On the third and final day of the 33-boat SB20 Middle East Championships at Dubai Offshore Sailing Club, Glasgow Kiss from Singapore, helmed by Nils Razmilovic, won the title of overall Champion. Following closely behind in second and third place are ActiTime and Little Mischief, respectively.

Day One witnessed three intense races between all 33 teams, with Glasgow Kiss taking the win. On day two, Glasgow Kiss maintained the lead position, with ActiTime and Little Mischief in second and third place, respectively. On Day Three, the weather conditions were favourable in comparison to the first two days, with the wind speed sitting at 8 knots, gusting 10.

Commenting on the achievement, Nils Razmilovic of Glasgow Kiss said, "We are delighted as achieving this title is a huge honour and a testament to our team's hard work."

Coming up next, Dubai Offshore Sailing Club will host the SB20 Asia Pacific Championships from 2nd to 4th February 2024, which will be the next opportunity for sailors to hone their skills and understanding of the local sailing conditions. And then, the Triple will culminate in the SB20 World Championships, which will take place from 11th to 16th February 2024, where sailors from around the globe will compete for that coveted title.

The 2023 Dubai Duty-Free SB20 Middle East Championships has been a testament to the spirit of skilful sailors, exemplifying the epitome of teamwork and resilience. Against a backdrop of diverse weather challenges, the competitors demonstrated exceptional proficiency and a collective passion for competitive sailing. This year's championship has brought together crowds of all ages, nationalities, and backgrounds in a celebration of the shared love for sailing. The dynamic mix of youth teams and international entries echoes the inclusive nature of sailing, reaffirming that it is a sport for everyone.

Royal Cork Yacht Club's Mel Collins, Aidan MacSweeny and Harry Pritchard sailing GoldDigger beat the SB20 national champions for overall honours at Lough Derg Yacht Club Freshwater Keelboat One Design Regatta on Sunday. 

The Crosshaven trio lifted the trophy after finishing on the same four nett points as 2023 Irish champions Michael O'Connor, Davy Taylor, and Owen Laverty from the Royal St George, who discarded an expensive disqualification from the fourth race.

Four races were sailed on Saturday with one discard, but racing was abandoned on Sunday by Race Officer John Leech due to a lack of wind at Dromineer. 

Greystones Sailing Club trio Marty O'Leary, Rachel O'Leary and Conor Galligan finished third.

Ten SB20s competed.

Michael O’Connor (RStGYC) and his crew mates Davy Taylor and Ben O’Donohoe won the Lough Ree Yacht Club hosted SB20 National Championships last weekend.

An eight-boat-strong local fleet also saw entries from RIYC, RCYC, NYC, RStGYC and HYC.

Six out of 10 races were completed on Saturday, the only day of racing under varying wind conditions (8 knots and building steadily to 14 knots) no racing on Friday or Sunday as conditions proved challenging with temperatures in the high 20’s but gusting barely 2 knots! Racing was postponed as with other events around the country suffering similar conditions.

Wind direction on Saturday was incredibly shifty but the race officer David Dickson and his support team, Alan Algeo, Oonagh Reid and Liz McGrath, took the situation in their stride as each race started in rapid succession. 

\SB20s converge on a mark at the National Championships on Lough Ree

Racing was very exciting with lots of jostling for pole position, saw TED helmed by Michael O’Connor (RSGYC) and his crew mates Davy Taylor and Ben O’Donohoe winning Gold Fleet sailing consistently over the six races (10 points, same points as previous Northerns in April at LRYC) closely followed by Stefan Hyde (RIYC) and his team (Jerry and Jimmy Dowling) on Bad Kilcullen (15 points), in third place Carpe Diem (18 points) helmed by Colin Galavan (RIYC) and his team (Aran Jones and Kein O’Rourke), Silver fleet saw the local LRYC boat Sharkbait helmed by Mark Rafter and supported by Stan Bradbury and Rory Walsh winning top place closely followed in second place for Silver fleet Sea Biscuit helmed by Chris Helme and his crew (Barry Galvin and Niall O’Riordan). Third place in the Silver fleet was secured by James Delaney helming (Under 25 Squad in a sponsored boat for the event) Provident CRM, James and his team really demonstrated great sailing technique and a serious contender for future events.

Six out of 10 SB20 National Championship races were completed on Saturday, the only day of racing under varying wind conditions (8 knots and building steadily to 14 knots)

Overall results for the National Championship Event at LRYC saw TED outright winner and taking home the National Trophy; second place went to Bad Kilcullen Stefan Hyde Helm, with Jerry and Jimmy Dowling, Carpe Diem secured 3rd Place Helmed by Colm Galvin Carpe Diem and his team Aran and Kein.

2023 SB20 National Champions - TED helmed by Michael O’Connor (RSGYC) and his crew mates Davy Taylor and Ben O’Donohoe

2023 SB20 National Championship runners-up -  Stefan Hyde (RIYC) and Jerry and Jimmy Dowling

Silver fleet pole position went to Mark Rafter, local man on Sharkbait, 2nd Sea Biscuit and 3rd Provident CRM (Under 25 Squad).

2023 SB20 National Championships Results at Lough Ree Yacht Club

Finishing on nine points overall, Jerry Dowling's Bád/Kilcullen from the Royal Irish Yacht Club kept a margin of two points after Sunday's seventh race to take the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta crown in the 12-boat SB20 fleet. 

Colin Galavan added a final race win to his two wins scored on Saturday afternoon to finish on 11 points in second place overall.

James Gorman from the National Yacht Club took third with 25 points.

The SB20s made great speeds on the downwind legs under asymmetric spinnakers in the strong wind 2023 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Photo: Michael Chester

There was praise for the organisers of Ireland's largest sailing event, who managed racing for a fleet of 400 boats on three of the four days of the regatta despite being in the full grip of the northern jetstream. Winds from a southerly quadrant blew hard again on Sunday to bring a blustery ninth edition of the biennial event to a successful close at lunchtime.

Below is footage from Thursday's first day of the regatta showing Colin Galavan's second overall 'Carpe Diem', 'sending it' before nearly all racing was cancelled due to the gale force winds.

Despite Jerry Dowling's Bád/Kilcullen having four race wins from seven races sailed, the Royal Irish crew can't quite shake off the opposition in the 12-boat SB20 fleet of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta.

Colin Galavan used his recent World Championship exposure in the Netherlands last month by taking two Saturday afternoon wins to ruin his clubmates' perfect score and close the gap to three points with two races left to sail on Sunday.

Moving up into third place is James Gorman from the National Yacht Club.

Racing was postponed for one hour on the penultimate day to allow strong winds to abate, a decision that proved correct as Dublin Bay yielded perfect summer sailing conditions in the afternoon.

The breeze was south-westerly at 15 knots, with some strong gusts and big wind shifts off the Blackrock shoreline to make for some exciting racing.

The 2023 regatta, the ninth edition of Ireland's largest regatta, concludes on Sunday with two final races for most classes and a great festival of sailing across the waterfront and Dun Laoghaire town as four sailing clubs come together for the biennial event; Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club, Royal St. George Yacht Club and National Yacht Club.

Royal Irish Yacht Club Commodore Jerry Dowling leads the SB20 fleet at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta with three straight wins scored in blustery conditions on Friday. 

Lying second overall to Dowling's Bád/Kilcullen in the ten-boat fleet is clubmate Colin Galavan's Carpe Diem on eight points. 

In a one, two, three for the RIYC, Ger Dempsey's Venuesworld is third on nine points.

A discard applies after four races. Another five races are expected over the weekend to complete the series. 

The strong southerly winds are expected to continue for Saturday's races before moderating for Sunday's conclusion of the biennial event.

The Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, National Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club, and Royal St. George Yacht Club are organising the ninth regatta.

Ireland's top result at the SB20 Worlds is tenth overall after 12 races sailed in the Netherlands, where the regatta saw the first-ever Australian team crowned champions.

Michael O'Connor, Davey Taylor, and Ed Cook sailing Ted from the Royal St. George, are now discarding a 20th from race eight in the 54-boat fleet. It puts them down four places from seventh overall to 11th, which is their position after the first day.

The next of the four Irish boats competing (all from Dun Laoghaire Harbour) is the National's Tadgh Donnelly, Peter Carvill, and Dan Little in Leviathan in 18th. Royal Irish's Colin Galavan, Aaron Jones, and Kevin O'Rourke in Carpe Diem finished 23rd. Ger Dempsey, Barry Glavin and Niall O'Riordan ended up 34th.

The final day of the championship took a long time to start. Called for an earlier skippers briefing Friday morning, the competitors discovered a deep fog covering the harbour. The wind was unstable and patchy, not giving much hope for racing.

After some waiting ashore, a two-hour postponed flag was hoisted until finally, at 13:00, the fleet was sent to the water. A pressure front was passing the coast from Belgium, and the chance was that it would allow to sail one race or pass by too quickly.

At the racecourse, the wind was around 7-8 knots and PRO Dirk Sledsens (Royal North Sea Yacht Club in Ostend) had the mercy on sailors to not go into the Black Flag start on the first attempt. After a start on Uniform and a general recall that followed the RC managed to quickly hoist the orange flag again, and the final battle was on.

The tide was pushing the boats onto the starting line at about 3 knots of speed, and two French Youth teams were leading the race. On the upwind marks, France Youth of Ange Delerce was first and France Youth of Ian Garreta was third. Between them, Another Affair was rounding in 2^nd.

Just after the rounding at the top marks, the numbers were called on the radio announcing that both French Youth teams had had a BFD, but the two teams continued racing. Getting to the downwind marks was tricky and the teams found it hard to get the boats going.

On the 2^nd upwind rounding, the leaders got shuffled and this time, between the French teams was Australian Porco Rosso in second. Without losing too much speed downwind they crossed the line after the two French teams which meant winning Race 12!

Supersonic had a good race - after the 4^th position at the 1^st upwind mark, the only top boat to gybe early, they got the 2^nd finish in the race. Charles Whelan on Breaking Bod managed to stay in the front in this difficult race finishing third and concluding the event with a smile.

Team Ares rounded around 6^th place at the first upwind, then had an incident at the bottom with Another Affair, who received a penalty. Next upwind, they overtook slowed down Breaking Bod and Leviathan, both on the inside, and rounded in 5^th. From then they had to keep the pace and make it to the finish line in top 5. Which they did and secured their win!

Many great Aussie sailors have taken the challenge to win the SB20 World Championships over the years. Glenn Bourke (several attempts), Tom Slingsby and Nathan Outteridge (on the same boat in 2011), Michael Cooper, Chris Dare, David Chapman, Ian Brown and Malcolm Page – all of them got to 2^nd and 3^rd overall, but it took a young gun from Hobart to get it done in 2023.

Australians, however, have been part of the winning teams in the past: Steve “AB” White was with Craig Burton for all three wins (2008, 2009 and 2013). And Grant Rollerson was on Jerry Hill’s boat in 2011 and took the trophy home.

Portugal became the new Nation’s Cup holder as the best-performing country. All four Portuguese teams finish the regatta in top 10, with Freedom of Martin Estlander in 4^th (64 pts), AP Hotels of Jose Paulo Ramada in 6^th (86 pts) and Solyd Sailing team of Vasco Serpa in 9^th overall (116 pts).

At the award ceremony Will Sargent first thanked his team and called them “the best team in the world”. “It was a very close event, and it came down to the last race. There was a bit of match racing and a couple of penalties, but managed to go come out with a win, so we’re really excited,” –he added.

Lots of grateful words have been said at the prize-giving ceremony to the sponsors, the volunteers, the organisers and the Club staff. They’ve all done a fantastic job, always with a smile and helping each other. The hospitality of Scheveningen Yacht Club has been brilliant and the work of Race Committee exceeded all expectations. Racing in strong currents is never easy and the RC has delivered five days of racing in various tricky conditions.

Overall results:

Top Female team –RSZV (Rotterdamse Studenten Zeil Vereniging) of Donna-Tinke Huijsmans, Arthur Nankman, Tigo Ledeboer and Emma Van Ginkel (NED)

Top Masters team – PBII Twenty of Mark Gillett, Paul Hine and Richard Anderton (GBR). Paul and the team are also taking the last year’s prize that had been waiting for them in Holland. It turned out that Dutch team 3J’s was not yet eligible for the Masters category in 2022.

Top Youth team – Ares of Will Sargent, Eddie Reid, Paige Caldecoat, Eirini Marios (AUS).

Best Corinthian – Another Affair of Tiago Morais, Miguel Oliveira and Francisco Oliveira (POR).

3^rd place overall – Xcellent of John Pollard, Henry Wetherell and James Grummett (GBR)

2^nd place overall - Another Affair of Tiago Morais, Miguel Oliveira and Francisco Oliveira (POR).

1^st place overall - Ares of Will Sargent, Eddie Reid, Paige Caldecoat, Eirini Marios (AUS).

Ireland's top hope at the SB20 Worlds is back down to 11th overall after eight races sailed in the Netherlands, where the regatta saw a long day on the water and some shuffling at the top of the leaderboard.

Michael O'Connor, Davey Taylor, and Ed Cook sailing Ted from the Royal St. George, are now discarding a 20th from race eight in the 54-boat fleet. It puts them down four places from seventh overall to 11th, which is their position after the first day.

The next of the four Irish boats competing (all from Dun Laoghaire Harbour) is the National's Tadgh Donnelly, Peter Carvill, and Dan Little in Leviathan is 21st, down from 16th. Royal Irish's Colin Galavan, Aaron Jones, and Kevin O'Rourke in Carpe Diem are up to two to 23rd. Ger Dempsey, Barry Glavin and Niall O'Riordan are up one to 33rd.

There were different winners in all four races of Day 3, with the most consistent sailing from Another Affair (POR3723), who continue to lead on the overall standings.

Great job by the Race Committee to conclude four races today with wind stable to an acceptable limit with shifts on the racecourse. With every day of the championship, the low tide happens later and later in the day, so starts are still super tricky. The day opened with a general recall, but quickly switched to Black Flag, which caught a couple of boats in Race 5.

Glasgow Kiss took the lead followed by AP Hotels and Trio (NED3445). Ares, Another Affair and SquiB followed closely. On the second upwind rounding, AP Hotels took the lead from Glasgow Kiss and finished first. Team Xcellent did a great job and finished second, leaving the Singapore team in third.

A pleasant surprise for Race 6 was a clear start on uniform flag! The sky turned grey, but without the wind picking up. Already on the second downwind, the sun came back to brighten the racecourse for spectacular photos. First on the upwind mark were team Freedom (POR3803), followed by Skipjack (NED3575) and France Youth Team of Ian Garreta (3653).

For the 2nd rounding, the leaders changed with PBII in first, followed by Porco Rosso (AUS3827) and Freedom. In this sequence, they reached the finish line. Exciting moment for Paul Hine and the team on PBII winning this race as they have never scored a bullet at a World Championship. This also puts them in top 10 two days before the end of the championship. Well done, Poor Bouy-2!

Maximum number of boats that jumped the line on Black flag reached six in Race 7. It was won by team Ares who sailed a very consistent race. They took early lead on the first rounding and dominated the fleet for the rest of the game. John Pollard and France Youth of Ange Delerce put some pressure on Will Sargent and his team, but they did a great job keeping the focus and sailing their best.

Race 8 had a clear start with the wind dropping to 6-7 knots. Ian Garreta (FRA3653) was in the lead on the first downwind together with MXTC (NED3714) and Supersonic (UAE3363). Tricky light wind and the incoming tide decided the last race of the day with team Freedom (POR3803) finishing in first, Ian Garreta in second and Nils Razmilovich on Glasgow Kiss in third.

Another Affair sailed the most consistent day - with no big mistakes, no BFDs and staying always in top 3-5 places. Their worst result overall is 7th in two races, one of which becomes a discard, so they still have some room for an error. Team Ares, however, are only 4 points behind and Another Affair will have to keep their consistency for two more days.

Tiago Morais and his crew of father Miguel and son Francisco Oliveira have been sailing in the SB20 Class for a number of years. Representing Club de Vela Atlántico from the North of Portugal they frequently travel to Cascais for SB20 events. In the season of 2022-2023 they crowned the overall Winer Series and finished three out of five events on the podium.

Fellow Portuguese team AP Hotels won the opening race of the day, but the all-Portuguese crew of Jose Paulo Ramada didn’t manage to keep the pace for the rest of the day. They had 13th, 7th and 15th finishes in Race 8. This pushed them down to 5th place, with Freedom moving to the 4th. The intense level of sailing here in Scheveningen is tiring, and staying focused after 6-7 hours on the water is not easy.

John Pollard had an up-and-down day with the worst result in 11th and best in 2nd place. “Variable conditions today, but we managed to stay out of trouble! We had no black flags and four sufficient results, so we are looking good for the rest of the week,” – said Tactician James Grummett onboard Xcellent who closed the Top 3.

After this long and tiring day, the sailors were welcomed on the beach for a fun raffle sponsored by Dubarry of Ireland and Sailmon. Nice food and beautiful sunset concluded the day in bright colours that made any bad memories from racing fade away.

With eight races completed, including one discard, the fleet enters the second part of the championship. Thursday is promised to be windy, and Friday, on the contrary, very light. 

Full results here

Ireland's top hope at the SB20 Worlds is up to seventh overall after four races sailed in the Netherlands, where the regatta saw a change in the overall leader on day two.

Michael O'Connor, Davey Taylor, and Ed Cook sailing Ted from the Royal St. George, scored a three in race three – their first podium result so far– in the 54-boat fleet. It moves them up four places overall from 11th after the first day.

The next of the four Irish boats competing (all from Dun Laoghaire Harbour) is the National's Tadgh Donnelly, Peter Carvill, and Dan Little in 16th. Royal Irish's Colin Galavan, Aaron Jones, and Kevin O'Rourke in Carpe Diem are 25th. Ger Dempsey, Barry Glavin and Niall O'Riordan are 34th.

Day two opened with a light breeze and storm on the forecast. The pressure was on for the Race Committee to start at the scheduled 11:35, but it was not until after 12:30 that racing got going.

Light wind caused the delay, and the day promised to be tricky again with the tide working not in the fleet’s favour. Race 3 started on uniform flag, but too many boats were over the line pushed by the tide onto the racecourse. Many favoured the pin end to avoid the crowded Committee end of the line. After a general recall a burst of laughter was heard in the air as the Black flag went up for the second attempt of Race 3.

Four Irish boats are competing at the 54-boat SB20 Worlds at Scheveningen Yacht Club in the Netherlands Photo: Laurens Morel

Team Ares (AUS3828) took a good start in the middle, then struggled to get to speed and find stable wind. Irish TED of Michael O’Connor (IRL3809), Solyd Sailing team of Vasco Serpa (POR3801), Tiago Morais on Another Affair (POR3723) and Martin Estlander on Freedom (3803), John Pollard on Xcellent (GBR3814) all favoured the left hand side. Race 2 winner Glasgow Kiss (SGP3750) had a bad start and got stuck in the middle.

With a good start on the pin end 80% of the race could happen on one tack benefiting from the tide that was still going down. Then, a technical approach on port tack to the mark would make it a winning combination.

First rounding saw the Dutch team 3J’s (NED3754) in the lead, followed by Freedom (POR3803) and Supersonic (UAE3363) arriving on port tack. Among the top teams on first upwind mark were Leviathan (IRL3433), PBII (GBR3820) and TED (IRL3809), with Solyd Sailing and Xcellent chasing closely. The boats got some nice speed going downwind and those who stayed on the right side of the downwind course made a good decision.

With PBII retired after the first downwind due to a BFD there was one less competitor in the top 10. Breaking Bod (GBR3758) and Leviathan took the right side upwind, which cost them a few places.

From afar, it looked like the battle for the 2nd rounding would be between Freedom (POR3803) and Xcellent (GBR3814), but Vasco Serpa got the winning combination right and rounded first. 3J’s lost four positions and rounded in 5th.

On the downwind Solyd Sailing were coming to the bottom gate in close with Freedom, but Freedom went too far left, missing the layline and letting Vasco round in first. From then, it was a short run upwind toward the committee boat for the finish, which Vasco and his team nailed brilliantly. Xcellent and TED followed on a photo finish in second and third. 3J’s climbed to 4th position and Another Affair (POR3723) who sailed a very consistent race were 5th, with Freedom arriving in 6th.

Race 4 didn’t start until around 14:30 with RC trying to set the starting line for nearly an hour. Shifts of 50 degrees and wind dropping made everyone worried about the potential cancellation of Race 4. The dark horizon made additional pressure of a passing storm that promised 20mm of rain coming from the English Channel.

The boats stretched more on the starting line, but it still looked messy on the RC end. The wind shifted more to the south against anticipated Westerly.

The right hand side of the course had a number of Dutch teams after the start on the RC end, but again many boats favoured the left. With the threat of the wind getting closer to 0 and the coming storm, the RC took a decision to go with the Black flag at the first attempt of Race 4. Again, it cost some of the top teams painful BFDs. Unfortunately, the case for Glasgow Kiss and Breaking Bod, who both retired from the race after the start.

On the 1st upwind rounding Dutch youth team from Rotterdam (NED3290) took the lead, Another Affair and Kesbeke (NED3716) closely chasing them. In top 10 you could see a number of Dutch boats, including Vliegensvlugge Vlieg (NED3446), Broach | TU Delft | Buitenhuis Advies | SuBtiel (NED3340), MXTC of Marco van Driel (NED3714) and others.

With the wind shift to the west predicted with the storm, the left hand side of the downwind now looked better. After the first downwind rounding on the 2nd upwind, Another Affair made a smart move and stayed on that side for a long as they could. Xcellent was climbing on the opposite side. This worked well in the previous race, but not so well in the new conditions.

2nd upwind rounding witnessed the same positions approaching with NED3290 of Donna-Tinke Huijsmans and Another Affair sailing very close. Tiago Morais on Another Affair (POR3723) managed to round first and another Dutch boat Kesebeke followed in 3rd. John Pollard arriving in 4th, and Dutch Vliegensvlugge Vlieg in 5th.

As the wind was dropping to nearly 4 knots at times the last downwind was super tricky for the leader to keep their pace. Having played the downwind very well and gaining a lead Another Affair secured the finish and won Race 4.

Youngsters on NED3290 followed right behind them with Kesbeke closing the top three. The AP over A was immediately hoisted after the finish of the first boat and the fleet rushed back ashore to shelter from the coming storm.

Good day for many Dutch teams which shuffles the overall positions on the leaderboard and makes a new Top 10. After four races the championship can be considered completed and with so many BFDs across the table the fleet is looking forward to the first discard after 5 races.

Looking at the National performance the Portuguese teams have a strong lead with three teams in top 10. Tiago Morais, helmsman onboard Another Affair commented:

“You notice that the leaderboard has changed since yesterday. All the 4 winners were different, yesterday we had the Aussies and the French youth teams, today we were fast and the Dutch teams too, so the competition is very high. I’m happy to sail on the North sea, because I’m used to sail in the river and I am used to sailing with a current. The Portuguese are doing pretty well – Zé Paulo (AP Hotels, currently second) is sailing very well and Vasco (Solyd Sailing, 8th overall) is having a consistent racing. Yesterday we were leading the Nations Cup and hopefully we can keep that lead until the end of the championship.”

Full results here

Ireland's leading hope for a top result at the SB20 Worlds is lying 11th after two races sailed. Michael O'Connor, Davey Taylor, and Ed Cook sailing Ted from the Royal St. George scored a 16 and a 9 in the 54-boat fleet.

The next of the four Irish boats competing, all from Dun Laoghaire Harbour, is Royal Irish's Colin Galavan, Aaron Jones, and Kevin O'Rourke in Carpe Diem are 20th. Tadgh Donnelly, Peter Carvill and Dan Little are one place behind in Leviathan. Ger Dempsey, Barry Glavin and Niall O'Riordan are 31st.

Like everything in the Netherlands, the skipper's briefing was called sharp on time at Scheveningen Yacht Club this Monday ahead of the first racing day at the SB20 Worlds 2023, announcing two possible races.

Nice wind and choppy sea greeted the fleet as they left the harbour, eager to get into racing. Despite having a nice stable westerly breeze, the opening race of the championship did not happen on time. Finally, after two general recalls, a black flag decided the starting positions and caused some boats a painful BFD.

Many boats found themselves stuck in the second or even third row. It was a game of tactics and sailing skills to make the best out of the situation. For the third start, all the boats stayed on the Committee side with no one on the pin end. Quite impressive to see a 50+ fleet squeezing into half of the starting line.

Royal Irish's Colin Galavan, Aaron Jones, and Kevin O'Rourke in Carpe Diem competing at the SB20 Worlds at Scheveningen Yacht Club in the Netherlands Photo: Laurens Morel

Wind direction was contrary to yesterday’s practice race, and sailing with the ebbing tide made the boats jump over the line early.12-13 knots of breeze allowed for some spectacular racing in the waves with little or no planing with a mix of teams in top positions throughout the race. Tasmanian National champions onboard Ares coped best with the tricky conditions and won the event's opening race.

“It was a really nice day for sailing on the North Sea today. We decided to do what we did last year [in Ireland] and won the first race, which was quite nice,” – said Will Sargent, Ares helmsman.

Second place was taken by France Youth of Ange Delerce and the closing top 3 was UAE boat Supersonic, who sailed a good race with a lead on the last windward rounding but haven’t managed to stay ahead of French and Australian teams.

Second race went into sequence with a Black flag to avoid further delays as the breeze has started its decline. The tide has reached its lowest state and turned which may have helped the boats a bit on the second downwind. Glasgow Kiss of Nils Razmilovic took a lead on the first upwind and maintained it until the finish. They were closely chased by Jose Paulo Ramada on AP Hotels and team Ares of Will Sargent.

Two French Youth teams had a great start for the event, sailing close to the leaders in both races. It was the 2003_sailing_team of Ange Delerce (SR D'Antibes), Julia D'Amodio (Cannes Jeunesse), Julien Bunel (BN Mare e Vela) and Sylvestre De Giuli Morghen (ASPTT Marseille) who sailed the most consistent day with two second finishes in these tricky conditions putting the to the top of the leaderboard on Day 1.

With this strong entrance into big fleet racing, the French Youth teams have a good chance to be in the top three and even win the champions title. French coach Philippe Michel confirms the ambition to win the Worlds: “They have worked a lot at the start of the season. Ian (Garreta) and Ange (Delerce) are both leaders in the fleet and match racing back in Marseille. We have to work on the starts in particular; it's different with more than 50 boats. They know very well the boat, but now we need to manage this high level of racing in tricky conditions of the North Sea”.

In the top 10 after two races, we find at least three Portuguese teams, putting them in a good lead for the Nations Cup trophy awarded to the best-performing nation at the end of the event. In 2022 the SB20 Class UK took the trophy home, but can they keep it in 2023 we will find out this Friday.

Ashore the sailors enjoyed the Scheveingen yacht club’s hospitality and a happy hour sponsored by (the Royal North Sea Yacht Club, hoping to welcome the SB20 fleet in 2025 for Europeans) while watching a recap of Sailmon tracking and drone footage of today’s racing.

The first warning signal for Tuesday is at 11:25, with potentially three races.

Full results here