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Royal St George Yacht Club SB20 Trio Take Bronze at North Sea Regatta

31st May 2023
Royal St George Yacht Club's Michael O'Connor, Davy Taylor and Ed Cook were third overall in the SB20 class of the North Sea Regatta
Royal St George Yacht Club's Michael O'Connor, Davy Taylor and Ed Cook were third overall in the SB20 class of the North Sea Regatta Credit: Sander van der Borch

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.

Published in SB20
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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