Thunder and lightning

Colin Simonds has won the Laser SB3 National Championship

Colin Simonds is the new UK National Laser SB3 Champion, following a faultless display of sailing in the fantastic conditions of day three. In the swell of four to five feet and eight to twelve knots of constant easterly breeze, his team scored a series of three perfect bullets. This was enough to stay ahead of the European’s runner up from France, Luc Videau, who probably thought he had done enough to take the lead with a second and two thirds on the same day.

As the thunder and lightening rolled in, the final day’s racing was scrapped, and cheers emanated from Doolalli 3017, one of the oldest boats in the fleet, Simonds was the new champ. An emotional 54 year old Simonds, who sailed with his little brother of similar vintage, 6ft 3in Gavin, (his Soling crew of days gone by who recently swam from Seaview across the Solent), paid credit to the competition, and declared how delighted he was to finally win a big SB3 Regatta, and how racing SB3s was the best fun he had in his long and illustrious sailing career.

Race management was very appropriate with the PRO getting races fitted in to whatever short windows of steady breeze there were, and the shore staff kept glasses filled as fast as they could be emptied. Sponsorship again from Volkswagen Touareg and Henri-Lloyd was plentiful, and WKD kept a steady supply of free booze going on several evenings, much to the detriment of those on a budget. Alan Hillman, the new South Coast co-ordinator, ran a superb video analysis session on the Friday night before the Hog Roast, and really the only downside was the arrival of the torrential rain and lightening, which made the prospect of hoisting your chariot out of the sea with an 80 crane pointing skyward, a rather anxious experience. The youth award went to the West Mersea Youth Team, who sailed one of two borrowed boats, one owned by Josh Warren of West Mersea, the other by Laser. They collected the Mailspeedmarine prize donated by Simon Relph with a fantastic 13th overall.

Well done to all who made the journey, which was generally twice as far to go on the way home, and all eyes will now be on the Mid-winters at Hamble, where an even bigger turnout is expected, with potentially one of the biggest ever fleet turnouts to date, in the Hamble Winter Event.

Results:

Pos	Sail Number	Owner	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Tot
1	GBR3017	Colin Simonds	Colin Simonds	16	1	2	23	8	1	1	1	30
2	FRA3024	Luc Videau	Luc Videau	3	8	7	11	10	3	3	2	36
3	GBR3139	Glen Truswell	Glen Truswell	1	12	1	3	11	13	5	11	44
4	GBR3082	Moreland/Groves/ White	Stephen White	4	10	4	10	19	5	7	10	50
5	GBR3130	Jerry Hill	Jerry Hill	10	25	6	8	6	6	6	13	55
6	GBR3117	Tony Kilby	Geoff Carveth	8	2	17	19	2	19	8	8	64
7	IRL3041	Peter Kennedy/Dave Cheyne	Peter Kennedy	22	24	27	5	4	10	2	3	70
8	IRL3040	Ken Bibby	Gareth Flannigan	34	16	20	1	5	2	18	15	77
9	GBR3038	Mike Riley	Mike Riley	18	31	11	28	1	12	10	4	84
10	GBR3085	Simon Meadowcroft	Paul Ellis	5	17	8	18	3	31	21	12	84
11	GBR3032	Tim Peters	Tim Peters	9	20	3	31	35	9	4	17	93
12	GBR3145	Nigel Biggs	Nigel Biggs	13	11	36	13	12	8	13	26	96
13	GBR3127	Josh Warren	Matt Findlay	6	6	5	7	29	21	28	28	101
14	IRL3137	Brian Spence	Brian Spence	36	19	23	6	33	7	9	7	104
15	GBR3125	Neil Hardie	Neil Hardie	20	5	24	32	9	15	14	19	106
16	GBR3072	Ben & Jono Shelley	Jono Shelley	17	3	29	26	16	53	12	6	109
17	AUS3080	Daniel Geoghegan	Daniel Geoghegan	23	33	21	2	7	34	17	20	123
18	GBR3031	Summerhayes/ Summerhayes/Watson	Christina Summerhayes	41	36	28	9	13	4	25	9	124
19	GBR3144	RAFSA	Chris Blake	33	13	16	4	20	53	27	14	127
20	GBR3037	Joe Woods	Joe Woods	7	15	12	14	27	24	36	44	135
21	GBR3136	Simon Lake	Mark Longstaff	11	46	10	15	24	26	32	18	136
22	GBR3141	Ian Poynton	S Norbury	12	37	32	12	25	14	20	24	139
23	GBR3026	Richard Beaman	Richard Beaman	29	7	34	39	15	40	24	5	153
24	GBR3095	Richard Hill/Nick Stuart	Nick Stuart	2	22	18	40	36	27	23	27	155
25	GBR3102	William Edwards	William Edwards	19	27	30	41	21	20	16	31	164
26	GBR3153	David Clarke	David Clarke	37	30	9	21	14	25	42	30	166
27	GBR3062	Charles Nicholson	Neil McGrigor	53	34	14	27	45	17	11	22	170
28	GBR3045	Graydon Dawson	Graydon Dawson	24	9	38	24	49	18	26	34	173
29	GBR3060	Stewart Reed	Stewart Reed	25	32	19	43	31	16	34	23	180
30	GBR3135	Duncan Hepplewhite	Duncan Hepplewhite	14	26	47	17	37	30	22	35	181