SB3 decisions

World championship venues for the next three years announced. First up - Garda!

The SB3 has seen extraordinary growth since its launch in the UK in 2002. Recently the SB3 World Council have reviewed a number of event bids from some outstanding venues and are delighted to announce that the Calendar of World and European Championships Events for the next three years has now been agreed.

The 2010 World Championship will be hosted by Circolo Vela Torbole, Lake Garda, Italy over 19-23 July. The class returns to Lake Garda following the enormously successful European Championships in June 2005. Entries are expected to reach the limit of 120 long before the close of entries at the end of March 2010. The team at Circolo Vela Torbole are working hard to finalise plans for their event, which is guaranteed to be first class both on and off the water.

The Royal Torbay Yacht Club, UK has been awarded the 2011 SB3 World Championships which they will host in May. Torbay, a previous Olympic venue and host of the SB3 UK National Championships offers excellent sailing conditions and a race area that can more than cope with a multi-fleet championships. The Royal Torbay Yacht Club will provide a magnificent host club with outstanding race management and the use of fantastic harbour side facilities. William Butcher and Adrian Peach will lead the organisation in Torquay. Both William and Adrian have a wealth of experience to draw on to ensure an outstanding event is delivered in the birth nation of the SB3. With this in mind, competition is bound to be fierce and entry numbers high.

In 2012, the World Championships will be hosted for the fist time in a venue outside of Europe. Following a bid that boasts significantly subsidised shipping for forty, 40ft containers from a number of international ports, Geelong, Australia have secured the SB3 Worlds for January 2012. The event will be run alongside Audi Victoria Race Week, using separate race courses but ensuring the big event atmosphere for the visiting crews from across Asia, Europe and North America. Geelong has a huge amount to offer the SB3 World Championships, both on and off the water. Geelong has hosted an annual sailing regatta since 1854 and has a well established network of regatta logistics and facilities services and will provide a happy change to the northern hemisphere winter!

For those unable to travel to Australia for the World Championships the 2012 European Championships will be hosted in the Netherlands in the early Autumn 2012. Following the significant development of SB3 fleets in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands in the last couple of years, this is a perfect location for a significant gathering in Europe.

The 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 high quality racing for it’s members. With the World Championships calendar set for the next three events, the SB3 is the boat to be sailing.