SB3s in Lymington

Carveth maintains his grip on the top of the fleet reports Rachel Nuding

The final event of the Laser SB3 Volkswagen Touareg Grand Prix series took place in Lymington over the weekend of the 7th and 8th July. Hosted by the Royal Lymington Yacht Club, the conditions were almost perfect, 15 – 20 knots of breeze, sunshine and 120 keen sailors all trying to stop the winning streak of the European champion Geoff Carveth sailing Palava. But to no avail, Geoff won four of the six races.

Champagne sailing conditions greeted the competitors on Saturday morning and Principal Race Officer, Roger Wilson, sent them off on a two lap 1.2 mile course. A big wind-shift when the boats were coming into the first mark kept everyone on their toes, but Toby Litton sailing Speed stayed in front to take the first line honours of the day.

The Royal Lymington’s new committee boat had its first encounter with an SB3 on the second race, but that didn’t stop Geoff taking his first win of the weekend. Another wind-shift after the second race saw the committee boat moving further inshore and the entire course relayed in a very respectable 20 minutes. Race three once again saw Geoff Carveth in the lead, hotly pursued by Catherine Summerhayes and the all-girl crew in Team Maclaren.

Sunday brought more sunshine but for the first time in what seems like weeks, no wind. After an hour’s postponement, the fourth race had the fleet champing at the bit and consequently there was a general recall. They all behaved with the black flag hoisted and a tactical race with the tide split the fleet in two. Once again Carveth led them around the course, again with Team Maclaren in hot pursuit.

John Outhwaite in Baloo notched up his best score of the weekend for race five which once again saw the fleet taking different sides of the course. The black flag rule was still in place for race six and saw Dominic Akers-Douglas in Sybarite and Rory Barr in Silverback taking an early bath. Geoff again led the pack with Catherine snapping at his heels.

Whyte & Mackay Earls Court Boat Show generously sponsored bottles of whiskey for the first three in each race. Carveth and crew managed five, Team Maclaren had four and Team Touareg three!

Praise for the Race Committee came from many competitors at the prize giving. The entire race management was slick, with good start lines, marks moved when necessary and clear signaling giving the competitors fair and exciting racing. The presence of an on-the-water judge each day gave the competitors less time in the protest room and more time in the bar and thanks must go to the weather God who gave everyone such beautiful conditions.

			R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	Palava	Geoff Carveth / Ben Oakley / Sarah Allan / Emma Clarke	3	1	1	1	4	1	7
2	Team Maclaren	Catherine Summerhayes / Barbara Watson / Sacha Oswald / Christina Summerhayes	15	4	2	2	2	2	12
3	Team Touareg	Crag Burlton / Adam Heeley	2	5	5	3	5	3	18
4	Tack Tick	Russell Peters / George Yeoman / Rob Struckett	4	2	8	10	38	7	31
5	Synchro	Andy Rodwell / Jonny Alison / Hywel Poole	5	8	7	17	7	4	31
6	Baloo	John Outhwaite	20	10	9	5	1	8	33
7	Badger Racing	Paul Lovejoy / Chris Hamel / James Lund-Lack	12	38	3	7	6	5	33
8	Champagne Blonde	Daniel Geoghegan / Charles Cumbley / Adam Knibb / David Giles	9	3	4	12	8	14	36
9	Doolalli	Colin Simonds / Ed Simonds / Justin Eveleigh	10	13	15	4	3	9	39
10	SPEED	Toby Litton / Alan Bell	1	7	10	8	15	16	41
11	Rumbleflurg	David Cummins / Jo Peart / Sue Antonelli / Martin Vinson	7	6	38	6	20	18	57
12	Black Pig	Pauline McCracken / Jason Pyke / Andrew Bansey	8	26	20	9	10	11	58
13	Silverback	Rory Barr / Steve Wilkinson / Paul Vernon	16	12	6	13	12	38	59
14	Grey Goose	Bruce Huber / Charles Nicholson / Neil McGrigor	6	22	23	15	16	6	65
15	Saboteur	Quintin O'Neill / Paul Wiseman	38	15	14	14	14	12	69
16	Joules Argo II	Alec Russell / Ed Mandasyde-Dick / Claire Paramore	17	9	13	19	38	15	73
17	Woosterstock	Luke Wooster / Luke Bradley / Andrew Yates	18	14	21	16	9	38	78
18	Bish Bash Bosh	Roger Hexton / John Shorrock / Peter Christie	22	11	11	28	26	10	80
19	The Baron	Ben Williamson / Oliver Quarmby	25	21	12	11	23	13	80
20	Sail Navy	Joe Henry / Matt Page / Sara Hellawall	26	27	38	20	11	20	104
21	Red Kite	Roger Harford / Tim Bigg / Mark West	27	17	22	27	21	17	104
22	Bucephalus	William Evans / Robert Evans / Alex Tilley	19	25	17	25	19	27	105
23	Scoundrel The Third	Peter Smithin / Paul Foddy	28	30	28	23	13	19	111
24	Sybarite	Dominic Akers-Douglas / Adam Gosling / James Wardle	14	23	38	18	18	38	111
25	Bathstore	Tim Cork / Mark Cockerill	13	19	29	30	22	38	113
26	No Name	Andrew Jones / Edward Parsons / Tony Hanlon	21	24	19	29	25	38	118
27	Camel Pie	Mark Cam / Fiona Frankling	31	32	16	22	27	24	120
28	Millgate Homes	Ann Jackson / Katie Haighton / Simon Haighton / Alan Skeens	29	18	18	21	38	38	124
29	Slo-Mo-Shun	Iain Chidgey / Ian Hudson / Richard Pelley	30	20	25	31	32	21	127
30	Hot Pants	Mike Wood / Alex Phillips	11	28	27	33	29	38	128
31	Holligan	Daniel Hawkins / Simon Jackson / Martin Gray	32	16	24	32	31	26	129
32	Flippet	Jonathan Blanshard / Christian Chilcott / Mark Longden / Hugo Blanshard	24	35	30	26	30	23	133
33	Whizz Bang	Nick Wright / Tom Day / Dom Greeves	34	29	38	34	17	25	139
34	Barbarian	Benjamin Sturges / John Elder	38	31	26	35	28	22	142
35	Heart of Gold	Tom Hayhoe / Natalie Sobling / Sue Clutton	23	34	38	24	24	38	143
36	Twerk	Martin Lossie / Jamie Pidduck	33	33	31	38	38	38	173
37	Trio	Gary Baker / Nick Bashford / Gareth Griffiths	38	38	38	38	38	38	190