New president for Australian SB20 class

Outgoing SB20 Australia Class President Robert Jefferies (left) with incoming President Stephen Catchpool (right) © Jane Austin

The Australian SB20 fleet is one of the strongest in the world, said outgoing SB20 Australia Class President Robert Jefferies.

Jefferies has overseen a significant growth in the class throughout his ten-year tenure as President, and handed the reins to incoming President Stephen Catchpool, skipper/owner of Hypertronics and member of the Derwent Sailing Squadron in Hobart, at the 2016 SB20 Class annual general meeting in Blairgowrie this week.

"The fleet is very strong – we have 45 boats in the country – 25 in Hobart, and 10 each in Victoria and Western Australia. All fleets are very strong and compete regularly, but the growth in Tasmania has been particularly impressive. All of the people involved in growing the Class in that state have done an outstanding job," said Jefferies.

Jefferies is the owner of Red which is being skippered by former Olympic sailor Glenn Bourke and Mark Bulka (crew), and is currently leading the 2016 SB20 Australian Championship, although the reigning champions are under pressure from several of the Tasmanian contingent who are competing at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron for the 2016 title.

"The future of this Class is strong especially with the Worlds coming up in 2018, and with the other lead-up regattas, we are in great shape. We are hoping the upcoming Worlds will give us growth, not only in Tasmania, but also on the mainland. We will be working to encourage other one-design class sailors to get into the SB20s so that they can get involved in the Worlds in 2018, which looks like it will be a great event," said Jefferies.

Jefferies is cautiously optimistic that the 2018 Worlds will attract a fleet of close to 100 boats.

"It's an ambitious target but if we can motivate all of the Australian owners to go there [Hobart] then that is half the fleet, and certainly with my discussions with the Europeans and people from the Eastern Bloc, from Russia and the Ukraine, they are all very keen. The logistics package being put together by the Tasmanians is looking very good, and yes, it's an ambitious target but I reckon it's do-able, especially if everyone puts in the hard work to get the Europeans to come over," said Jefferies.

Jefferies notes that the Australians heading to the Worlds in Cascais (Portugal) in 2016 and the UK in 2017 need to do their best to promote the 2018 Worlds in Tasmania.

Jefferies is confident that the Class is in good shape as he hands over the reins to newly elected President Stephen Catchpool.