The SB20 class’s second European Grand Slam of the season kicks off today, Friday May 13, at the North Sea Regatta.The North Sea Regatta is the largest Dutch sailing event, attracting around 2,500 sailors annually to Scheveningen, close to The Hague.

This year 20 SB20s will be competing in their own class at the prestigious event, with a breezy forecast and big fleet combining to guarantee four days of exciting white-knuckle racing from May 13-16, 2016.

The Dutch Grand Slam has been added to the SB20 calendar due to the growing strength of the Dutch fleet. Last year one-design expert Hein Ruyten was appointed SB20 dealer for the region and has seen the class reinvigorated with increasing numbers and an active racing fleet.

Among the top local sailors competing at the event is Marco van Driel on ‘MXTC’ and local fleet captain Martijn Buitnehuis (‘Buitenhuis Advies’). Meanwhile the fleet has also attracted entrants from France, Germany, Ireland and Great Britain. British teams to watch include Adrian Peach on ‘Uber’, who won the Cowes Grand Slam last year, while fleet newcomer James Russell on ‘Blackstone Racing’ is also showing some strong form.

The forecast for the event is for strong breezes, with winds ranging from the high teens to mid 20s for the first three days, with a chance of gusts of over 25 knots on today’s opener. SportsboatWorld’s Jerry Hill commented: “If it is as windy as the forecast says it might be, then we could be in for some fun.

"Racing the SB20 in those conditions it’s all about keeping the boat tracking, the rig above the keel, and getting the gennaker up and down safely.”

The SB20 sailors should certainly enjoy some high octane downwind legs, with 12 races scheduled over four days.

SB20 crew Aidan O'Connell, John Driscoll and Andrew Vaughan were the winners of the inaugural SB20 visit to Carlingford Lough at the weekend. The 12–boat fleet were treated to a brand new venue at Carlingford Sailing Club for the first SB20 regional event of the 2016 season on 23rd/24th April and it proved a tremendous success. Overall results are downloadable below.

The warmth and hospitality of the club members, flag officers and event management team combined with perfect 15-25 knot breeze meant that there are plenty of sore, but very happy, bodies after racing on Sunday.

The fleet launched on Saturday morning from the pier beside the clubhouse and headed out for a very civilised 1.30pm start. Conditions on the Lough were ideal for downwind SB20 sailing with speeds of over 15 knots being recorded across the fleet. Although the northerly breeze was moderate to fresh, it was still oscillating through 50° so the race officer called a short postponement to allow the wind direction to settle. After a brief delay, the fleet were off from a heavily committee boat biased line. As with all new venues, there were differing views about how best to approach the first upwind leg with seemingly better breeze to the right but less tide inshore to the left. In the end, those boats holding on starboard tack up the shore line fared best. At the first mark, Sin Bin (Michael, John and Gareth) led narrowly from MSS (Colin, Chris et al). A better hoist from MSS saw the old boys career over the top of Sin Bin and take the lead as the boats hurtled down the run towards the leeward mark. Also making a charge for the front were Ruby Blue (Aidan, John and Andrew), 2 Men and their Monkey (Daragh, Shane and John) and Venuesworld.com (Ger, Chris, Maeve and Blair). There were massive gains and losses to be made on the downwind legs and catching an extra gust could mean the difference between 1st and 8th place. At the finish, Ruby Blue showed a great turn of speed to win convincingly from 2 Men and their Monkey in second and MSS in third.

Race 2 again saw a heavily biased committee boat and there was a drag race out left once more to get out of the adverse tide. 2 Men and their monkey were again showing good pace up the first beat with Project Mayhem (Davy, Joe and Ric – welcome back lads!) in the thick of it at the weather mark. By now, the wind was beginning to howl and cheeks were firmly clenched on the downwind sleigh ride… Sin Bin was able to take advantage of a big gust down the left hand side of the run to come in just ahead of the pack at the leeward mark. They held on to their lead and at the finish it was Sin Bin from Project Mayhem followed by Ruby Blue in third.

Race 3 saw the wind build further to a punchy 20 knots but the fleet managed to get away cleanly. Unfortunately, a collision up the first beat put an end to Bad/Kilcullen’s (Enda, Jerry and Jimmy) mast and regatta but we hope to see the lads back on the water very soon. It’s a measure of the men and the venue that they still had smiles on their faces and pints in their hands by that evening’s après sail. Back up the course, there was a terrific battle for the lead between the boys on Ruby Blue and the boys and girls on Venuesworld.com. The boats were neck and neck down the last run with Ruby Blue eking out the narrowest of leads by the last leeward mark. However, a better spinny drop by the crew of Venuesworld.com and a quick tack at the leeward mark enabled Venuesworld.com to get to the favoured left side and get their nose out in front. Ruby Blue tacked to cover once their spinnaker was stowed away but when Venuesworld.com tacked back for the cross, they had snatched the lead and were leading by a couple of boat lengths. Ruby Blue was not done yet however and they somehow managed to reel Venuesworld.com in by the finish line, finishing by a nose in front. Ruby Blue were really beginning to dominate the regatta now having claimed their second victory of the day from Venuesworld.com in second and Lia (Dave, Ollie and Ben – welcome back Ben!) in third. The Race officer decided that a fourth race was not on the cards and sent the boats back ashore for pints and steaks. Carlingford is a party town and the SBs partied…
Sunday dawned with a fresh northerly, shifty breeze once more and the Race Officer informed the fleet before launching that he would attempt to get the races off quickly as the forecast was for the wind to build further. A few sore heads and many sore bodies made their way out to the race course to do battle once more. Race 4 saw Aidan and the lads on Ruby Blue take up where they left off showing great pace and cool heads to take their third race win of the series. Lia had begun to get into their stride after some “difficulties” on day one with marks attacking them and stormed into a very well-deserved second place ahead of the resurgent Manamana (Graeme, Ronan and Diana) who were showing the fleet how you are supposed to pick your way around Carlingford Lough.

Race 5 saw the wind start to abate slightly and begin to shift around more making the upwind and downwind legs more about making sure you were in phase with the shifts than favouring one side of the course over the other. At the last leeward mark the three lead boats rounded within 2 boat lengths of each other with Sin Bin getting water inside Lia and 2 Men and their Monkey right on their transom. 2 Men and their Monkey had a slick drop and rounding and tacked straight away at the mark. Sin Bin tacked to cover once up to speed and Lia kept on going a few lengths further into fresher breeze before tacking onto starboard. The three boats were neck and neck drag racing up the short last the beat. After a three-way tacking duel, there was a photo finish at the end of the race with Sin Bin taking the win by a quarter of a boat length from 2 Men and their Monkey with Lia a further few feet astern.

Ruby Blue struggled for the first time all weekend and uncharacteristically found themselves back in 6th place. As the points stood, Ruby Blue were on 6 points (12 points without discard), 2 Men and their Monkey were tied in second with Sin Bin on 12 points and Lia was back in fourth on 16 points. Unbeknownst to themselves, Ruby Blue had managed to seal the event with a race to spare… like true champions though, they came out fighting in Race 6 and after a storming second downwind leg, climbed up from third place to take the lead and their fourth race win out of 6 for the weekend. Project Mayhem finished in second in another close finish, this time pipping Sin Bin into third with Lia a close fourth.

When the dust had settled, Ruby Blue emerged victorious on an impressive 7 points with Sin Bin in second place overall on 15 points, a single point ahead of 2 Men and their Monkey in third overall. After a most enjoyable weekend, the fleet returned home to nurse their (happily) exhausted broken bodies back to health.

Next up is the DBSC season opener this Thursday (28th April) evening followed by the first DBSC Saturday (30th April). The SB20 Easterns are being held in Howth as part of the Sportsboat Cup (27th – 29th May – the Easterns are on Saturday and Sunday but there will be a separate series for those interested in racing on the Friday too) which is shaping up to be the event of the summer so get your entry in now and avail of the early bird rates before 1st May.

Eleven SB20s braved a moderate northerly wind and Baltic conditions for the second and final day of the Key Capital Private sponsored Spring Warmer Series in Howth Yacht Club. Due to the loss of the second race last weekend, the Race Committee signalled their intention to have three races on Day 2 to complete the four race series.

Race 1 saw a much more competitive fleet challenging for position on the line (looks like the training with Mark Rhodes is paying off already!) with Lia (Dave, Ollie and Patrick) having a peach of a start hitting the pin end at speed and leading the fleet out towards the favoured left hand side of the course. At the weather mark, the tide was causing havoc pushing boats below the starboard tack layline and forcing one or two to bail out and try again. First around was Sin Bin (Michael, Owen and John) followed closely by Two Men and a Monkey (Daragh, Shane and John) and Lia in third. At this stage, the wind was gusting in the teens which was sufficient to get the boats planing so the fleet took off and happily careered down the run towards the leeward mark. Two Men and a Monkey called the leeward mark layline to perfection and snuck inside Sin Bin and Lia.

Up the next beat, it was critical to get the shifts right and the biggest gains were made by VenuesWorld.com (Ger, Chris, Rory and Maeve) who picked their way beautifully up the beat, catching a nice little right hander at the end to lead around the second weather mark. However, being in front is never an easy place to be in an SB20 going downwind in planing conditions and both Two Men and a Monkey and Sin Bin were gunning for the lead. The three lead boats rounded the leeward mark within 4 boatlengths of each other, Two Men and a Monkey once again showing a great turn of speed to lead at the leeward mark from Sin Bin and Venuesworld.com in third. With only a short beat to finish, Sin Bin peeled off left straight after the leeward mark and was covered immediately by Two Men and a Monkey while VenuesWorld.com continued on out right. The left was paying at this stage and it was clear that Venuesworld.com would have to be content with third. Two Men and a Monkey tacked for the line (as it turned out) a little early while Sin Bin held out a boatlength more before tacking. The boats charged for the line on port with Sin Bin hitching into a little more pressure to squeeze over the line at the pin with about a foot to spare over Two Men and a Monkey in second. Lia came in fourth with Bango (James, Jerry and Jimmy) rounding off the top five. In sixth place were SB20 newbees Diana Kissane and Clara Hynes with the old (SB) head of Ronan Downing overseeing proceedings on Manamana. They showed some very impressive turns of speed and we hope to see a lot more of them over the coming season.

Race 2 saw the breeze abate slightly and become increasingly shifty. The tide was almost slack meaning pressure and shifts were the top priority. A good competitive start by the fleet once more meant that it was neck and neck going up the first beat. A massive left hander half way up the first beat that refused to go back again left those on the right including Bango, Lia and Sin Bin way out the back of the fleet with much work to do. At the first weather mark Venuesworld.com along with Project Mayhem (Davey Taylor et al), Seriously Bonkers (Peter Lee et al), Two Men and a Monkey, Manamana and Martin Reilly Motors (Colin Galavan, Chris Arrowsmith et al) were all battling it out for the lead. The decrease in pressure and massive left hander meant the second run was all about soaking down to the leeward mark on a long starboard gybe. With the boats ahead going higher to protect their breeze, this gave the boats behind to catch up and the fleet compressed towards the leeward mark once more.

The second beat was, in a word, brutal. Massive unforgiving shifts meant either huge gains or massive losses. The two rockstars of the second beat were Bango (James, Jerry and Jimmy) and Lia (Dave, Ollie and Patrick) (so good we’ve named them twice!). Bango went from last place at the leeward mark to 4th at the weather while Lia went from 9th to 2nd on the second beat and we still have no clue quite how they both managed it! By the second weather mark, the wind had now swung around to the right meaning a long soak on port gybe this time down to the leeward mark. Some boats tried unsuccessfully to “heat it up” and get on the plane but those that soaked seemed to fare better in the end with the least distance sailed.

Venuesworld.com won handsomely for their maiden win in their shiny new tub followed by Lia and Two Men and a Monkey in third. Behind the first three places, the fleet behind were compressing at the leeward mark with six boats in fourth to ninth places within approximately six boatlengths of each other rounding the last mark for the short beat to finish. Right in the mix was Monkey, helmed for the first time in a series by Mikey with SB20 regular Morrough Kavanagh keeping him focused. In the end it was all about getting a lane with some clear air on the short beat to finish. With so many boats in such a small area, going out right after the leeward mark paid dividends as these boats had starboard tack advantage coming in to the finish line. Bango crossed the line in fourth just ahead of Sin Bin in fifth with Seriously Bonkers, Project Mayhem, Monkey and Corona Extra all finishing within approximately 2 boatlengths of each other.

The Race Committee were anxious to try and get a third race in (and fourth for the series) to allow the discard to kick in and they gave the wind every opportunity to settle. However by now the wind had dropped further and at one stage was down to three knots and shifting through 40 degrees. When a hailstorm went through, pelting the competitors, the Race Committee obviously took this as an omen that it was just not meant to be and they called the fleet ashore. With three races and no discard, the win went to Sin Bin on 8 points by the slenderest of margins from Two Men and a Monkey on 9 points. In third was Venuesworld on 11 points and Lia pipped Bango for the fourth place tiebreaker on 12 points.

After racing, Mark Rhodes debriefed the fleet and used some video footage to good effect to demonstrate bailing out techniques at the start, faster gybing techniques in a blow and tactical considerations both upwind and downwind. The fleet already has shown remarkable progress after dusting off the cobwebs last weekend and the next event is expected to be a lively affair.

Next up for the class is the Northern Championships in Carlingford Lough on 23rd/24th April. We hope to see a strong fleet there for an exciting new venue for the class. Word has it that Venuesworld.com will no longer be the newest kid on the block with Jerry and Jimmy taking delivery of their new hull this week. Exciting times ahead for the SB20

The 2016 Spring Warmer series came to a conclusion at Howth Yacht Club on Saturday. The event was once again sponsored by Key Capital Private. The final Saturday felt more like a Frostbite morning with temperatures at about 2 degrees and snow visible on the Dublin mountains. However, the crews did have a nice breeze of about 16 knots and glorious sunshine to start the day and get the first race under way. The race committee under Richard Kissane’s and Rupert Jeffares experienced eyes were hoping to get three races in to make up for the race lost the previous Saturday.

In the Cruiser Class, Stephen Quinn’s Lambay Rules took the honours on countback by virtue of their one race win from Paddy Gregory and Don Breen’s Flashback. In third place was D. Kelly’s King One looking absolutely fantastic after a “rebranding” and a Winter of hard work.

The J24 racing was dominated by Howth’s K25 team with a clean sweep of three first places. It was great to see two other youth teams out on Brian McDowell’s Scandal and the Johnny Bravo Howth team who came in second and third places respectively.

The SB20 fleet was the largest fleet with 11 boats and they also ran a coaching session around the event under the watchful eye of top coach Mark Rhodes. Michael O’Connor took the win for the third year running from Shane Murphy on the newly named Two Men and their Monkey. In third spot was Ger Dempsey and Chris Nolan on Venuesworld. In fourth was Dave Barry’s Lia.

The prize giving took place with Vice Commodore Emmet Dalton on hand to present the prizes. Shane Gill of Key Capital Private was unable to attend but expressed Key Capital’s delight at being able to support Howth Yacht Club and Irish sailing.

Eleven SB20s came out of winter hibernation early this year for the Key Capital Private sponsored Spring Warmer Series in Howth Yacht Club. There has been a shake-up in the event format this year and instead of the traditional six races there are four races planned over two weekends – more of a sprint than a marathon this year. It is very encouraging to see so many SBs out this early in the season and the fact that the SBs made up more than 50% of the total fleet augers well for the year ahead. It was great to see the maiden sails of Project Mayhem (Davey Taylor’s renovated tub on steroids) and VenuesWorld.com (Ger Dempsey and Chris Nolan’s brand new tub).

The day started with a very shifty 8-10 knot southerly (ish!) breeze that was oscillating through approximately 30 degrees, making setting a fair course and a decent start line “challenging” to say the least. The OOD did however get the fleet away at the first time of asking but a combination of rustiness, a large right handed shift a minute before the start and the end of the flood tide pushing competitors up the line towards the committee boat meant that a lot of crews were left blushing as they were caught to weather of the committee boat and had to wait for the procession of boats to leeward of them to start before they could get going in earnest. The large right hand shift just before the start meant that boats were laying the weather mark from the start line so the OOD rightly abandoned the race a few minutes after the start and called the fleet back to try again.

After a short wait, the SBs were off again, this time from a heavily pin biased line. 2 Men and their Monkey (ex Dinghy Supplies, Daragh, Shane and John) and Corona Extra (ex Manamana, Graham, Ronan et al) were a little eager to get going and tipped over the line at the pin a few moments early. 2 Men and their Monkey returned but Corona Extra continued on and only learned their fate at the finish. Although the line was heavily pin biased, the best pressure was out to the middle-right hand side of the course and those boats that bailed out early fared best. At the weather mark, Project Mayhem led comfortably from Animal Origami (ex Yachtsman Marine, ex Boatmec, ex McCready Sailboats… Seriously lads, this has to stop… make up your minds!!! with Chris Chapman et al) with VenuesWorld.com sneaking around in third inside Lia (Dave, John et al.). The run was a really tense affair with plenty of shifts and pressure differentials across the course. In the end, those that picked their way down the middle and kept going in breeze fared best with the fleet compressing again at the leeward mark. Project Mayhem still led from Animal Origami but their lead over the rest of the fleet had been cut considerably and now Dinghy Supplies in third, Sin Bin in fourth (Michael, Owen and Ted) and Bango in fifth (James, Jerry and Jimmy) were in hot pursuit only a few boatlengths back.

Up the second beat, it was all about finding the pressure and keeping the boat moving as the wind continued to oscillate and die. Project Mayhem made the decision to go left up the second beat and at one stage was looking like they were storming away with it until the wind died completely on them. Also cruelly caught out on the left hand side of the course were VenuesWorld who were also looking pretty for so long up the second beat. Towards the end of the second beat, the wind favoured the middle and right hand side of the course and the main beneficiaries were Animal Origami, Sin Bin and Bango. A shortened course was signalled at the weather mark and Animal Origami claimed the win by three lengths from Sin Bin in second with Bango a further three boatlengths back in third. 2 Men and their Monkey claimed fourth and Project Mayhem crept back up to fifth. Full results on the HYC website here

After a short postponement, the wind continued to die and the OOD called a halt to proceedings. The fleet retired to the junior room in HYC where coach Mark Rhodes discussed the days racing and went through the thought processes that each boat should have been going through before and during the race including an informative discussion on starting strategies. Some videos of the days racing from John Malone’s (Lia) headcam are available on the Facebook page. Next week, the plan is to try to get three races in and complete the series.

The SB20s will also be looking to use the event as a 'shake down' and to get in some quality racing time on the water before their Northern Championships which are being held in Carlingford Lough on the weekend immediately after the Spring Warmer Series.The winner for the last two years, Michael O'Connor on Sin Bin, and new Class chairman Peter Lee on Seriously Bonkers are among the line up.

An opportunity to clarify your sailing decisions will be provided by the Irish SB20 class association when it stages a racing strategy clinic run in conjunction with the Howth Yacht Club Spring Warmer Series in April.

The sportsboat class has also launched a new website for the 2016 season. Click here to see the new site.

The new coaching initiative from 9-16th April will take place during HYC racing and outside assistance will be permitted in the series to facilitate coaching.

SB20 sailor Jimmy Dowling says it is a 'great opportunity to hone decision making skills under the guidance of world renowned coach, Mark Rhodes'.

Areas covered include:

● The three segments of the first beat (The Law of Before)

● Creating a starting priority list = creation of strategy = start

● 5 key areas to position at the start (with additional one extra)

● Double tacking – How, why, when

● Fleet / boat control – How, why, when, where

The cost per boat is €100

The annual SB20 class dinner will be held upstairs in the dining room of the Royal Irish Yacht Club on Friday 4th March (19:30hrs for 20:00hrs). The 3 course dinner is €35pp.

Sailors from over 10 countries in a fleet of 22 boats – including Ireland – are gathering in Singapore for the inaugural Asian Grand Slam for the SB20 class, and this year’s Asia Pacific Championships.

Now in their third year, the Asia Pacific Championships are hosted by the ONE°15 Marina Club in Sentosa Cove, Singapore. For this year the regatta also includes the first ever Asian Grand Slam for the international keelboat class, which has four Grand Slam events throughout the year.

Racing begins today, January 29, 2016, with three days of competition scheduled. The regatta is sanctioned by the Singapore Sailing Federation, who will run nine races. There is also a packed social programme, including a pool party with live music, welcome cocktails and post-sailing drinks, and daily prizegivings.

Entries from as far afield as Australia, France, Belgium, Ireland and Great Britain have joined the active Singaporean fleet and visitors from Thailand, with over 20 teams taking part. Paul O'Malley is the sole Irish entry in the 22-boat fleet. Download the PDF of the entries below.

The high calibre fleet includes local champions Johannes Babendererde and his team on ‘Wermer’, who are the current Singapore SB20 National Champions. French America’s Cup sailor Gilles Favennec will be one of the hot favourites, along with French National Champion Ed Russo and his team on ‘Black Magic’. British sailors taking part include former SB20 World Champion Jerry Hill, of class distributors Sportsboat World, and the 2015 British Grand Slam winner Adrian Peach.

Edward Russo of France, Chairman of the SB20 World Council, commented: “After sailing a couple of weekends in France in December and January with full foul weather gear, you can’t imagine how much I’m looking forward to sailing the SB20 Asian Grand Slam & Asia Pacific Championships in Singapore. But it’s not only the weather we’re coming for, the Singapore SB20 fleet is impressively active with top local sailing talent and this event will give us the opportunity to thank the Singaporean teams that came to the French Grand Slam in Hyeres in May 2015.”

Dr. Benedict Tan, President of the Singapore Sailing Federation, added, “This landmark event brings our sailing friends from all over the Asia Pacific region and the world to Singapore, and SingaporeSailing is proud to be a part of it.”

Local SB20 sailor Nils Razmilovic, Chairman of the Singapore SB20 Class Association added, “The SB20 Grand Slam and Asia Pacific Championships is now one of Asia's premier one design sailing regattas with top international competition, excellent organisation and a great social program, making it an event not to be missed!”

The seasonal North East Monsoon winds are reported to have arrived in Singapore in full force this week, bringing sunshine and steady winds of 20-25 knots with gusts up to 35 knots. Together with Singapore’s tropical temperatures these conditions may produce some stunning sailing conditions for the international fleet.

The SB20 class is a one-design keelboat with active racing fleets in 13 countries, including the UAE, Russia and the Ukraine, as well as across Europe. Other Grand Slam events in 2016 will be held at Cannes in the South of France in April, Holland in May, and Cowes, on the Isle of Wight in the UK in August. This year’s World Championships will take place in Cascais, Portugal from August 27-September 3, with future World Championships taking place at the prestigious Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes, UK in 2017, and the stunning Australian venue of Hobart, Tasmania in 2018.

The Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania and Derwent Sailing Squadron in Australia are to jointly host the SB20 World Championships in January 2018.

Between 80 and 100 of the high-performance SB20 sportsboats are expected to contest the Worlds, which will be preceded by the Australian National Championship. The event is to be jointly conducted by the two Sandy Bay-based clubs, on Australia's island State, Tasmania, offering competitors idyllic Southern Hemisphere conditions.

The SB20 class is an international class, with over 13 active fleets around the world including the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Dubai, Singapore and Australia. Hobart has the largest SB20 fleet in Australia, having grown rapidly over the previous four seasons.

Commodore Matthew Johnston of the RYCT and Commodore Stephen Chau of the DSS announced the allocation of the SB20 Worlds to Hobart in 2018, after a tendering process. The Hobart event will follow World Championship regattas for the SB20s at two other famous yachting venues, Cascais in Portugal in 2016, organised by the Club Navale de Cascais, and Cowes on the Isle of Wight in 2017, organised by the Royal Yacht Squadron.

“We listened to the feedback offered following our previous bid and we have worked very hard as a team to present a comprehensive and professional bid to the world organisation," they said in a joint statement.

“In fact, we told them we will be able to provide an SB20 Worlds that will be comparable to, or better than, any previous event.

“We are campaigning hard to attract a fleet of 80 to 100 boats, with 35 to 40 being ‘local boats’ from Tasmania."

Commodore Johnston added that when he competed at the 2015 SB20 World Championships on Italy’s Lake Garda, he recognised the need for organisers to offer a ‘one stop shop’ for freight and logistics to attract visiting sailors. “We have tackled this issue so it will be a door to door service for overseas competitors,” he said.

The SB20 Australian and World Championships 2018 will be the only major yachting event on the Derwent in early January, allowing full flexibility for the race management team.

Class President Ed Russo commented: “The SB20 class is fortunate to have an extremely active fleet in Hobart with 25 boats, as well as another 20 boats on the mainland. The commodore of the RYCT, Matthew Johnston is an avid SB20 sailor and, along with DSS, they put together a very attractive event package. There is not another spot in the world that makes people dream more than sailing in Tasmania and there was overwhelming support throughout the SB20 world fleets for this spot.”

The one-design sportsboat offers level, ‘first past the post’ racing for three or four-man crews, whose maximum weight must not exceed 270kg, with a mixture of professional and amateur sailors competing on an equal footing. The class regularly attracts entries of over 100 boats for international events, and the boats are easily transportable.

Congratulations to Graeme Grant of Howth who has been named SB20 'Champion of Championships' for 2016. Second overall is national champion Michael O'Connor of the Royal St. George Yacht Club followed by his Dun Laoghaire clubmate Aidan O'Connell.

The attached spread sheet below lists all 30 SB20 skippers. Download it to find the rankings for this year and last year.