FSE Robline SB20 UK Open National Championship at the Royal Southern Yacht Club

by Louay Habib 23 Jul 2017 23:12 BST 21-23 July 2017

The FSE Robline SB20 Open UK National Championship, organised by the Royal Southern Yacht Club, came to a dramatic conclusion after three days of intense racing. Boasting 38 entries from Australia, Belgium, England, Ireland, Oman, Russia, and Scotland. The SB20 Class were out in force, battling medium to heavy conditions in the Central Solent. Several races were held in over 20 knots of wind, with some high octane action on the windward leeward course. Eight races were held in the series, which was decided in the very last race.

Joe Llewellyn's Forelle Estates is the SB20 National Champion, after a highly competitive and somewhat stressful final day, racing with Joe Llewellyn: Nigel Wakefield, and Jeremy (Pasty) Vigus.

"Nigel and Pasty did a great job getting me round the course, so thank you very much and for Jerry Hill and his team for giving us a close run." commented Joe. "I would like to thank the Royal Southern, it has been a really enjoyable event. The club's new yacht haven, makes this an awesome venue to host championship events; everybody is on the dock together, and the clubhouse is one of the best venues along the south coast, and that is why we love coming here."

"It all got a bit close today, our engine broke down on the way out to racing, and even with our spinnaker up, we were two minutes late for the first start! We managed to claw our way back to tenth, and in the end, we counted that score, and discarded our last race, so perseverance got us through a rough patch."

FSE Robline SB20 UK Open Nationals - photo © Paul Wyeth / www.pwpictures.com

Royal Southern YC member, Jerry Hill, a former SB20 World champion, and 2014 SB20 UK National Champion, started slowly but built momentum as the championship played out, scoring two race wins on the penultimate day, but finished second by just four points. Australian Elliott Noye showed his intentions from the first race scoring a bullet in brutal conditions, and consistently placed in the top ten, bar one race, to claim third overall.

Congratulations should go to John Pollard's team from the Royal Torbay Yacht Club, who scored a 1-1-2 on the final day, to finish the championship in fourth place. Also Michael O'Connor's team from the Royal St George Yacht Club, Dublin, scoring two podium finishes to finish fifth.

The Prize-Giving was held at the Royal Southern Yacht Club Upper Bar, with Royal Southern Yacht Club Vice Commodore, Graham Nixon, officiating. Paul Hine, SB20 Class Association, was on hand to present prizes generously donated by championship sponsor FSE Robline.

FSE Robline SB20 UK Open Nationals - photo © Paul Wyeth / www.pwpictures.com

Updates from the racecourse, including video and pictures are available at: www.facebook.com/RoyalSouthernYC. For Full Results and pictures visit the Royal Southern YC web site: www.royal-southern.co.uk

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Boat name	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Pts
1	GBR 3732	Forelle Estates	Joe Llewellyn	2	3	1	2	2	10	2	11	22
2	GBR 3752	Sportsboatworld.com	Jerry Hill	7	6	4	1	1	3	8	4	26
3	AUS 3756	Porco Rosso	Elliott Noye	1	4	7	3	DNF	6	5	7	33
4	GBR 3754	Xcellent	John Pollard	9	1	5	18	ZFP	1	1	2	37
5	IRL 3544	Sin Bin	Michael O'Connor	4	11	3	5	11	21	3	3	40
6	GBR 3057	Sweaty Betty	John Outhwaite	13	10	2	4	5	17	9	1	44
7	GBR 3710	Chill Pill +	Scott Graham	3	ZFP	6	6	6	7	16	8	52
8	RUS 3722	MST	Vasily Grigoriev	5	13	8	12	8	27	4	9	59
9	GBR 3720	Uber	Adrian Peach	18	5	9	8	3	9	21	BFD	73
10	GBR 3149	PBII	Paul Hine	12	19	OCS	9	7	2	14	12	75
11	GBR 33	All Good Things	Hattie Askew	10	18	14	25	14	8	7	6	77
12	RUS 3708	MelstonTeam	Kirill Frolov	6	2	11	DNF	DNC	4	13	5	80
13	AUS 3757	Brazen	Jervis Tilly	22	8	13	10	4	20	11	14	80
14	GBR 3021	Here Comes Bod	Charles Whelan	8	17	12	16	10	11	12	15	84
15	GBR 3086	Wet n dry	Stuart Clyburn	21	12	31	7	9	16	10	19	94
16	GBR 3750	Good HYDEing	Nigel Grogan	19	9	OCS	26	17	13	6	10	100
17	BEL 3345	go with the flow	bart tytgat	17	16	25	11	25	5	15	16	105
18	GBR 3029	OME	Duncan Pryde	15	20	19	17	18	14	20	18	121
19	GBR 3014	Spong Bob	Alain Waha	14	14	21	14	13	12	DNF	DNC	127
20	GBR 3473	slartibartfast	Paul Methven	11	24	23	21	16	15	22	21	129
21	GBR 3106	Whyaduck	Tom Clay	DNC	7	17	19	DNF	19	18	13	132
22	GBR 3305	Trio	Gary Baker	20	27	16	20	26	24	17	17	140
23	OMA 3307	Oman Sail 3	Alain CHAMPY	24	22	22	15	22	23	19	20	143
24	GBR 3089	Bluejay	John Reekie	27	15	20	13	24	25	24	DNC	148
25	GBR 3177	Dark & Stormy	andrew bell	23	26	18	27	15	22	25	30	156
26	GBR 3316	L.O.S.	Joe Hemmant	16	DNF	28	24	21	31	23	22	165
27	GBR 3082	SHARC	charles sheppard	DNC	DNC	10	23	20	18	DNF	25	174
28	GBR 3740	ARADA STOVES New Hope	Martin Fox	25	29	24	28	19	29	29	24	178
29	OMA 3475	Oman Sail 1	IBTI AlSalmi	31	21	15	34	ZFP	26	34	26	187
30	GBR 3088	Wavelength	John Cornish	26	25	30	22	23	35	32	DNF	193
31	GBR 3368	6a Vision Homes	Peter Noe	28	28	27	32	30	28	26	28	195
32	OMA 3	Oman Sail 2	Alain CHAMPY	29	32	32	31	28	30	27	23	200
33	GBR 3215	Sail Navy	Lizzie Farrington	30	30	26	30	27	DNC	35	31	209
34	GBR 3244	Attack of the Clones	Nicholas Watkin	32	33	34	33	32	34	31	29	224
35	GBR 3067	Hooligan	Toby Hague	DNF	35	29	29	29	DNF	28	DNF	228
36	GBR 3075	Striptease	Rebecca Anthony	DNC	34	33	35	DNC	33	30	27	231
37	GBR 3096	Red Kite	Roger Harford	DNC	31	35	DNC	DNC	32	33	DNC	248
38	GBR 3561	Wight Dragon	Mark Irons	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	273