#sb20 – A competitive fleet of 17 SB20's travelled to the Royal Ulster Yacht Club over the weekend to compete in the Northern Championships. With a big section of the fleet travelling the Worlds in France in a little over three weeks time, the competition was very well timed for the final tuning of boats and crews.

PRO Robin Gray was always going to have his hands full on a shifty first day in Belfast Lough. Race 1 got underway on time, but a big shift on the first beat led to the cancellation of the race, and the next 90 minutes were spent waiting for the breeze to settle enough to get racing underway again. Finally setting off in 8-10 knots of breeze, Ben Duncan with Joe Turner and Aidan MacSweeny on Sharkbait took command half way through the race to snatch the lead from Michael O'Connor on 'Should Be', with ex flying-fifteen ace Darren Martin's 'Soda Bread' rounding out the top three.

Race 2 was convincingly won by Davy Talyor's Boatmec.com, stealing the lead early on and doing a horizon job on the rest of the fleet, giving Boatmec their first regatta race win in the SB20's. Local favourites Ridgeway with James & Bob Espey and Gareth Flannigan on board sailed themselves into second place, with Aiden O'Connell's consistent Ruby Blue with Ross & Andrew Vaughan rounding out 3rd in an event which didn't see their results dip below 5th for the entire weekend. Race 3 on Saturday saw the third different race winner in this extremely competitive fleet with Ronan Downings Manamana steered into the lead by fleet newcomer Graham Grant, with Breffni Jones on the bow. Marty Cuppages Seriously Bonkers 3 held onto second place in front of Sharkbait in third.

With the delays in racing earlier in the day the fleet headed in to dinner at the Royal Ulster Yacht Club in the evening, and it was clear the difficult day on the water had fried a few brain cells including Justin Burke's Alert Packaging, Dave Barrys Lia, Rob Howes Milvus Milvus and Ger Dempsey & Chris Nolans usually consistent Venuesworld.com languishing further back in the fleet order. Ridgeway held the overnight lead tied with Ruby Blue, with the discard to kick in the following day.

Day 2 dawned with more promise of breeze and some of the sparkling downwind sailing the SB20's deliver in bucketloads when the wind is up. After the black flag appeared the fleet was a little line-shy, with Ridgeway leading the charge for the entire race only to be pipped on the finish line by Sharkbait. Dinghy Supplies with Daragh Sheridan, John Phelan and Dan O'Connell had their best result with a third. Race 5 was another black flag affair for the eager fleet, but 'Ruby Blue' capitalised and took the bullet from Ridgway, with Sharkbait fighting back from deep in the fleet to steal 3rd from Boatmec on the line.

So it was down to the last race of the regatta to decide the overalls. With a dropping breeze there was some frantic changes to rigs, and the fleet got underway dodging some big holes in the breeze on the first beat. Sharkbait eventually sealed her 4th Northern Championship crown by winning the final race, followed by Ruby Blue into a solid second overall. Manamana rounded out the top three for the final race, but it was not enough to claim the last podium spot which went to the local lads on Ridgeway.