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SB20 World Championships Now Coming to Dublin Bay One Year Earlier

28th June 2021
The Irish hosted SB20 World Championships will be held at the National Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour from 5-9 Sept 2022
The Irish hosted SB20 World Championships will be held at the National Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour from 5-9 Sept 2022 Credit: Afloat

The countdown is now most definitely on for the SB20 World Championships that have been moved from 2023 to 2022 on Dublin Bay. 

The Irish hosted World Championships will be held at the Royal Irish Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour from 5-9 Sept 2022.

The change in year 'was due to a number of factors and thankfully Ireland has managed to retain the worlds, albeit one year earlier, " says the Irish class president John Malone.

The planned Worlds in Singapore and the Europeans in St Petersburg, Russia are cancelled and the Netherlands will host the Worlds in 2023.

The 2022 World Championships sees the event return to Dublin Bay some 14 years after the inaugural world championships were sailed at the NYC in 2008.

That event attracted 136 SB3s drawn from 13 countries and was won by Britain's Geoff Carveth, Roger Gilbert, Roz Allen & Sarah Allan.

More recently, Dun Laoghaire's Royal Irish Yacht Club hosted the successful SB20 European Championships in 2018 when a final race win for Royal St. George's Michael O'Connor, the 2017 SB20 Corinthian World Champion, allowed him to produce the goods again for Ireland by taking third overall.

More immediately, however, the Irish class gets its season underway next weekend (July 3) with the Eastern Championships at the Royal Irish Yacht Club.

Published in SB20, National YC, Dublin Bay
Afloat.ie Team

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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