After three blustery races sailed at the Provident CRM SB20 World Championship 2022 at the Royal Irish Yacht Club, Britain's John Pollard, Jack Wetherell and Henry Wetherell lead the 54-boat fleet at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. 

The consistent Torbay crew scored a 2,2, and a race win in the day's final race to lead on five points from the Singaporean Glasgow Kiss crewed by Nils Razmilovic, David Salembier and Nik Burfoot on 13. 

Lying third is the French youth team of Ian Garreta, Calixte Benoit, Vincenc Girodeau and Yona Blacher from Antibes on 21 points.

A race starts on the first day of racing at the SB20 Worlds on Dublin Bay. Overall leaders are Britain's John Pollard, Jack Wetherell and Henry Wetherell, 3814 and bow number 18, (fourth from left) prepare for a mid-line start. Photo: Annrai Blaney

The championships finally got underway on Tuesday having been blown out on Monday.

The top Irish boat of 17 competing, is the Royal St. George local trio of Michael O'Connor, Davy Taylor and Edward Cook, who opened their world championship account with a 19th. 

Supersonic a Dubai Offshore SC from the UAE and crewed by Justin McCarthy, Michal Pajak, Rosemary Tyrell and Emily Conan  Photo: Annrai Blaney  

Without a skippers briefing ashore, the Race Committee headed to the Bay and, after a short AP, invited the fleet to join. Just as boats started to dock out, AP over H was displayed, sending the fleet back to the harbour to “await further instructions”.

The wind was blowing 24 and gusting 28 knots at the time. Some boats stayed out on the water to practice manoeuvres, but confirmed afterwards that “it was rather brutal out there”. The sailors prepared to wait, and after about 2 hours, when the wind dropped to 16-18 knots, they were blessed with the AP flag going down!

Breaking Bod sailed by Charles Whelan, Richard McAdam and Aaron Holman from Bough Beech SC/Royal Southern YC in the UK Photo: Annrai Blaney  

The first warning signal was given at 14:15, with broaches and breakages happening even before the boats crossed the starting line. Clear on the line, 53 boats rushed into the waves in a 20 knots breeze.

Right from the start Glasgow Kiss of Nils Razmilovic, sailing with Laser World Champion Nik Burfoot, took an early lead and rounded the windward mark first. They were closely followed by Xcellent of John Pollard with Australian team Ares of Will Sargent behind them. Breaking Bod of Charlie Whelan and AP Hotels & Resort of Jose Paulo Ramada were in close chase. On the first downwind, Glasgow Kiss went out to the bay aiming to gybe for the layline, but Ares chose a more favourable approach, crushing through the waves and nailing their gybes. It resulted in arriving to the bottom mark first, from where they continued to lead until the finish line with a significant advantage. After another lap Nils Razmilovic only finished in the 4th place, letting Pollard and Whelan sneak in front of him, who finished second and third, respectively. Good race for the Irish team Leviathan, who finished 6th.

Plenty of action on the SB20 World Championships race course when the wind pick up on Dublin Bay

Race 2 started at around 15:40 after that the wind picked up, causing a bit of havoc on the racecourse. Glasgow Kiss, Xcellent and the French Youth team of Ian Garreta were in the lead, but it was the time for Portuguese AP Hotels & Resort of Jose Paulo Ramada to celebrate the victory. Definitely, the experience of sailing SB20 in ocean conditions with big waves and often strong winds pays off. In this tough race, AP Hotels & Resort left Xcellent and Glasgow Kiss behind leaving them in second and third place accordingly. After two races, John Pollard has already secured the overall lead with 4 points, having finished 2 and 2. French Youth team 1 finished 4th followed by fellow French boat New Caledonia of Tugdual Piriou. Top Irish boat TED of Michael O’Connor finished this heavy race in 6th, their best result of the day.

Race 2 was when the first collisions occurred. One of the UAE boats retired from the race with a dent in the hull on the way to the windward mark. Then, on the first downwind, the boat of the event sponsor Provident CRM of John Malone lost the rig on a strong gust and had to be towed back to the harbour. One more hull was damaged on the downwind rounding and had to be immediately towed back to avoid sinking. The boat was getting a lot of water inside it, and thanks to the smooth operation of the safety team, they were quickly transported to be craned out.

An man overboard is retrieved from the water at the SB20 World Championships Photo: Annraoi Blaney

Race 3 started around 17:15 with big waves and for the last race of the day the teams could finally enjoy some sunshine. With a general recall at first, the race continued with a clear start. It was John Pollard who was leading the whole race, rounding all the marks in first and securing the lead. In second – Breaking Bod sailing with British Sailing Team crew Aaron Holman. It was a close finish for the third place, but UK team Twenty of, Mark Gillett and Paul Hine were faster. French boats Skin in the Game of Ed Russo and FFVoile Youth 1 of Ian Garreta had a good race too; they finished 4th and 5th, respectively.

PRO David Lovegrove and his team did a fantastic job on this difficult day resulting in three windy and action-packed races.

Upon return to the Club the boats were greeted by live music, delicious Irish stew and whiskey to make their aprés-sail merrier and to prepare them for a new battle next day! Strong winds prevail on Dublin Bay, and we all hope that racing will start at 12h00 as scheduled on Day 3 of the championship.

Additional reporting from the SB20 class