Club News
VOLVO LASER SB3 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS- LAKE GARDA, ITALY 2010
3 Sad Old Blokes win Volvo Laser SB3 World Championships
Friday 23rd July 2010
Competitors took to Lake Garda this morning
for races 13 and 14 of the Volvo Laser SB3
World Championships. The Gold Fleet to the
Yellow/Torbole course and the Silver Fleet to
the Blue/Riva course. The fleet was full of tired
but determined faces as the fleets cast off the
pontoons. Hill (GBR) and Burlton (GBR) both “appeared” remarkably cool going into the final day of racing, with just 4 crucial points separating them, it seems appearances were deceptive.
Conditions were lively on both race courses, with a constant 18 knots of wind at the start of racing. The Gold Fleet, enthusiastic as ever to get race 13 underway were recalled having jumped the line with 15 seconds to the gun. With the well worn black flag raised, and the course re-set after a 20 degree wind shift the Gold Fleet were underway for their penultimate race of the Championship. Ian Ainslie (RSA) and crew pulled out a great lead on the fleet in the first lap of the windward leeward course and finished the race over a minute ahead of Geoff Carveth (GBR) in second place. Jerry Hill (GBR) finished eighth, Luca Rodion (RUS) finished ninth and Craig Burlton (GBR) finished tenth. It was all to play for in the final race.
Yet again the fleet were recalled on the first attempt of starting the final race of the championships and only got away after the black flag was hoisted. The glorious Garda sunshine finally ran out as the fleet beat to the windward mark, the black clouds burst and the wind dropped to 8 knots and swung back 30 degrees. The Race Officer was in a quandary; finish the race in unstable conditions or shorten the course after the first lap? As the fleet were making their final approaches to the leeward gate, the race committee raised the Tango flag and signalled to the fleet to finish. Unfortunately for many of the fleet, the flag was not recognised and only a canny few held their kites and carried on to the finish line.
Adrian Peach, Niall Myant, Nathan Batchelor and Ian Mills (GBR) won the final race of the Championship. “I think that half the fleet didn’t read their sailing instructions! I was sailing with 3 coaches, who had ALL read the SI’s! My tactician, Nathan used to coach the Topper fleet, and immediately recognised the “T” flag!” explained Peach. “My son has been on the phone asking me to get him a bullet; I didn’t think it was going to be possible but it was a great way to finish the event!”
32 boats in the Gold Fleet did not react to the Tango flag and continued to sail the course leaving them outside the 15 minute time limit for the Championship and as a result added a “Did Not Finish” (DNF) results to their score sheet. As the fleet came ashore and realised their mistake, their faces feel and disappointment soared. A disappointing finish for many Championship campaigns.
Ben Saxton, Tim Saxton, Nicola Brook and Matt Rainback (GBR) the young crew onboard Rola-Trac were scored DNF in the final race, but in spite of this, finished the Volvo Laser SB3 World Championship in third place, a fantastic achievement considering this is the crew’s first season in the boat. Rola-Trac will be a boat to be watched in the future and we look forward to seeing them on the podium this evening.
Ian Ainslie, Roger Hudson and Adam Martin (RAS) from Proximo finished in second place. “A hatrick of second’s for me at the SB3 Worlds!” claimed Hudson. The South African’s are always a favourite at SB3 events, will their luck change in time for the UK Worlds?
After 14 races, with scores including 3, 5, 1, 4, 1, 11, 1, 1, 27, 18, 1, 2, 8, 9 Jerry Hill, Joe Lewellyn and Grant Rollerson (GBR) are World Champions in the Laser SB3 Class. Catching up with Jerry Hill after racing, he explained, “We’ve been fast all week and we’ve sailed really well together. We’ve had 5 first and lots of other top 5 results. Our problem at previous World Championships has been carrying “big results”. I have to admit, I was in pieces this morning and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to hold it together, I really didn’t think I could cope. But we sailed really well today, we didn’t have a great start to the first race today, we found ourselves quite deep, but we pulled back places and managed to get in front of Craig [Burlton]. Going into the last race we had 6 points on Craig [Burlton] and 8 points on Ian [Ainslie]. We sailed really well up wind and stayed with Ian [Ainslie] and Craig [Burlton]. At the leeward gate we saw the “T” flag, but also saw that nobody was going to the finish, so we headed up wind and tried to find the Sailing Instructions...they were soggy, but when we saw some of the back markers of the fleet sailing for the finish, we hoisted the chute. Our World Championship title rested on this decision. I am ecstatic that we were right and I am looking forward to celebrating tonight!”
The Silver Fleet is won by Vincenzo Graciotti who racked up an impressive 6 first places in the finals.
With 14 races completed and a great time had by all, the 2010 Volvo Laser SB3 World Championships concludes this evening with the prize giving ceremony at the Circolo Vela Torbole.
In 2011 the Laser SB3 World Championships will be hosted by the Royal Torbay Yacht Club, Torquay, UK from Monday 16th – Friday 20th May.
Championship website with full results, images and video can be found at: http://worlds2010.lasersb3.com
Ends
Please credit images: Ph. © Carloni/Grasso - Volvo Laser SB3 World Championship
For further information contact:
Katie Ashworth,
Executive Secretary, Laser SB3 World Council
Mobile: +44 (0)7919 915641
E-mail: katiesb3@gmail.com
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SB3 Gold Fleet Finals
Thursday 22nd July 2010
For races 10, 11 and 12 of the Volvo Laser SB3 World Championships the Gold Fleet moved to the winder Bravo Course underneath the Riva cliffs. With increased wind strengths of 20 knots, the Gold Fleet were in for some spectacular racing. With points separation tight at the topof the fleet, everyone left the dock looking for some success.
Consistency is often the key factor in Laser SB3 racing. Jerry Hill (GBR), Craig Burlton (GBR) and John Pollard (GBR) are testament to this. Each team carries some hefty discard results, but at present these three boats lead the gold fleet. Jerry Hill, Joe Llewellyn and Grant Rollerson currently hold a 4 point lead over Burlton and a 14 point lead over Pollard. Consistency for Hill will be key for the two final races of the Championship.
Both South African entries to the event lie in the top 10 leading into the final day of racing. Ian Ainslie, Roger Hudson and Adam Martin (RSA) on City of Cape Town lie fifth overall and David Hudson, David Rae, Marlon Jones and Roscoe Cupido (RSA) enjoyed a better day today onboard Spirit of Cape Town leaving them in tenth position. “We managed a repeat performance today of our results on the first day of racing, a first a second! Our tactics have been to take a mid line starts, gaining us clear air which seems to have benefitted us today. We’ve been the first boat onto port, and although we’ve had to duck a few boats on our way to the cliffs, it seems to have worked,” explained helm David Hudson. “Our crew had been working really hard. It is the first time that Roscoe has sailed a Laser SB3 which has been a great learning experience for him, he’s a regular Mirror sailor and will hopefully take his experience from this event to the Mirror World Championships.”
Luca Rodion, Oleg Zherebtsov, Maria Rudskaja and Alexander Lebedev had a difficult day today. After rounding the windward mark first in the final race of the day, they dropped to third position. Luca Rodion described his day, “We are really enjoying the Laser SB3, but we know that we have a lot to learn. Small things make a huge difference in this boat, especially in this wind. It’s great practice for us and we hope to have improved a lot more for the Worlds in 2011.”
Vincenzo Graciotti had another great day in the Silver Fleet posting a 1, 1, 1. When asked as he came ashore if he’d had a good day he answered, “even better than yesterday!”
Ukrainian team, Transbunker, crewed by Valeri Polovoy, Valentin Klymentyer and Valdimir Stasiyk are showing their metal in the finals races of the silver fleet, scoring 4, 2, 4, 3, 2, 4. Having travelled for 4 days from the Ukraine the team are enjoying their sailing on Lake Garda, “We think the event is great, we are enjoying sailing in a big fleet but we didn’t expect so much wind, it’s not very common on the Black Sea.”
Tomorrow sees the final 2 races of the 2010 Volvo Laser SB3 World Championships. All eyes will be on the 3 leading GRB boats in the Gold Fleet.
Championship website: http://worlds2010.lasersb3.com
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Gold and Silver Fleet Finals Begin
Wednesday 21st July 2010
With last night’s protests completed, the Gold and Silver Fleets were decided for the Volvo Laser SB3 World Championships finals. A further 3 races were scheduled for each of the fleets today. All races were all completed taking the Championship race tally to 9. The Gold Fleet is incredibly strong, including many great sailorswith past Laser SB3 pedigree as well as a number of strong contenders from the wider sailing world. The Silver Fleet may not be racing for the Waterford Championships Trophy, but do not be fooled, their fleet will be competitive to the very end.
On the third attempt, the Gold Fleet were successfully away under the fear of a black flag start. The majority of the fleet picked the left hand side of the course, but at the windward mark, the right hand side of the course had clearly paid.
UK Class Chairman, Jerry Hill (GBR) and his crew onboard 3 Sad Old Blokes notched up some great results for their first finals races taking bullets in the first and second races today. Hill lead to the first windward mark in each race and extended his lead on each leg. It was suggested to Hill that he had made it look easy to win those races, his response, “I’m sure we will make it look very hard before the end of the event!”
Geoff Carveth was back in race mode today, having suffered a broken rudder gudgeon yesterday. Ben Saxton and his young crew onboard Rola-Trac are enjoying great consistency during their first season in the Laser SB3, they’ve posted some excellent results so far and are certainly a boat to watch at this event and in the future.
Gill Race Team’s Craig Burlton, Steve ‘AB’ White and Adam Heeley (GBR) had a frustrating first race today, but managed to turn their success around with 2 second places in races 8 and 9. Steve ‘AB’ White said, “It was a tough day at the office today, very few boats managed consistency in all 3 races and only Sarah Allan (GBR) finished in the top 10 in each race. We seem to be a magnet to Luca Rodion (RUS), each race we are sailing in the same piece of water!” Burlton and Rodion lie first and second respective in the Gold Fleet, perhaps that is more of a reason for the 2 teams magnetism!
Boomsticks, helmed by Brian Reilly and crewed by brother Paul Reilly and John O’Dowd (IRL) had a successful day on the Silver Fleet race course finishing the day with a 2, 3, 1 to add to their results. Their closest competition appears to be the Italians onboard Bravi helmed by Vincenzo Graciotti who took two bullets and a fifth today.
Vincenzo Graciotti leads the Silver Fleet overnight, and claims, “I can compete in this fleet because I have silver hair! Today we wore our lucky bear t-shirts, perhaps tonight we will wash them and wear them again tomorrow!”
Championship website: http://worlds2010.lasersb3.com
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Hit the cliffs and pick the shifts
Tuesday 20th July 2010
With freshly split fleets, the Volvo Laser SB3 World Championship fleet took to the water at lunchtime for races 4, 5 and 6 of the Championship.The wind arrived from the south, as per schedule.
The fleet racing on Course Alpha split course sides on the first beat of the day. Those who pickedthe right hand side benefitted, Nick Phillip’s “Chaotic” (GBR) rounded the windward mark first and set off to dice with the windsurfers at the leeward gate. Carsten Kemmling (GER) sailing Else showed great pace today. As the fleet roared downwind for the 2nd time creating a wall of spray as the wind built, their faces said it all. With grins from ear to ear, these were perfect conditions for Laser SB3 sailing! Nick Philips capitalised on his great early lead to win the first race.
Course Bravo enjoyed stronger wind from the start of the day, and by the beginning of the second race, the wind had built to a consistent 18 knots. As soon as the fleet crossed the line, the race was on to hit the cliffs and start short tacking up the shoreline. As the fleet rounded the windward mark for the first time, there was much less separation of the fleet, than seen on Course Alpha.
Ian Ainslie (RSA) onboard Team Proximo sailed a perfect second race today. Ainslie started at the Committee Boat end of the line and quickly picked his way to the front of the fleet, where he stayed for the rest of the race. By the end of the second downwind leg of the race, Ainslie had extended his lead to a full leg; as he rounded the final leeward mark of the course and dropped his kite, the final boat was rounding the spreader mark at the top of the course. Impressive sailing after a difficult day yesterday, Team Proximo are back in contention for the Championships.
Course Alpha struggled with their starts today, due to the consistently shifting wind. Roberta Righetti finally raised a black flag on the final race of the day, following the fifth general recall in 2 races. “It was extremely difficult for the fleet with the shifting wind, with 1 minute and then 30 seconds to go before the start they were well behind the line and with just moments to go they were all taken over with a wind shift. That is why I continued to start the race with flag papa.
By the time the final race on Course Alpha was started the fleet from Course Bravo were already ashore enjoying some of the fantastic Torbole hospitality. Italian LaserPerformance dealer, Peitro Negri (ITA) and his crew onboard Stenghele won the final race of the day, the first win of the Championship for the host nation!
With the qualifying races of the Volvo Laser SB3 World Championships completed, the finals races begin tomorrow. Going into the finals, Craig Burlton (GBR) still leads the fleet, by 1 point. Jerry Hill (GBR) and Luka Rodion (RUS) both finish 6 races with 14 points, following 1 discard. They are split on count back with Hill in the lead. The pressure is on at the top of the gold fleet. It will take mental strength as well as sailing skill to win this event.
Championship website: http://worlds2010.lasersb3.com
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Laser SB3 World Championship Entry Tops 100
9th June 2010
The 2010 World Championship for the Laser SB3 will be hosted by Circolo Vela Torbole, Lake Garda, Italy from 19 - 23 July 2010. The entry list has topped 100 boats, and is still growing. No surprises there then! Entries flooded into Circolo Vela Torbole as soon as the entry list opened in February, a clear demonstration of the popularity of Lake Garda as a venue for major events.
Representatives from sixteen nations will compete in the World Championships, the largest spread of that the Laser SB3 class has ever enjoyed. Forty boats will attend from the UK, still the largest national entry and the host nation field a twenty boat entry, their largest turn out to a World Championships yet. Entries come from as far afield as Australia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and South Africa. Ireland, France, The Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, Germany, Ukraine and Russia will all be represented in Torbole in July.
The two Laser SB3 World Champions, Geoff Carveth (2008 Champion, Dun Laoghaire) and Craig Burlton (2009 Champion, Cascais) will both compete again for the Championship title and the honour of lifting the Waterford Crystal Trophy on Friday 23 July. Both Carveth and Burlton are British and so far the Laser SB3 World Championship has not been won by another nation. John Pollard, another British sailor recently won the Laser SB3 Volvo Cup on Lake Garda by a good margin and will be gunning hard for the top of the fleet.
However, this event is far from a walk over for the Brits! Tough competition will be provided by the Russian entry helmed by Ukrainian Rodion Luka who recently won the Laser SB3 Eurocup in Morgat, France. Luka, who took silver at the 2004 Olympics in Athens in the 49er class has already demonstrated good boat speed and hot tactics on the race course. Father and son, David and Roger Hudson, the founders of the South African sailing foundation "Race Ahead", will field two entries, crewed by sailors from the foundation. Race Ahead has achieved second at the World Championships in 2008 and 2009. Will it be third time lucky for them?
For a number of the crews taking part in the 2010 Laser SB3 World Championships, this will be their first trip to Lake Garda, but for many, a trip down memory lane. Laser SB3 World Class President Dave Cheyne (IRL) can barely contain his excitement! "We have some mouth watering racing ahead of us! There are forty seven entries already for the Italian Nationals, we have an absolutely incredible few weeks of sailing coming up!"
Entrants will be split into two qualifying fleets for the first six races of the World Championships. Gold and silver fleet finals will begin on Wednesday 21st July. For anybody still wanting to enter, there is still time. Please contact Katie Ashworth via the website for further details.
The Laser SB3 Italian National Championships will take place in Torbole, from 25th - 27th June. A number of keen teams from across Europe will travel to Italy early for a pre-match warm up and to eye up the local competition.
LaserPerformance through Italian dealer Negri Nautica (www.negrinautica.com) will provide event support to the Italian Nationals and the World Championships ensuring every boat is able to race each day. Negri Nautica will also be making special offers to the fleet on spares and sails.
The Laser SB3 Class proudly claims to be one of the most tightly restricted one design keelboat classes in the world with little variation from the builder's final product permitted. With minimal maintenance, easy to trail and low campaign cost, the class thrives on its philosophy of providing inclusive, high intensity, great fun and easily attainable, quality racing for it's members.
Further news and developments can be followed at the new SB3 International Website www.lasersb3.com.
For further information contact:
Katie Ashworth,
Executive Secretary, Laser SB3 World Council
Mobile: +44 (0)7919 915641
E-mail: katiesb3@hotmail.co.uk