SB3 King of Cowes entry list announced

Who out of this bunch are going to take home a VW Touareg?

A veritable line up of 28 Skandia Cowes Week 2006 winners, have confirmed they will compete in the Volkswagen Touareg King of Cowes Regatta at Skandia Cowes Week this August. With names such as Andy Budgen (winner in the Sigma 38 Class), Graham Bailey (Etchells), Alastair Richardson (Extreme 40), and Russell Peters (Laser SB3), the event promises to be hotly contested.

Performance Sailcraft Europe Ltd and Volkswagen Touareg have teamed up to create a very special invitation-only sailing regatta to take place on Friday 3rd August 2007. With a brand new Volkswagen Touareg as the prize for the winning helm, news of the event has spread fast.

Twenty-nine helms of the most competitive classes of Skandia Cowes Week 2006 were invited to come together racing identical one design Laser SB3s off Cowes in a one-day, three race regatta to compete for the title 'Volkswagen Touareg King of Cowes at Skandia Cowes Week'. An impressive 28 of the 29 invited helms confirmed their attendance.

A draw to match winning helms with qualifying SB3 owners was made on Tuesday 29th May 2007. Qualifying helms were randomly selected to team up with Laser SB3 owners and their boats. The likes of Kenny McCullough (Skandia Cowes Week winner in IRM - TP52) was drawn with SB3 owner Jerry Hill. Alistair Richardson (Extreme 40) will team up with Toby Litton. Current favourite Russell Peters (Laser SB3) will partner David Wilkinson. The owner and helm have been put in touch with each other and will now choose a crew to sail with them for the event.

Mike (Moose) Sanderson has confirmed that ABN AMRO 1, winner of Class 0, will also be represented at the regatta. Mike hopes to take the helm, if commitments to TEAMOrigin allow, on Chris Darling's SB3.

SB3 Boat Name	Helmsman	Class Won	Winning Boat	SB3 Owner/Crew1
Traxu	Tim Spalding	Beneteau 40.7 & IRC Class 3	Amey Love Shack	Mark Richards
Speed	Alastaire Richardson	Extreme 40	Basillica	Toby Litton
Barbarians	Ray Rouse	Contessa 32	Blanco	Ben Sturges/Mike Orange
RNSA	Daniel Willett	Sonata	Camel Toe	Mike Barham
More Kit Off/Lifting Safety	Peter Baines	X One Design	Caprice	David Atkinson
Bathstore	Mike Wigmore	Multihull - MOCRA	Triptych	Tim Cork
Hot Pants	Mike Fenwick	National Squib	Ghost Rider	Michael Wood
Palava	David Apthorp	J/105	J-Dream	Geoff Carveth
Let's Be Free	Ian Braham	Class 6 IRC	Dean & Dyball Enigma	Sandy Ballie Strong
Baloo	David Dwyer	Class 2 IRC	Mariners Cove	John M Outhwaite
Blind Ambition	Len Jones	International Dragon	Rumours	Nick Jackson
Powder Monkey	Russell Peters	Laser SB3	Selden Seen	David Wilkinson
GBR3051	Tom White	Class 9 ISC	Pizzicato	John Powell
Wooster & Stock	Luke Bradley	Hunter 707	Star Born 3	Luke Wooster
Performance Sailcraft Europe	Michael Ewart-Smith	J/109	Zelda	To be confirmed
Playtime	John Tremlett	Victory	Zinnia	Tony Kiddle
Ribidium	Richard Griffith	Sigma 33	Cerefe	Samantha Cook
Team Touareg	Graham Bailey	White Group  &  Etchells	Arbitrator	Craig Burlton
Asbo	Rupert Mander	International Flying Fifteen	Men Behaving Badly	Richard Purssell
Speedy Bee	Ben Goodland	Multihulll	Team Eberspacher	Andrew Jones
Kelpie	Chris Savage	J/80	Savage Sailing	Matthew Glasgow
Credo	Andrew Peters	Prima 38	Serendip	Claire Malloy
Name TBA	Glynn Williams	Nautor's Swan Class	Wolf in Sheeps Clothing	Venetia Wingfield
Champagne Blonde	Ben Cooper	Black Group & Class 1 IRC	Fair Do's VII	Dan Geoghegan
Virtual Human Resources	Robin Stevenson	J/92	Mojo	Danny Brooks
Argo II	Andy Budgen	Sigma 38	The Project	Alec Russell
3 Sad Old Blokes	Kenny McCullough	IRM	Panthera	Jerry Hill
Darling Associates	To Be Confirmed	IRC Class 0	ABN AMRO 1	Chris Darling

Big Prizes
"For the first time leading national and international helmsman will have the opportunity to pitch their skills on the water in a true champion of champion's style event," explains David Graham, director of Performance Sailcraft Europe.

"With big prizes up for grabs, a Volkswagen Touareg for the winning helm as well as a free SB3 upgrade for the owner, interest in the event is enormous," adds Graham.

In addition to a free Volkswagen Touareg branded spinnaker and free entry to Skandia Cowes Week 2007 for all the boats taking part, the second place helm wins a Volkswagen Eos convertible, with the owner getting a new SB3 mainsail. The third place helm will sail away with a new Laser GXD and the owner will receive a new SB3 jib.

With the number of boats and helms limited to 29, Laser's selection criteria for invited winning helms from Skandia Cowes Week 2006 has been stringent. To qualify as one of the most competitive classes it required a point spread of 12 or less including discard between first and third place in the final published results at last year's Skandia Cowes Week.