SB20 World Championship at COYCH Hyères - Day 1
by Patsy Sarly 21 Oct 19:42 BST
19-23 October 2026
SB20 World Championship in Hyères Day 1 © Joao Saraiva Mendes
Three UAE boats in the top five of the day
UAE Kidzinc Youth is top if the leader board after the first 3 races. William Borghese at the helm, finished 3rd /5th /5th today. He said it "was high level sailing against Olympians and champions". Matteo Barison the tactician says he is very proud to be on this team.
French Youth Team Socare Marbrerie: Julien Bunel's first time at the helm, borrowing Dominique Bayen's boat and taking a break from his 470 Olympic campaign, Julien is second on the leaderboard after winning the last race. He made a few mistakes, but he was happy with his results. "With the spinnaker we went fast, and the wind was strong and the championship is a very high level".
John Pollard on Xcellent said, "Big conditions today with a high caliber fleet and it was great to get a race win today on a high wind shifty racecourse".
The AUS boat Ares came first in race 1. Faye stated "it was a very early start for the SB20 fleet this morning on day 3 of the worlds. We launched slowly into a building breeze starting the day with race one in 10-14 knots. We managed to crawl back into the fleet after a tricky top mark rounding, we pulled it together on the rest of the legs to just cross the line to take the win for race one".
The USA Nina crew hasn't sailed together on a SB20, but they came second in the Race 2. Paola Amar said "I come from a traditional sailing background and stopped sailing the 470 five years ago. Since then, I've finished my studies and moved on to foiling boats and keelboats. I've sailed with Willem before, but I'm still getting to know the David and Victor.
Throughout the day, we worked as a team to get good starts. During the races, Victor was very focused on tactics and VMG, Willem and David the helmsman focused on boat handling, and my role was to call out what was coming up, such as changes in the wind and waves.
Technology supporting the racing
Every boat is equipped with a GPS tracker, adding a technological dimension to the championship and enabling the fleet's movements to be followed throughout the racing. Visit www.metasail.com/incoming/928
How to follow the action
Everything about the event is on the official SB20 Worlds Hyères 2026 website. During the championship, daily written reports will be published here, while our Facebook and Instagram pages will cover the action on and off the water, with daily videos on social media and our YouTube channel.