Royal St. George Yacht Club's SB20 'TED' Are Runners up in Cascais Grand Slam

2nd May 2023

Michael O’Connor, David Taylor and Ed Cook sailed Ted to second overall at the SB20 Cascais Grand Slam in Portugal Credit: Joao Saraiva Mendes/SB20 Grand Slam

Michael O’Connor, David Taylor and Ed Cook sailing Ted from the Royal St George Yacht Club, finished second overall in last weekend’s SB20 Grand Slam held in Cascais, Portugal.

The local team of Vasco Serpa, Diogo Pinto and Pedro Alemão led the event from the first race and won convincingly in the end with a total of 16 points.

Ted ended the 9 race, 1 discard series in second on 24 points, 4 points ahead of reigning World Champion Jose Paulo Ramada (sailing with Henrique Brites, Luis Pinheiro and Miguel Leal Faria) on 28 points in third.

After racing concluded on Monday, the team on Ted were all smiles and thoroughly delighted with the event. “We had three days of champagne sailing conditions, 20-24 degrees Celsius and 10-24 knots of wind. Some of the best racing that we’ve had in years.” according to crew member Edward Cook.

“The first two days were held on the inner course in Cascais, close to the shore in an offshore breeze. The wind there is very shifty, swinging through 40 degrees over the course of the day, and the gusts are twice the average wind strength. In a planing boat like the SB20, massive gains can be made by hooking into the extra pressure and getting on the right side of a shift, so it really keeps you on your toes. The race is not over until it's over.” added Davy Taylor. “The third and final day looked like it was going to be lighter than the first two days, so the Race Committee brought us out to the offshore course, where the wind tends to be that bit stronger and steadier in direction. In the end, we were treated to gusts of over 20 knots and were hitting speeds of over 17 knots on the downwind legs,” beamed Taylor.

RStGYC trio Michael O’Connor, David Taylor and Ed Cook at the SB20 Cascais Grand Slam in Portugal Photo: Joao Saraiva Mendes/SB20 Grand Slam

Next up for the RStGYC trio will be the pre-worlds event in May 2023 followed by the worlds in June 2023, to be held in Sheveningen, The Netherlands.

Meanwhile, The local Irish SB20 fleet looks to build on the success of the recent Northern Championships with their Eastern Championships on 20/21 May 2023, hosted by the RStGYC.

Race Results

You may need to scroll vertically and horizontally within the box to view the full results

Published in SB20, RStGYC

Published in SB20

Tagged under

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

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