Irish SB20 team TED of Michael O’Connor, Davy Taylor and Edward Cook from the Royal St. George Yacht Club, who have already shown good speed this season in Portugal and the North Sea Regatta and who just missed the podium last year in home waters, will be fighting for the World Championships title at Scheveningen, Netherlands this week.

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 has welcomed the participants of the SB20 World Championship from around the globe.

The Scheveningen Yacht Club is the venue for the 2023 SB20 World Championships Photo: Anna Zyk

The Practice race opened the event yesterday with a 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. 

Ten nations are competing this year with a number of overseas teams, including two Australian entries and teams from Singapore and Dubai.

Top Contestants for the 2023 SB20 World 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.

The 2022 Worlds winning team has 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 of claiming the World title for the 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 the Portuguese flag onboard Freedom.

From Tasmania comes 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 international racing! Second-placed at the 2018 Europeans, Paul will be on the helm, bringing the star tactician, 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, will be sailing in a new crew setup of Agoston Sipos, Magnus Ekbom and Andrew Hewson.

The 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 Pajak and Yalla Shamal! of Rachel Blackburn, who are starting to prepare for their own SB20 World Championships in less than seven months!

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

Expect team PBII Twenty of UK SB20 Class chairman Paul Hine, Richard Anderton and Mark Gillet on the helm to be in the top of the leaderboard as well.

Team Leviathan of 49ers Tadgh Donnelly, Peter Carvill
 and Dan Little
 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, have already shown their skills at the SB20 Worlds 2022 and at the Dubai Regatta 2023: skippers Ian Garrett and Ange Delerce from SR Antibes.

Portuguese SB20 racers have signed up with two teams, including SailCascais of Vasco Serpa.

As expected, the majority of the fleet is 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 and 
Jan 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 and
Eelco 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 with 
Gilbert Figaroba and
 Frank Dobbels.

The organisers have decided to run the event based on crowdfunding and managed to get on board a list of partners and sponsors.

Dubarry of Ireland will contribute to the prize-giving ceremony.

The 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.  Racing continues until Friday, 23rd June.

Royal St George Yacht Club's Michael O'Connor, Davy Taylor and Ed Cook have taken third overall in the SB20 class of the North Sea Regatta, the largest regatta on the Dutch North Sea.

The consistent Dublin Bay crew are in training for next month's World Championships and took eight top-five results over the ten races sailed to finish on 34 points. But for an opening race U Flag penalty, the Irish Champions may have finished higher on the podium.

The event was won by Royal Torbay Yacht Club's John Pollard on 16. Second was Nils Razmilovic from the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club on 19. 

As regular Afloat readers know, the Royal St. George Yacht Club 'TED' crew were runners-up in Cascais Grand Slam earlier this month as well as winning the recent Northern Championships and Eastern Championships on 20/21 May 2023 hosted by their own club.

Next up for the RStGYC trio will be the World Championships in June 2023, to be held in Scheveningen, The Netherlands.

After success at the Portuguese Grand Slam earlier this month, Michael O’Connor was already up to speed in the SB20 class, but with only two wins from seven races, the Royal St. George Yacht Club ace did not have it all his own way in a tightly fought 14-boat Eastern Championships at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Sunday afternoon.

The entire championships were reduced to one afternoon after losing Saturday and Sunday morning to no wind on Dublin Bay.  

Despite the time constraint, Race Officer Barry O'Neill ushered in a new championship format of short sharp racing in five to 10-knot conditions. The longest race was 23 minutes, and the shortest 19. All the boats finished within one and a half minutes of the winner in all races. 

A start at the 14-boat Royal St. George Yacht Club SB20 Eastern Championships on Dublin Bay Photo: Orla Finnegan

O'Neil told Afloat there had been a 'superb' response to the new format from the fleet superb but was unsure how it might work in 20 knots. 

Seven races from a possible 12 were completed, with one discard applied.

Sailing with Davy Taylor and Keith Staunton, O'Connor ended up on top with 13 points, but just a point adrift in second were Stefan Hyde, Jerry Dowling and Jimmy Dowling on Bàd/Kilcullen. 

Third, again by a single-point margin, was Royal Cork Yacht Club trio Mel Collins, Aidan Mac Sweeny and Kieran Dorgan in Gold Digger.

The new SB20 course format deployed for the 2023 Eastern Championships on Dublin Bay includes the option of stopping a race after one round with 'no drama'.

Race Officer Barry O'Neill will try and get the first races of the 16-boat SB20 Easterns underway this Sunday lunchtime after cancelling Saturday's programme due to lack of wind on Dublin Bay.

O'Neill says there is no point in planning an earlier start as the forecast for the morning is poor. 

O'Neill and his race committee went to sea on Saturday at 9.30 hours but kept the fleet ashore using a rolling AP. 

Even though a gentle five-knot breeze filled around the Bay's East Mark at noon and the fleet came out, it was to no avail as, by the time they got to the race track, the breeze had turned off.

The fleet returned to shore without racing at 2.30 pm as per the Sailing Instructions.

Royal St George Yacht Club event organisers had planned to run more short races in a new format Championships, but this looks likely to be curtailed by the light winds.

A change to the sailing instructions has been made to extend racing until 4 pm on Sunday to give some chance of completing a series.

Six SB20s competed in Saturday's (May 13th) two AIB-Sponsored DBSC summer series racing on Dublin Bay. 

Royal Irish entry Richard Hayes in Carpe Diem was the first race winner from clubmate Ger Dempsey's Venuesworld, but this order was reversed for the second race of the day under Race Officer John McNeilly.

After six races sailed, Hayes leads overall (with five wins) and must be considered a form boat for next weekend's class East Coast Championships at the Royal St George Yacht Club, where 15 SB20s are expected to race.

Full DBSC results across all classes are below

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.

For most folk sailing in Ireland, Lough Ree is absolutely the plumb centre of it all. Thus it’s stretching it a bit to have it as the venue for the SB20 Northerns 2023, even if the popular mid-Ireland club sees it all as part of the countdown to staging the SB20 Nats 2023 in September.

But if you sail out of Crosshaven, everything and anything beyond the River Lee is regarded as northern and somewhat mysterious, with the rumours of countryside and sailing places even further away, beyond Mallow and Mitchelstown, being filed under Terra Incognita. So as far as Aidan MacSweeney of Royal Cork was concerned, it was definitely a matter of heading Arctic-wards as he and Mel Collins took his SB20 to Lough Ree for the SB20 Northerns at the weekend. But it was definitely worth the effort, for after a full programme of nine races with a 13-boat fleet, he and his seasoned crew completed by Lough Ree-based exile Donie Hegarty took the title.

Blowing the cobwebs away after a long winter – the SB20 Northerns eventually were to finish in light weather with sunshine in the making

Race Officer Alan Algeo, with a support team headed by Eileen Brown (they’re both former LRYC Commodores), had interesting conditions to deal with, beginning with a breezy day enabling six races to be completed, and gentler going to fit in another three.

SPRINT COURSES HIT THE SPOT

The class is experimenting with the new-style Sprint courses of a couple of upwind legs with offset mark, gate and reaching finishes. It seemed to be a setup which had the SB20s in mind, as the finishes were more like high drama events rather than the usual upwind game of coldly-calculated chess.

Even when conditions eased, Royal Cork’s Gold Digger was right on the money – that’s her making the perfect pin start

A couple of new teams joined the national fleet in the form of Joe Conway of Royal Irish YC in Dun Laoghaire with son Alex and David Fitzpatrick doing the real work, while Lough Ree duo Emmet Sheridan and John Malone have been through a successful fission process to produce two fully crewed boats, Emmet with his sons Evan (14) and Ultan (11), and Maloner with son Aodhan (14).

Yet despite all the fresh talent, it was the hardened veterans under the Royal Cork and other burgees who did something of a horizon job on the pins table, as Crosshaven’s Gold Digger was on 15 at the finish to the 31 of Royal Irish’s Colin Galavan, with the National Yacht Club’s Phiip Doran, on 35 and the Ken Hudson, Anna Leech and David Dickson trio best of the locals at fifth.

Runaway winners – Gold Digger’s crew were (left to right) Mel Collins, Donie Hegarty, and owner Aidan MacSweeney of Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Even after blowing “surplus” class funds at the Championship Dinner the night before, there was still enough in the kitty for Event Co-ordinator Kevin Fenton to present a bottle of vintage “thank-you” wine to Race Officer Alan Algeo (left) and his team at the prize-giving.

Coming as it did early in the season and right on the heels of Storm Noa, it’s understandable that some of the class’s stars failed to bestir themselves sufficiently to get to Lough Ree. That was a strategic error. After the hugely successful SB20 Worlds on Dublin Bay last September, it had been decided that the surplus funds resulting therefrom would be used to pay for the dinner at the first regional event of 2023 as a convivial rocket-boost to the new season. Consequently, all that lovely Dublin Bay lolly is now irretrievably invested in the economy of Westmeath.

Results below

With November just ended, today’s assessment at the beginning of December for the latest “Sailors of the Month” listings would normally include at least one of our young sailors who starred to such good effect in the European Sailing Championship in the south of France from 14th to 20th November, most notably Rocco Wright (16) of Howth who scored Gold – and with it the top U21 – in the ILCA6 Class.

But as it is, Rocco has already been up in lights with his Gold in the Youth Worlds in The Netherlands in July, scored in an extraordinary demonstration of improving performance with a cool mindset overcoming of any end-of-series nerves. Thus this further Gold - quarried from a demanding series on a Cote d’Azur which at times wasn’t at all Riviera-like – has only added to the lustre of his already-registered achievement.

Rocco Wright – November saw him adding extra lustre to his Gold of July

This may sound frustrating for the adjudicators, as sailing achievements in November can be rare enough. But in fact, the assessment team are delighted, as it leaves them with a clean slate to honour some specialist sailing people whose recognition might normally be crammed into late December’s final roundup.

CROWDED POST-PANDEMIC PROGRAMME

For in the very crowded catch-up post-pandemic season which was crammed almost entirely into June, July, August, and early September, somehow our race-administering brotherhood and sisterhood found enough volunteers from among their ranks to stage no less than four World Championships: the GP 14s at Skerries, the 505s with the Royal Cork YC at Crosshaven, the Fireballs on Lough Derg, and the SB20s at the Royal Irish YC in Dun Laoghaire.

LOSS OF JACK ROY

The demand which such high-profile “in the searchlight” events place on the relatively small group of appropriately-qualified individuals drawn from the within the Irish sailing community’s many volunteers for duty afloat and ashore was exacerbated by the untimely death of one of their key top-level race officers, Jack Roy of Dun Laoghaire, in December 2021.

With his supportive wife Rosemary, Jack provided the very experienced and competent core for race management teams to the highest event levels. His sad demise was not only a real loss in that he was a much-loved truly life-enhancing individual, but it was also a blow to the established Irish ability to comfortably cater for world class events. And it was also felt at every level of our sport, for Jack and Rosemary were the vey embodiment of the spirit of sailing in Ireland. 

Much missed. The late Jack Roy with his wife Rosemary in their Hallberg Rassy 48 Tangaroa at the Fastnet Rock. Rosemary has since taken on the voluntary task of Honorary Secretary to Dublin Bay Sailing Club

They had been anticipating gradual retirement from some of their multiple commitments in sailing in the near future, yet in the extra pressures of 2022, their reassuring background presences would have been a comfort for harassed Event Committee Chairmen. But in any case we can’t help but wonder just how smoothly their planned extraction from the top level of racing administration would really have been. For in July 2022. Rosemary took on the role of Honorary Secretary of Dublin Bay Sailing Club, one of the most demanding positions in our sport.

RISING LEVELS OF EXPECTATION

These days even the most modest club event needs its race teams, and the personnel and expertise demands rise as we move up the scale through regional, national and international championships. But then we move into an entirely different state of affairs when we take on the rarefied conditions which prevail in a recognised World Championship for a global-status class.

Howth Yacht Club’s senior Committee Boat Star Point is both a race organisation platform and a full backroom support office. Photo: Annraoi Blaney

Thus while we really would like to make “Sailors of the Month” our of every Race Officer who made major championships possible in 2022, we have to acknowledge that they’ll have been doing it among their own folk who may well be prepared to make allowances for the occasional error.

But with a Worlds, local friendships are irrelevant. An International Jury which occasionally will feel that it has to justify its existence with some conspicuously severe judgment on race management has to be taken into account. Increasingly, too, Race Umpires are making an input. And it’s all under a level of widespread yet intensely focused international media attention which you don’t get – however big the numbers taking part might be - with events which are further down the feeding chain.

RACE OFFICER TEAMS

In such exposed circumstances, the senior Race Officers need to be a bit like the owner-skippers of a substantial cruiser-racer, who will know that they have to build up a reliable and accessible crew panel which is roughly twice the number of people actually needed to race the boat on the day. And within that “crew panel”, he or she has to have a core of experts – an inner cabinet, if you like – of specialists who can be totally relied on to maintain and operate the necessary data and key support services.

A classic case in point is Peter Crowley of Cork, whose services to sailing over many years have included being President of the Irish Sailing Association and Admiral of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, in addition to being a stalwart of the National 18 Class and the cruiser-racer scene.

Peter Crowley’s Beneteau Trawler Yacht Sparetime has served as Committee Boat at countless sailing events at all levels from club racing to World Championships. Photo: Robert Bateman 

For many years now his personal flagship has been the versatile Beneteau Trawler Yacht Sparetime, and in providing the full services for Race Management to World Level, such as August’s particularly demanding 505 Worlds off Cork Harbour from 3rd to 13th of August, he was able to draw on the support of his key team members like Siobhain Keane-Hopcraft, John Stallard and Joanne O’Brien in order to provide a sound foundation for the larger group – including those in support RIBS – which is necessary to create a fully-furnished worlds.

Sparetime in use as the Committee Boat at the 2022 505 Worlds – keep the message simple, keep it clear. Photo: Christophe Favreau

Royal Cork YC Admiral Kieran O’Connell with Jennifer Barry and Peter Crowley when the latter received a memento for his services as Race Officer at the 505 Worlds 2022 at Royal Cork YC

TWO SAILING MAJORS BACK-TO-BACK

The particular demands of the pressure-cooker 2022 season were also felt on the East Coast, where qualified personnel availability restrictions were such that Race Management veteran David Lovegrove of Howth found himself heading the race organisation for the very international J/24 Europeans at Howth from 30th August to 3rd September, and then doing the same for the SB20 Worlds at the Royal Irish YC in Dun Laoghaire from 4th to 9th September – in other words, two especially-demanding majors back-to-back.

Giving her the welly…..SB20 Worlds 2022 in Dublin Bay in September. Photo: Annraoi Blaney

While the SB20 Worlds found itself experiencing the first hints of strong Autumnal winds, the J/24 Europeans had a last blast of sunny onshore summer breezes from the northeast. But earlier in August at Skerries for the GP14 Worlds from the 14th to the 19th, Race Officer Bill O’Hara of Ballyholme found himself handling the needs of an international 104-strong fleet – the biggest turnout of any of Ireland’s 2022 Worlds – for Skerries Sailing Club.

RUGGED ONSHORE WINDS

Sailing in North Fingal may be expanding by leaps and bounds these days, but the 1934-established Skerries SC sometimes finds itself at the pin of its collar in catering for extra-large fleets in the inevitably-restricted spaces available within the confines of the Red Island Peninsula.

Spinnaker work with an onshore breeze in the GP14 Worlds 2022 at Skerries. Photo: GP14 Worlds

Yet despite a series of sometimes rugged onshore nor’easters making conditions almost coastal oceanic in the race area, particularly in wind-over-tide situations, the determination of the Organising Committee led by Colman Grimes and the huge experience and good humour of Bill O’Hara, saw this mega-event through to a successful conclusion.

MYSTERIOUS MAGIC OF LOUGH DERG

In looking back at the four Worlds staged in 2022, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that the Fireball Worlds at Lough Derg from 21st to 26th August best expressed the spirit of sailing as it is experienced in our island nation. Admittedly a certain level of secrecy seems to come over events which are staged on our somehow well-hidden great lakes, but it is a fact that once people have started taking part in even a major sailing event on Lough Derg or Lough Ree, they seem to have entered a completely self-contained environment which feels no need to communicate with the outside world.

Away from it all yet right on the pace – Fireball Worlds 2022 on Lough Derg. Photo:LDYC

Thus when we talk of sailing as an ideal activity “to get away from it all”, we find this best-expressed among those who have disappeared off to sail on on the Shannon’s many waters. In due course we did get official information about what was clearly a hugely enjoyable and superbly scenic event for the fleet of 79 boats, but at first it was thanks to Race Officer Con Murphy being a dab hand in getting evocative photos - while at the same time running a great event – that we became aware there was some magic sailing going on at a deservedly popular Irish venue.

So when it comes down to it, our four Sailor of the Month for November are all retrospective awards for Services to Sailing, and as every one of them made a huge contribution, we simply list them in the chronological order of the events they organised.

PETER CROWLEY OF ROYAL CORK IS NOVEMBER “SAILOR OF THE MONTH (SERVICES TO SAILING)

The affable Peter Crowley brings comprehensive experience of participation and organisation to any major championship with which he becomes involved

The 505 Worlds 2022 from 3rd to 13th August at the Royal Cork YC came laden with historic associations. For though this attractive class may still look as modern as tomorrow, it goes way back, and around 70 years ago Cork Harbour was the hotbed of a busy fleet which was part of a worldwide movement. But now – like former Olympic classes such as the Finn, the Star and the Dragon – the 505 class is an elite international travelling circus, making the highest demands on any venue that it selects for its words.

Unfortunately for Cork in the first part of the 2022 Worlds, the event was frustrated by calms. But even here, the fact of having Peter Crowley as Race Officer was all to the good, for on the Lay Day he gave everyone a convivial harbour tour on his Beneteau Trawler Yacht Spare Times which much improved the mood, and then when the breezes came good towards the end of the week, he clicked through enough races in champagne sailing to get a real result, with the USA’s Stuart McNay & Caleb Paine winning from GBR’s Nathan Batchelor & Seam Pascoe, while best of the Irish in a 78-strong and totally international fleet were Ewan Barry & Charles Dwyer at 12th.

BILL O’HARA OF BALLYHOLME IS NOVEMBER “SAILOR OF THE MONTH (SERVICES TO SAILING)

Bill O’Hara when he was Race Officer for the Ocean Race

Bill O’Hara first leapt to national fame when he skippered the Bangor Grammar School team to overall victory in the annual Britain & Ireland Schools Championship in Scotland in the days when it was an event of prime importance, which is now a very long time ago. Since then, he has starred in Olympic Finns and Lasers to the highest international levels, while his unrivalled race management expertise been enacted with many high-profile events, including the multi-stage round-the-world Ocean Race.

This in getting him to oversee their 2022 Worlds from 14th to 19th August at Skerries with a fleet of 104 boats, the GP 14 Asociation and Skerries SC really were getting one of the Main Men to see them through a challenging week, from which Ian Dobson & Andy Tunnicliff (GBR) emerged as the Champoons, while the top Irish were the host club’s Colman Grimes crewed by Rob Gingles at fifth, and the top female helm was Jane Kearney of Royal North of Ireland YC in 14th, crewed by Oliver Goodhead.

CON MURPHY OF DUN LAOGHAIRE IS NOVEMBER “SAILOR OF THE MONTH (SERVICES TO SAILING)

A round Ireland sailing record holder for 19 continuous years, Con Murphy is noted for many other sailing achievements 

There are few sailors in Ireland with more eclectic interests afloat than Con Murphy, as he is the husband and father of Olympic sailors, his wife Cathy having raced the 470 in the 1988 Olympics, while his daughter Annalise won the Silver Medal in the Lasers in 2016 in Rio.

But with interests extending in many directions, he has long been a multi-hull enthusiast, and in September 1993 he persuaded the late Steve Fossett to bring his superb 60ft trimaran Lakota to Ireland for a joint tilt at the Round Ireland Record, which had stood since November 1986. They did it with such style that their new time stood until June 2016, when the three larger MOD 70 trimarans finally sliced a little more off it during that year’s multiple record-breaking Round Ireland race from Wicklow.

An eye for the beauty of sail – one of Con Murphy’s “snatched” images while organising the Fireballs on Lough Derg. Photo: Con Murphy

Such breadth of experience brings its own deep sense of reassuring calm at challenging moments during World Championships, and on Lough Derg in late August Con Murphy oversaw an enjoyment-plus Fireball Worlds which saw Tom Gillard (GBR) and Andy Thompson (East Antrim Boat Club) take the title, while the best all-Irish team of Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsaella (Royal St George YC) just missed the podium with a very commendable fourth overall in a notably strong fleet.

DAVID LOVEGROVE OF HOWTH IS NOVEMBER “SAILOR OF THE MONTH (SERVICES TO SAILING)

In his element – David Lovegrove assessing the readings while setting a course. Photo: Judith Malcolm

September is always a bit of a gamble as the time for staging a major sailing championship, for although the sea temperature may be at its warmest, the closing in of the evenings and a sometimes unexpected nip in the air can combine with big winds – usually from the west – to tell us that our predecessors in sailing may have been wise in drawing most sport afloat towards a close by the end of August.

Yet, with modern boats and the growing precision of weather forecast, early September can be a real Godsend in completing the season’s main national and international events. But when David Lovegrove arrived at the beginning of September to oversee the Royal Irish YC’ staging of the SB20 Worlds 2022, he may have seen it as just another day’s voluntary work at the top level of the sport, as he had already master-minded the Wave Regatta at Howth in early June, and he’d overseen a host of other lesser events throughout the summer before taking on the J/24 Euros at his home port in the week before the SB20 Worlds began across the bay.

It was a tough one. If September was coming in as a month of gentle mists and mellow fruitfulness, it was doing so somewhere other than Dublin Bay. This was the Big Boys’ Game, and no mistake. But they battered their way through, and by the end Jose Paulo Ramada of Portugal was the winner out of a 56-strong fleet, while best of the Irish were Royal St George’s Michael O’Connor, Davy Taylor and Edward Cook in fourth.

Afterwards, David Lovegrove supposedly retired home to rest for a while at his house on the Hill of Howth. But rumours abound about him being spotted in the main role aboard the Committee Boat at various events since the SB 20s were blasting so spectacularly around Dublin Bay. Either way, he certainly deserves praise for his extensive work on behalf of sailing.

At the recently concluded SB20 World Championships on Dublin Bay, it was announced that the current Class President, Irish sailor Jerry Dowling, was stepping down after three years in the role, handing over to the class's first Southern Hemisphere appointment,
the current Australian Association chairman - Scott Glanville.

As regular Afloat readers know, Dowling finished in the top ten at the Dun Laoghaire championships, sailing with Stefan Hyde and his brother Jimmy Dowling.

Busy Dowling is also the Commodore of the Royal Irish Yacht Club, which successfully hosted the 58-boat championships.

“It’s been a pleasure to serve the Tony Castro-designed SB20 Class over the last three tumultuous years. The Class has proved to be resilient, to say the least. We’ve grown in Australia, Singapore and the UAE, as well as in Malta and Finland. I am very proud that my club, RIYC, is hosting this year’s World Championships with an entry of 58 boats from 12 nations,” Dowling said on the announcement.

He added: “This is an incredible number considering what has happened over the last years, and is a testament to the strength of Class. In my tenure as president, I have secured the hosting of the world championships for the next three years. The class is in a very good place despite the challenges ahead. May I wish Scott the very best during his reign as class president.”

After the next year’s World Championship in the Netherlands (17th-23rd June 2023), the fleet will travel south, to Dubai, in February 2024. Later that year, in late September/early October, the Maltese SB20 Association will host the European Championship together with the Royal Malta Yacht Club.

Portugal's Team AP Hotels & Resorts of José Paulo Ramada, Artem Basalkin, Carlota Gala and Gonçalo Vieira Lopes are the new Provident CRM SB20 World Champions after a thrilling 12-race series concluded on Dublin Bay. 

Team Xcellent of John Pollard, Jack Wetherell and Henry Wetherell were the silver medal winners at the Royal Irish Yacht Club hosted event and Glasgow Kiss of Nils Razmilovic, Nik Burfoot and David Salembier took bronze.

A consistent performance from the local Royal St. George's Ted team - and a win in the last race - put Michael O'Connor, Davy Taylor and Ed Cook in fourth place overall in the 56-boat fleet. 

A second Irish boat made the top ten overall, with Stefan Hyde, Jerry and Jimmy Dowling sailing Bád/Kilucullen in eighth.

Royal St. George's Ted team scored a win in the last race to put Michael O'Connor, Davy Taylor and Ed Cook (below) into fourth overall Photos: Annraoi Blany and Anna Zyk

 

Day 5 report and overall

What a week it has been at the Provident CRM SB20 World Championship! The participants have experienced all types of Irish weather from rainy squalls to blasting sunshine. If the wind worked more on a decline from howling 30 knots on Monday to a light and shifty breeze on the last day, the emotions, on the contrary, kept heating up.

Day 4 finished with John Pollard’s team Xcellent at the top of the leaderboard with a four-point advantage. Day 5 was decisive, because after the top two teams, the 3rd place could be taken by at least three teams. With three races on Day 5 the participants gained another discard and that’s when their top results earlier this week became crucial.

On Day 5 the Race Committee was determined to run thee races to complete the planned 12 races scheduled for this Championship. The first warning signal time was moved earlier to 11h00, and there was fear of the breeze dropping, making the last day very stressful for some of the teams even before it started.

The game was on with the gun for Race 10 firing on time. The breeze was more from the West and shifting constantly. A 4m tide still coming in at the time of Race 10 probably helped to avoid general recall. All races were started on the Uniform flag, and you could hear PRO David Lovegrove asking the fleet on the radio to cooperate and try to not go over the line delaying the start.

Racing on Day 5 looked more like a chess game with positions changing all the time. First race of the day was won by French Youth team of Ian Garreta from Antibes, their only bullet this week. They sailed well on the first racing day of the championship and made it to top 3 that day. Nils Razmilovic in 2nd after a nice recovery from 7th place on the first rounding. Locals Leviathan took their third podium finish closing top 3 in Race 10.

Race 11 was a bit of a pain. It started with a general recall after the RC recorded a 30-degree shift. prior to the start The skies turned dark and a big cloud appeared over the left-hand-side of the racecourse. French team of Corentin Goulon arrived first at the upwind mark and continued with a good speed. TED were behind them. Unable to overtake the lighter in weight French youth team they finished second, team AP Hotels & Resorts in third.

By 14H15, it was starting to get close to the time limit, while the wind was playing tricks with the Race Committee. Orange flag, black flag and we’re into racing with a clear start! This was Vasco Serpa’s race after the start. He rounded first ahead of TED, followed by Glasgow Kiss and AP Hotels. On the downwind in Race 12 Vasco, TED and Nils all favoured the right-hand-side. It was only AP Hotels in the top of the fleet who went to the left. It paid both times. After their first rounding in 7th or so the come back was phenomenal. Top sailing skills in action and a pleasure to watch! They climbed 4 places and took 3rd overall on a photo-finish with Glasgow Kiss. TED and Vasco Serpa scoring 1 and 2nd accordingly, having battled with each other several times.

A week before the event some of the Class members shared their thoughts on who can win this Championship. They wanted to see Nils Razmilovic improve his last year’s result and not only his team Glasgow Kiss won the bronze, but also topped the Corinthian fleet. The guessing of John Pollard with Jack and Henry Wetherell taking a top spot resulted in Xcellent’s silver. Back then team AP Hotels & Resorts in its winning setup of one of the best Portuguese helmsman and the best tactician in the fleet didn’t even exist. Congratulations, Jose Paulo, Artem Basalkin, Gonçalo Lopes and Carlota Gala!

And here we are a week later with an amazing fleet of sailors of all ages and genders. Three young local sailors joined our international teams this week stepping in for last minute drop outs. The female part of the fleet is growing and we are happy to congratulate Julia Freespirit from Ukraine, who despite all obstacles found a crew and joined the event almost last minute. #GameChanger was the winner in the Female category out of 5 other teams: KIDZINK with Libby Greenhalgh helming and YALLA SHAMAL! of Rachel Blackburn both from the UAE, Lupi d’Irlanda of Emma Crane and Sneaky B of Charlotte O’Kelly both from Ireland.

With the SB20 Worlds 2024 coming in Dubai it was great to have all the UAE teams and welcome them to the international level of SB20 racing. “See you in Dubai 2024” spinnakers over the racecourse showing a good level of competitive sailing. We hope to see them at other international events until February 2024.

We had 7 fantastic youth teams that came from four countries. The best youth team title went to Ares from Tasmania, who finished 7th overall. Congratulations, Will, Eddie, Ed and Eirni, you’ve shown us some great sailing, having scored two bullets in this competitive international fleet!

Vasco Serpa didn’t win this time, but he was super close and he definitely won the Appreciation Award from the fleet! Not only a great competition on the water, when he’s not sailing and your sails are stuck or lost on the way, your boat is missing for whatever reason or there is another almost impossible task to sort out, Vasco will be your man! At least three boats travelled to Dun Laoghaire so that the Australian and Singapore teams could join us. The Class is very lucky to have SailCascais onboard!

Hein Ryuten, who didn’t compete himself this time, our Dutch SB20 boat charterer, also helped in delivering boats from the Netherlands and for next year he will be the one to talk to as well. We are grateful to the Royal Irish Yacht Club for great hospitality and all the technical support that has been as brilliant as ever.

Best three Day leaders were recognised and received their framed photos, they were team Xcellent, Glasgow Kiss and AP Hotels & Resorts. The Nation’s Cup will be travelling to the UK this year, first time in five years of World Championships.

In the Masters category, team 3J’s form the Netherlands of Jeroen van der Velden were best and finished the Championship in the 12th position. Good testing for the Dutch teams on Dublin Bay, it was great to have such a strong presence, and we are proud that Youth sailing is supported on serious level in the Netherlands.

Awesome stories from the Singapore gang, who first saw a seal out of a zoo here in Dublin bay and how they surprised the locals by putting on sunscreen. At the next SB20 event, if you meet a guy called Storm (Storm van Leeuwen - which means “from Lions”), remember this name. Apparently, he can splice your Dyneema in minutes! P. S. Don’t forget to buy him a beer.

Friends have been made and, again, SB20 World Championship brought together an amazing mix of people from all over the world. Plans have been settled and next, we are going to the Netherlands to experience the North Sea in Scheveningen. Start learning how to pronounce that!

The 2023 World Championship is less than a year away, which means that the rollercoaster of emotions, catching up with friends and making new ones, picking up crew (and maybe winning the Championship) will be again on the table.

Report from the class association