Laser SB3 Grand Prix at Royal Southern Yacht Club

66 SB3s for the Royal Southern Grand Prix © Eddie Mays

66 SB3s for the Royal Southern Grand Prix © Eddie Mays

66 SB3s for the Royal Southern Grand Prix © Eddie Mays

Clash of the Titans

So, it finally happened. Glenn Bourke and Russell Peters on the same race course in SB3s, and what a battle ensued!

For six mighty races in a sun-soaked Solent, the two masters locked horns, and with all the New Pretenders to the crown fully in on the scrap, it was a humdinger of a regatta.

Going into the last race there were at least six crews in with a great chance of winning, and with about five minutes to go, it looked like recently crowned European Champion Craig Burlton in Team Zeal Optics, was going to steal the thunder, after he edged his way through to second down the last run, only to be caught by the chasing group. Things suddenly went pear shaped for them, as they tangled with a stalled Mike Budd on the left gate mark, as Buddy hand braked back into the tide and falling wind, stopped, and forced a helpless Burlton into an impossible position in his lee. From there, the four trailing boats were able to slip through on the right gate, and push the European champions back into sixth (Colin Simonds later retiring on a technicality…) dropping to third overall, as Bourke and Peters finished on 19 points to Burlton’s 20.

This all after a bruising two days of psychological warfare, as the top teams all bludgeoned away at each other in one of the mightiest showdowns of the SB3’s short history – what racing!

For a while recent West Mersea Grand Prix winner Jerry Hill looked to be the man who everyone was going to have to catch, with some very consistent top three finishes on Saturday, only to find himself OCS in the first. Hill was impressive in his ability to pick his way back down the runs, and was looking a very worthy potential winner, eventually ending on 22 points in 4th. Geoff Carveth posted his usual impeccable run of consistent positions, and with a 10 in race 1 to discard, made a play on the penultimate beat, by going right as the rest headed inshore out of the tide, but came out badly to take 12th and count 23 points in 5th overall.

The entry list read like a Who’s Who of yacht racing in the UK, with Mike Budd, Roger Gilbert, Tom Hewitson, Mark Rushall, Mark Richards, Colin Simonds, Dan Geoghegan, Burlton, Carveth, Hill, Bourke and Russell Peters. With crew like Zeb Elliott, Richie Lovering, Grebo, Adam Heeley, Justin Chisolm, Charlie Cumbley, Stevie White and Jez Entwistle pulling strings, there was huge depth of talent on board too. Regular strong teams were as ever, constantly pressing too, such as the Shelleys and the all girl team on Maclaren, with Mini, CC, Bird and Fleur Oswald who sailed a barnstormer of a final race to win by a country mile, whilst the big hitters knocked ten bells out of each other down the last run in a display of desperation rarely seen in a closing race of an event – it was just Awesome stuff.

Glenn Bourke, who had cleared all protagonists out of his path in 2004 and 2005 before heading off to CEO the Volvo Ocean Race, finally reappeared in a new boat. His girlfriend and crew Emma Westmacott, told us that after the stress of the VOR, he had debated with himself whether to get another boat, or get a cruiser and head off into the sunset again. Insanity prevailed and gave us the first chance to see how Russell Peters and he would fare against each other since his triumphant return at Sea View in May. What a titanic struggle it ended up being, with both ending up on 19 points, the title going to Peters after a titanic struggle over six races, with huge beats against the tide, in blistering heat and a thermally reinforced South Easterly breeze of 6-12 knots over the two days. It really doesn’t get much better than this….

Perhaps the Black Flag in Race 5 was just too much for Glenn, usually such an impeccable starter, but the pressure was clearly on Peters in the last race, as he popped out of the start in the mid twenties. But in characteristic style he gouged back into the top ten by the final beat, and with Bourke fighting to hold his top five place as the Zeal Optics boys slipped through to 3rd, and Jerry Hill dropping back a couple of places, it was just anybody’s game! Peters held on for 7th, to take the Event by the narrowest of margins, and now all eyes will be on him to come to Abersoch to fight for Colin Simonds UK National title in August. Glenn says he will be there, and Rob Greenhalgh was to be seen hovering around at the weekend... could he be joining the battle come August? Bring it on!

Overall Results: