Mayo Sailing Club Hosts SB20 Westerns

13th June 2016

Ger Dempsey, Blair Stanaway, Chris Nolan and Maeve Judge were SB20 Western winners

The SB20 Western Championships were hosted by Mayo Sailing Club last weekend, one of the new destinations the fleet has been visiting this season. Fleet numbers suffered due to the clash with the ICRAs, but the sailors who travelled were rewarded in full, what a fantastic sailing destination.

Mayo Sailing Club delivered world class race management under the stewardship of RO Colin McMullen and his team.

Seven 50 minute races over two days ensured everyone got what they came for, and Clew Bay played its part with steady westerly breeze of 10–15 knots, holding for the duration. Apart from 1 major shift, under a rain squall on Sunday, the race track stayed steady and the racing was fair.

As always in this fleet, which boasts national champions from many classes, racing was tight, and anyone could emerge victorious. This time it was RIYC’s venuesworld.com (Ger Dempsey, Blair Stanaway, Chris Nolan & Maeve Judge) winning their first regional championship in their new boat. A sweet victory in local waters for Blair, current commodore of Mayo Sailing Club, who has joined the team for the SB20 World Championship this September in Cascais.

Two Men and their Monkey from Howth (Daragh Sheridan, Shane Murphy & John Phelan), followed by Sharkbait out of Strangford Lough (Darren Martin, Roger Pannell, Simon Murray) completed the podium, with last month’s Eastern Championships winner, Lia ( Dave Barry et al), suffering the consequences of a U flag and a broken halyard.

The SB20s will now be based on Dublin Bay for the forthcoming club regattas, followed by their National Championships in the National Yacht Club from 5-7 August with a fleet in excess of 25 boats expected, and prizes sponsored by Dubarry, Sportsboat World and venuesworld

Published in SB20

Tagged under

SB20

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

You might also want to read...

SB20 (formerly Laser SB3) information

Designed by Tony Castro, the SB20 is a British-built strict one-design 6.15m keelboat conceived as a wide appeal, affordable, competitive sportsboat for teams of three or four sailors. It is also, arguably, the most successful sportsboat in the world with 800 owners competing regularly in a programme of exciting local, national and international events.

Originally known as the Laser SB3, the SB20 continues to deliver on its pioneering promise: a boat that is fun, fast and easy to sail by anyone of any age; the best value-for-money sportsboat in the market.

The Laser SB3 was designed by Castro and launched in 2002. In 2007 the Laser SB3 was awarded ISAF Recognised Status and the first World Championships were held in Ireland in 2008. In 2012, Tony Castro appointed a new builder, Sportsboat World. At this time, the Laser SB3 was renamed the SB20 and building was returned to the UK from Malaysia. The ethos of the class continues.

The boat is a strict one-design class, economic to buy and campaign, easy to sail with a simple deck layout and electric downwind performance delivered by the generous sail plan. The boat has a lifting keel, can easily be launched from a slipway and towed behind a family car.

Previous SB20 World Champions

2008 GBR: Geoff Carveth, Roger Gilbert, Roz Allen & Sarah Allan

Host National Yacht Club, Dun laoghaire, Ireland

2009 GBR: Craig Burlton, Stephen White, Adam Heeley

Host Clube Naval de Cascais, Cascais, Portugal

2010 GBR: Jerry Hill, Grant Rollerson, Joe Llewellyn

Host Circolo Vela Torbole, Lake Garda, Italy

2011 GBR: Geoff Carveth, Andy Ramus, Ian Mills & Emma Clarke

Host Royal Torbay Yacht Club, Torquay, UK

2012 GBR: Geoff Carveth, Lesley Dhonau, Roger Hudson & Asenathi Jim

Host Hamilton Island Yacht Club, Queensland, Australia

2013 GRB: Craig Burlton, Stephen White, Adam Heley Host COYCH Club, Hyeres, France