3653) was in the lead on the first downwind together with MXTC (NED3714) and Supersonic (UAE3363). Tricky light wind and the incoming tide decided the last race of the day with team Freedom (POR3803) finishing in first, Ian Garreta in second and Nils Razmilovic on Glasgow Kiss in third.

Another Affair sailed the most consistent day – with no big mistakes, no BFDs and staying always in top 3-5 places. Their worst result overall is 7th in two races, one of which becomes a discard, so they still have some room for an error. Team Ares, however, are only 4 points behind and Another Affair will have to keep their consistency for two more days.

Tiago Morais and his crew of father Miguel and son Francisco Oliveira have been sailing in the SB20 Class for a number of years. Representing Club de Vela Atlántico from the North of Portugal they frequently travel to Cascais for SB20 events. In the season of 2022-2023 they crowned the overall Winer Series and finished three out of five events on the podium.

Fellow Portuguese team AP Hotels won the opening race of the day, but all-Portuguese crew of Jose Paulo Ramada didn’t manage to keep the pace for the rest of the day. They had 13th, 7th and 15th finish in Race 8. This pushed them down to 5th place with Freedom moving to the 4th. Intense level of sailing here in Scheveingen is tiring and staying focused after 6-7 hours on the water is not easy.

John Pollard had an up and down day with the worst result in 11th and best in 2nd place. “Variable conditions today, but we managed to stay out of trouble! We had no black flags and four sufficient results, so we are looking good for the rest of the week,” – said Tactician James Grummett onboard Xcellent who close the Top 3.

After this long and tiring day the sailors were welcomed on the beach for a fun raffle sponsored by Dubarry of Ireland and Sailmon. Nice food and beautiful sunset concluded the day in bright colours that made any bad memories from racing fade away. With 8 races completed including one discard the fleet enters the second part of the championship. Thursday is promised to be windy and Friday, on the contrary, very light.

For Wednesday the first warning signal is at 11:25 and the RC changed the number of potential races to four.

Follow the Dutch SB20 on Facebook and Instagram as @sb20_netherlands.

Tracking available through Sailmon: https://sailmon.com/racing/sb20-world-championships-scheveningen

Photo credits: Laurens Morel. You can find all high-resolution photos here.

A mix in top 10 and a change of leader on Day 2

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Day 2 of the 2023 SB20 World Championships opened with a light breeze and storm on the forecast. The pressure was on for the Race Committee to start at scheduled 11:35, but it was not until after 12:30 that racing got going.

Light wind caused the delay and the day promised to be tricky again with the tide working not in fleet’s favour. Race 3 started on uniform flag, but too many boats were over the line pushed by the tide onto the racecourse. Many favoured the pin end to avoid the crowded Committee end of the line. After a general recall a burst of laughter was heard in the air as the Black flag went up for the second attempt of Race 3.

Team Ares (AUS3828) took a good start in the middle, then struggled to get to speed and find stable wind. Irish TED of Michael O’Connor (IRL3809), Solyd Sailing team of Vasco Serpa (POR3801), Tiago Morais on Another Affair (POR3723) and Martin Estlander on Freedom (3803), John Pollard on Xcellent (GBR3814) all favoured the left handside. Race 2 winners Glasgow Kiss (SGP3750) had a bad start and got stuck in the middle.

With a good start on the pin end 80% of the race could happen on one tack benefiting from the tide that was still going down. Then, a technical approach on port tack to the mark would make it a winning combination.

First rounding saw the Dutch team 3J’s (NED3754) in the lead followed by Freedom (POR3803) and Supersonic (UAE3363) arriving on port tack. Among the top teams on first upwind mark were Leviathan (IRL3433), PBII (GBR3820) and TED (IRL3809) with Solyd Sailing and Xcellent chasing closely. The boats got some nice speed going downwind and those who stayed on the right side of the downwind course made a good decision.

With PBII retired after first downwind due to a BFD there was one less competitor in top 10. Breaking Bod (GBR3758) and Leviathan took the right side upwind, which has cost them a few places.

From afar it looked like the battle for the 2nd rounding would be between Freedom (POR3803) and Xcellent (GBR3814), but it was Vasco Serpa who got the winning combination right and rounded first. 3J’s lost four positions and rounded in 5th.

On the downwind Solyd Sailing were coming to the bottom gate in close with Freedom, but Freedom went too far left missing the layline and letting Vasco round in first. From then it was a short run upwind toward the committee boat for the finish, which Vasco and his team nailed brilliantly. Xcellent and TED followed on a photo finish in second and third. 3J’s climbed to 4th position and Another Affair (POR3723) who sailed a very consistent race were 5th, with Freedom arriving in 6th.

Race 4 didn’t start until around 14:30 with RC trying to set the starting line for nearly an hour. Shifts of 50 degrees and wind dropping made everyone worried about the potential cancellation of Race 4. The dark horizon made additional pressure of a passing storm that promised 20mm of rain coming from the English Channel.

The boats stretched a bit more on the starting line, but it still looked very messy on the RC end. The wind shifted more to the south against anticipated Westerly.

The right handside of the course had a number of Dutch teams after the start on the RC end, but again many boats favoured the left. With the threat of the wind getting closer to 0 and the coming storm the RC took a decision to go with the Black flag at the first attempt of Race 4. Again, it cost some of the top teams painful BFDs. Unfortunately the case for Glasgow Kiss and Breaking Bod, who both retired from the race after the start.

On the 1st upwind rounding Dutch youth team from Rotterdam (NED3290) took the lead, Another Affair and Kesbeke (NED3716) closely chasing them. In top 10 you could see a number of Dutch boats including Vliegensvlugge Vlieg (NED3446), Broach | TU Delft | Buitenhuis Advies | SuBtiel (NED3340), MXTC of Marco van Driel (NED3714) and others.

With the wind shift to the west predicted with the storm, the left handside of the downwind now looked better. After the first downwind rounding on the 2nd upwind Another Affair made a smart move and stayed on that side for a long as they could. Xcellent was climbing on the opposite side. This worked well in the previous race, but not so well in the new conditions.

2nd upwind rounding witnessed the same positions approaching with NED3290 of Donna-Tinke Huijsmans and Another Affair sailing very close. Tiago Morais on Another Affair (POR3723) managed to round first and another Dutch boat Kesebeke followed in 3rd. John Pollard arriving in 4th and Dutch Vliegensvlugge Vlieg in 5th.

As the wind was dropping to nearly 4 knots at times the last downwind was super tricky for the leader to keep their pace. Having played the downwind very well and gaining a lead Another Affair secured the finish and won Race 4.

Youngsters on NED3290 followed right behind them with Kesbeke closing the top three. The AP over A was immediately hoisted after the finish of the first boat and the fleet rushed back ashore to shelter from the coming storm.

Good day for many Dutch teams which shuffles the overall positions on the leaderboard and makes a new Top 10. After four races the championship can be considered completed and with so many BFDs across the table the fleet is looking forward to the first discard after 5 races.

Looking at the National performance the Portuguese teams have a strong lead with three teams in top 10. Tiago Morais, helmsman onboard Another Affair, commented:

“You notice that the leaderboard has changed since yesterday. All the 4 winners were different, yesterday we had the Aussies and the French youth teams, today we were fast and the Dutch teams too, so the competition is very high. I’m happy to sail on the North sea, because I’m used to sail in the river and I am used to sailing with a current. The Portuguese are doing pretty well – Zé Paulo (AP Hotels, currently second) is sailing very well and Vasco (Solyd Sailing, 8th overall) is having a consistent racing. Yesterday we were leading the Nations Cup and hopefully we can keep that lead until the end of the championship.”

After four races the top 10 is mixed with domination of Portuguese boats, but with potential discard after 5 races there are many teams that might appear on this table in the next three days. Click here for full results.

For Wednesday the first warning signal is at 11:25 and the RC changed the number of potential races to four.

Follow the Dutch SB20 on Facebook and Instagram as @sb20_netherlands.

Tracking available through Sailmon: https://sailmon.com/racing/sb20-world-championships-scheveningen

Photo credits: Laurens Morel. You can find all high-resolution photos here.

Tricky opening day at SB20 Worlds 2023 with two races

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Skippers briefing was called sharp on time at Scheveningen Yacht Club this Monday ahead of the first racing day at the SB20 Worlds 2023 announcing two possible races.

Nice wind and choppy sea greeted the fleet as they left the harbour eager to get into racing. Despite having a nice stable westerly breeze the opening race of the championship did not happen on time. Finally, after two general recalls a black flag decided the starting positions and caused some boats a painful BFD.

Many boats found themselves stuck in second or even third row. It was the game of tactics and sailing skills to make the best out of the situation. For the third start all the boats stayed on the Committee side with no one on the pin end. Quite impressive to see a 50+ fleet squeezing into a half of the starting line.

Wind direction was contrary to yesterdays’ practice race and sailing with the ebbing tide made the boats jump over the line early.12-13 knots of breeze allowed for some spectacular racing in the waves with little or no planing with a mix of teams in top positions throughout the race. Tasmanian National champions onboard Ares coped best with the tricky conditions and won the opening race of the event.

“It was a really nice day for sailing on the North Sea today. We decided to do what we did last year [in Ireland] and won the first race, which was quite nice,” – said Will Sargent, Ares helmsman.

Second place was taken by France Youth of Ange Delerce and closing top 3 was UAE boat Supersonic, who sailed a good race with a lead on the last windward rounding, but haven’t managed to stay ahead of French and Australian teams.

Second race went into sequence with a Black flag to avoid further delays as the breeze has started its decline. The tide has reached its lowest state and turned which may have helped the boats a bit on the second downwind. Glasgow Kiss of Nils Razmilovic took a lead on the first upwind and maintained it until the finish. They were closely chased by Jose Paulo Ramada on AP Hotels and team Ares of Will Sargent.

Two French Youth teams had a great start for the event, sailing close to the leaders in both races. It was the 2003_sailing_team of Ange Delerce (SR D’Antibes), Julia D’Amodio (Cannes Jeunesse), Julien Bunel (BN Mare e Vela) and Sylvestre De Giuli Morghen (ASPTT Marseille) who sailed the most consistent day with two second finishes in these tricky conditions putting the to the top of the leaderboard on Day 1.

With this strong entrance into big fleet racing the French Youth teams have a good chance to be in top three and even win the champions title. French coach Philippe Michel confirms the ambition to win the Worlds: “They have worked a lot at the start of the season. Ian (Garreta) and Ange (Delerce) are both leaders in fleet and match racing back in Marseille. We have to work on the starts in particular, with more than 50 boats it’s different. They know very well the boat, but now we need to manage this high level of racing in tricky conditions of the North Sea”.

In top 10 after two races we find at least three Portuguese teams which puts them in a good lead for the Nations Cup trophy awarded at the end of the event to the best performing nation. In 2022 the SB20 Class UK took the trophy home, but can they keep it in 2023 we will find out this Friday.

Ashore the sailors enjoyed the Scheveingen yacht club’s hospitality and a happy hour sponsored by (the Royal North Sea Yacht Club who are hoping to welcome the SB20 fleet in 2025 for Europeans) while watching a recap of Sailmon tracking and drone footage of today’s racing.

For Tuesday the first warning signal is at 11:25 with potentially three races.

Follow the Dutch SB20 on Facebook and Instagram as @sb20_netherlands.

Tracking available through Sailmon: https://sailmon.com/racing/sb20-world-championships-scheveningen

See event website: www.sb20worlds2023.com for all entries and results.

Photo credits: Laurens Morel. You can find all high-resolution photos here.

Welcome to the SB20 World Championships 2023!

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Fantastic warm weather is greeting the SB20 fleet on the Dutch coast in Scheveningen.

Sailing mecca on the North Sea, the home of the Dutch Olympic team, host of The Ocean Race and World Sailing Allianz Regatta this year Scheveningen welcomes the participants of the SB20 World Championship from around the globe.

Practice race opened the event yesterday with light offshore breeze allowing the participants to get the feeling of the turning tide in combination with the wind and swell all coming from different directions! These interesting conditions that are new to many SB20 sailors promise some exciting moments on the water this week. Local hospitality of Scheveningen Yacht Club and the Dutch nature for a good party are just about the right ingredients for a great regatta.

10 nations are competing this year with a number of overseas teams, including two Australian entries, teams from Singapore and Dubai. Who are the top contestants for the 2023 title?

Top three in the recent pre-Worlds event here in Scheveningen a month ago will definitely be the ones to watch. Mastering the waves of the North Sea team Xcellent of John Pollard stayed at the top of the leaderboard for three days of the pre-Worlds event. Silver winner of SB20 Worlds 2022 will be racing with the same crew of Finn sailor Henry Wetherell and 49er James Grummett.

Bronze SB20 Worlds 2022 winner team Glasgow Kiss of Nils Razmilovic, Jonathan Lobert OLY and David Salembier, second at the pre-Worlds in the same crew setup. Jonathan sailed with Ed Russo at the last Worlds in Ireland, but joins the Singaporean team instead of Nik Burfoot, who couldn’t come this year.

Irish team TED of Michael O’Connor, Davy Taylor and Edward Cook showed strong performance in the Practice Rcae with tricky tidal conditions. Michale and TED boys just missed the podium last year in home waters and will be fighting for the title.

The 2022 Worlds winning team have split for this year to become competitors! Class veteran and winning helmsman of the SB20 World Championships 2022 Jose Paulo Ramada is bringing a 100% Portuguese crew. It includes top Cascais sailors Henrique Brites and Luis Pinheiro (10th at the SB20 Worlds 2021 in Cascais) and Sebastiao Ramirez. Jose Paulo is hopeful to claim the World title second time in a row, but agrees that it might be difficult.

2022 winning tactician Artem Basalkin and trimmers Gonçalo Lopes and Carlota Gala will be racing with Martin Estlander representing Finland under Portuguese flag onboard Freedom.

All the way from Tasmania come Will Sargent and youth team Ares (Eddie Reid, Paige Caldecoat, Eirini Marios). These young talents have won the AUS National title and finished 7th, also as top Youth team at SB20 Worlds 2022 in Ireland.

This event will see Paul McCartney and team Porco Rosso back to the international racing! Second-placed at the 2018 Europeans Paul will be on the helm brining the star tactician and Class favourite David ‘Chappo’ Chapman and British Finn sailor Cameron Tweedle as crew.

From Singapore Team Tara, who won this year’s Asia Pacific Grand Slam & Nationals, they will be sailing in new crew setup of Agoston Sipos, Magnus Ekbom and Andrew Hewson.

Third team from SB20 Singapore belongs to Daire O’Reilly on Sin Bád sailing with Myles Perrin (GBR) and
Ben Gunn (AUS), dinghy sailors at their core having progressed to international yacht racing.

SB20 UAE is represented by two teams superSONIC of Michal Pajakand Yalla Shamal! of Rachel Blackburn, who are starting to prepare for their own SB20 World Championships in less than 7 month!

The closest Dutch neighbours from the UK and Ireland arerepresented by 12 boats in total. On the British side Breaking Bod of Charles Whelan who brings his 2022 Worlds crew of Richard McAdam and Arran Holman will be a strong contestant.

Expect team PBII Twenty ofUK SB20Classchairman Paul Hine, Richard Anderton and Mark Gillet on the helm to be in the top of the leaderboard as well.

Team Leviathan of 49er Tadgh Donnely, Peter Carvill
and Dan Little
who scored a couple of bullets at SB20 Worlds 2022. Former Irish SB20 Class chairman Colin Galavan, on Carpe Diem will be racing with his 2022 Worlds crew of Aaron Jones and
Kevin O’Rourke from Greystones.

Four boats from France this year, including two FFVoile Youth teams, that have already shown their skills at the SB20 Worlds 2022 and at the Dubai Duty Free regatta 2023: skippers Ian Garreta and Ange Delerce from SR Antibes.

As expected the majority of the fleet are represented by the Dutch teams, where we will see a lot of familiar names in the SB20 world as well as some young and promising talent from local sailors.

Team 3J’s – local stars and winners of the Masters category at SB20 Worlds 2022 of Jeroen van der Velden,Jeroen Kop andJan van der Meijden. Marco van Driel on MXTC sailing with Joost Assman and Martijn Worseling will provide strong competition.

Teams Vliegensvlugge Vlieg of Ko Stroo,Koen Verhaeghe de Naeyer and Ralph van Etten and Team Kesbeke of Ronald Veraar,Pim Mommersteeg andEelco Blok showing strong competition on the local level. Of course, to mention long standing Class chairman and supporter of Youth SB20 sailing in the Netherlands Martijn Buitenhuis sailing withGilbert Figaroba andFrank Dobbels.

The organisers have decided to run the event based on crowdfunding and managed to get onboard an amazing list of partners and sponsors.

Sailmon, the Dutch manufacturer of sailing instruments, will support the event with Sailmon MAX or MAX mini devices for tracking and allow the sailors to try its product that also connects the sailing community through their mobile app.

Hein Ruyten, the Dutch SB20 dealer and boats charter will once again support the SB20 fleet with boats and logistics as well as spares ahead of and during the event. Promotex and Hein Ruyten will provide every competitor with nice event clothing. Dubarry of Ireland will contribute to the prize-giving ceremony. 

First warning signal is scheduled for today, 19th of June at 12:00 with two races scheduled. The wind on the North Sea has turned to its more habitual direction blowing 15 knots from the West gusting over 20 for the opening day. Great racing, great fun and good memories guaranteed! Racing continues until Friday, 23rd June.

Follow the Dutch SB20 on Facebook and Instagram as @sb20_netherlands.

Tracking available through Sailmon: https://sailmon.com/racing/sb20-world-championships-scheveningen

See event website: www.sb20worlds2023.com for all entries and results.

Photo credits: Anna Zyk. You can find all high-resolution photos here.

North Sea Regatta: Pre-Worlds Event 2023

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Awesome three windy days of racing on the North Sea at pre-Worlds event in Scheveningen.

26 boats have gathered from Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland and Singapore to compete in the largest regatta on the North sea. 11 races were called with the total dominance of team Xcellent of John Pollard, James Grummett and Henry Wetherell from the UK. Second place was taken by Glasgow Kiss of Nils Razmilovic, David Salembier and Jonathan Lobert from SB20 Singapore. Concluding this truly international podium were Irish team TED of Michael O’Connor, Davy Taylor ad Ed Cook representing Royal St George Yacht Club.

Best Dutch team were 3J’s of Jeroen van der Velden, Jeroen Kop and Jan van der Meijden who took 5th place.

Click here for full results.

Photo credits: Sander van der Borch. You can find all high-resolution photos here.

Worlds 2023 Sailing Instructions published

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The Sailing Instructions for the SB20 Worlds 2023 have been published on Manage2Sail. All racing documents, including the Sailing Instructions and Notice of Race can be found on the SB20 Worlds 2023 site or directly in Manage2Sail.