UON SB20 World Championships at Hamilton Island Yacht Club

UON SB20 World Championships at Hamilton Island Yacht Club - Overall

by Katie Ashworth, SB20 Class Association 20 Dec 2012 09:19 GMT 12-20 December 2012

Geoff Carveth's WKD team of Lesley Dhonau, Roger Hudson and Asenathi Jim win the UON SB20 World Championships © Katie Ashworth / SB20 Class

It was a gripping finish on the deciding day at the UON SB20 World Championships at Hamilton Island with Geoff Carveth sailing into the class history books, crowned SB20 world champion for the third time.

It was the closest finish at any SB20 worlds with Carveth's British WKD team, Glenn Bourke's Australian entry, Club Marine, and Rodion Luka's Team Russia all wrapping up their series tied on 41 points after six days and 12 races. A countback was needed to separate the ultimate victor from second and third.

"Going into race two today we decided to take a risk. We gambled for a better ranking and took the right hand side of the course," said Carveth this afternoon. "It's the only time, during the whole event that the right hand side paid off. Glenn and Rodion went left and suddenly the chance came. When we finished we were in disbelief that we'd put the number of boats between us.

"The crew have worked really hard. We trained hard here just days before the event started. Lesley and Squirrel really got up to speed and Roger has been fantastic. He's broken his run of seconds at SB20 world championships!"

WKD's South African bowman, Asenathi Jim, leapt off the boat once the result was known while the crew of Roger Hudson, Lesley Dhonau and Carveth embraced, then fell in, joining Jim for a victory swim.

"We've got to say a huge thank you to WKD and Joe Woods for making it possible for us to be here," Carveth added.

Hamilton Island CEO Glenn Bourke almost added another world title to his belt. "I have the utmost respect for the two guys we tied with," said Bourke. "It's testament to Geoff's talent and their crew work that they kept working their way out of deep positions, particularly in the last six races".

Team Russia's helmsman Rodion Luka was gracious in defeat, "Geoff is a great mate and I am happy that he won. We'll be back for another event and we look forward to that. Hamilton Island is beautiful and a great place to sail. The competition has been so tight, it's not often you have three boats tied on points at a world championship".

Winds were easterly and shifty for the final day of competition at 7-9 knots for the first race and up to 14 knots for the decider. Denis Thompson pulled his black flag out again in race 11 after three general recalls due to wind shifts and antsy crews. On the fourth attempt the fleet got away cleanly. Three SB20s were pinged and individually recalled in the final race 12.

A countback separated first and second, Team Russia and Club Marine, with WKD, a mere three points off the frontrunners heading into today's final two sprints. The tension on the dock this morning was palpable with a world title riding on the final act for the three contenders, and points still to be claimed for those with their sights on the minor placings.

Competition at the UON SB20 World Championships began last Friday in light to moderate ESE breezes and after Monday's layday, midway through the competition, fresher ENE winds made for a very different set of conditions and a change in gears for the one design fleet of 42 international entries representing nine countries.

"I'm very pleased for Hamilton Island that we've had a range of conditions and such depth of talent for this truly international competition," said Bourke.

"I think the island put on a great regatta and the race management was outstanding. I feel Hamilton Island has come of age in terms of running world class sailing events."

Bourke also took the opportunity to acknowledge a number of valuable event partners. "I would like to acknowledge UON not only for their naming rights, but for entering two boats and being an active part of these world titles.

"Events Queensland gave us tremendous support to run a truly international event by assisting with shipping the SB20s to the island, which in turn attracted many overseas competitors and their families to the Whitsundays."

Bourke also thanked the SB20 World Council for its decision to grant Hamilton Island the event rights, and for their ongoing cooperation and assistance.

The SB20 class will hold their 2013 World Championship in Hyeres in the south of France next September.

Overall Results: (12 races, 1 discard)

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Nat	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	Pts
1	3053	WKD	Geoff Carveth	GBR	[17]	5	2	1	10	1	1	4	8	4	3	2	41
2	3030	Club Marine	Glenn Bourke	AUS	3	[10]	4	5	6	2	6	2	4	1	1	7	41
3	3703	Team Russia	Rodion Luka	RUS	6	4	1	3	2	8	4	3	2	[15]	2	6	41
4	3060	The Beard	Robert Greenhalgh	GBR	4	8	[15]	9	9	4	6G	1	1	7	5	4	58
5	3065	Bango Powered bySLAM	Ben Saxton	GBR	1	1	9	11	1	6	7G	[15]	5	11	8	10	70
6	3580	Hyeres2013	Rouxel Thomas	FRA	[13]	6	10	8	11	13	2	11	3	3	7	3	77
7	3382	One Design Sailing	Ian Brown	AUS	8	15	3	4	5	5	[43B]	6	7	2	16	13	84
8	3140	Aquaholics	Anna Basalkina	RUS	12	7	14	6	3	9	8	7	12	5	[19]	9	92
9	3058	ALTEA	Andrea Racchelli	ITA	10	3	[24]	7	13	7	5	10	13	9	15	1	93
10	3637	Stenghele	Pietro Negri	ITA	5	2	8	15	[22A]	3	3	13	22	22	17	19	129
11	3027	Darling Associates	Chris Darling	SCO	15	9	12	10	7	17	19	[21]	11	6	20	8	134
12	3037	sportsboatworld.com	Jerry Hill	GBR	2	16	17	2	8	11	7	17	17	16	24	[27]	137
13	3462	Harry powered by Und	Andrew Oddie	GBR	21	23	6	[35]	4	16	16	5	10	10	10	25	146
14	3662	Karabos	Nick Rogers	AUS	11	17	[21]	13	19	10	11	16	14	13	13	21	158
15	3336	UBER3	Adrian Peach	GBR	9	11	27	[31]	20	12	9	12	6	21	25	14	166
16	3575	Sailboat Deliveries	Sarah Allan	GBR	7	25	32	[43S]	31	14	10	9	15	14	11	12	180
17	3653	Zeus	Ed Russo	FRA	28	14	11	25	21	22	15	[32]	9	31	6	15	197
18	3658	Flirtatious	Chris Dare	AUS	18	18	18	17	[33]	21	29	14	19	26	9	17	206
19	3036	And Then	Peter Jones	AUS	[34]	12	7	30	17	18	24	20	27	19	23	11	208
20	3352	Typhoon	Craig Nicholls	AUS	[33]	29	25	21	22	19	13	8	28	12	21	22	220
21	3391	New Caledonia1	TUGDUAL Piriou	FRANC	22	19	19	28	12	20	14	19	24	23	22	[43C]	222
22	3121	WYSIWYG V	Stephen Fries	AUS	20	20	5	20	34	24	12	25	34	[37]	30	20	244
23	3080	New Caledonia2	Alan Quere	FRANC	[31]	27	22	14	28	15	22	30	25	27	4	31	245
24	3356	Black Rat	Troy Forrest	AUS	16	21	31	12	18	23	21	31	21	30	[33]	30	254
25	3380	Jump!	Dennis Winstanley	AUS	25	[33]	30	16	24	25	17	27	31	29	32	5	261
26	3348	Marine Tech	Gareth Owen	UAE	32	22	[42]	29	25	32	20	29	16	8	26	23	262
27	3108	Blue Tac	Trevor Martin	AUS	26	31	13	26	29	28	35	[36]	26	20	12	16	262
28	3396	Still Out of control	Mark Wolfenden	AUS	14	30	20	24	16	29	27	38	[39]	24	35	28	285
29	3395	Wedgewood	David Graney	AUS	30	28	[36]	34	23	33	28	22	23	25	18	24	288
30	3126	Geronimo	Simon Hume	GBR	[43R]	40	26	23	14	26	18	33	36	32	14	32	294
31	3652	Borgo Scopeto	Giulia Tobia	ITA	[38]	13	37	27	30	27	31	26	30	18	27	29	295
32	3702	Cube II	Martijn Buitenhuis	NED	24	24	23	22	27	35	[43B]	28	33	33	31	18	298
33	3610	Dart Vader	Mark Prince	AUS	23	[37]	34	18	32	37	25	24	29	17	29	35	303
34	3660	Purple Patch	Callum Burns	AUS	19	32	28	37	35	[43B]	43B	18	20	28	34	26	320
35	3364	Got a bit on	Matt Wenke	AUS	27	26	40	40	26	[43F]	26	23	18	38	28	36	328
36	3618	Mountain Goat Racing	Mike McLean	AUS	35	34	16	33	[42]	31	23	35	35	34	38	37	351
37	3063	Chota Hazri	Chris Kameen	AUS	29	35	33	19	[41]	30	30	37	32	36	36	34	351
38	3120	UON Hamilton Island	Tim Henderson	AUS	36	36	[41]	32	39	39	33	40	37	35	39	33	399
39	3638	NURI	Andrea Zanforlin	ITA	37	38	38	38	37	34	32	[41]	40	40	37	39	410
40	3570	Squalo Bianco	Paris Stowell	AUS	39	[42]	39	39	36	36	34	34	38	39	40	38	412
41	3268	Sidewinder	Declan Keogh	AUS	41	39	29	36	40	38	[43B]	39	41	41	41	40	425
42	3611	Oceanburo Discover S	John Gardiner	AUS	40	41	35	41	38	40	36	42	42	42	[43C]	43C	440