Laser SB3 Spring Championships

by Clare Molloy on 25 Apr 2007
Last weekend saw the decisive conclusion to the Raymarine Spring Championships for the Laser SB3 class. For the past two weekends over 62 boats made it to the start line in order to compete in what is now one of the most competitive one design fleets in Europe.

Going into the final weekend the championship was still wide open to a number of crews. Marshall King in Blue Job, Paul Lovejoy in Badger Racing and Dan Geoghegan in Champagne Blonde looked to be front runners, but other contenders such as Ian Hunt and Jez Entwistle in Ship 4 Brains, Dominic Akers-Douglas in Sybarite, Geoff Carveth in Palava and Craig Burlton in Monkeyoffice.co.uk were also well in contention.

On Saturday it was Geoff Carveth who made the best of the continuing light conditions with Lovejoy, Burlton, and Entwistle also having a relatively consistent day. To everyone’s amazement Marshall King, who was the championship leader from the previous weekend, failed to turn up on Saturday and hence the event was open for the taking.

With the scheduled four races sailed, Carveth took three consecutive wins to place him well within reach of the title, even while carrying a black flag from the previous weekend. At the end of the day it was Lovejoy in the lead with Geoghegan still managing to hold second by a small margin from the fighting pack of Entwistle, Carveth, Burlton and Akers-Douglas.

Sunday saw the most interesting turn of events so far this season. With Lovejoy looking comfortable, all he had to do was finish the three races scheduled for the day in touch with the competitors near him in the results. Unfortunately for him, it was not to be. It was Geoghegan, Burlton, and King that would make the most of the day.

Geoghegan's 2 - 1 in the opening races propelled him into the lead with Carveth, Lovejoy and Entwistle all finding themselves down the fleet and totting up large scores. It came down to the final race of the day where the wind shut down and many boats found it difficult to get off the line. Making the best of the light wind and strong tide was Jono Shelley in 'Credo', taking the gun while the main challengers for the title attempted to stay in touch with each other.

In the end it was Geoghegan who came out in front of Carveth, and Entwistle to take the championship and go one better than the runner up position he achieved last year.

He said 'It was a difficult championship with the light conditions and strong tide that the fleet experienced. Our results were up and down along with most others and going into the final day I thought we had lost the opportunity to win it and that we were just fighting for second! We sailed very well in the first 2 races on the final day and with the others well deep in the results we realised that we could still take out the championships! Sailing in a non discard series always opens the event up to dramatic result changes but it is a good way to start the season. The Warsash SC Race committee did a great job over the two weekends under difficult conditions'

The number of entries proves that the Raymarine Warsash Spring Championships remains popular and highly contested. With the continual growth of the Laser SB3 class, this championship will become one of the premier lead in events for the beginning of each years sailing season.

Laser SB3 Final Overall Results

Pos Boat Name - Sail No - Owner - Race: 1 2 5 6 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Total
1 Champagne Blonde AUS3269 Daniel Geoghegan 3 12 19 2 14 10 24 11 2 1 25 123
2 Palava GBR3053 Geoff Carveth 4 7 1 66 8 1 1 1 18 8 14 129
3 Ship 4 Brains GBR3154 Ian Hunt 21 9 6 16 4 8 11 22 20 13 7 137
4 Monkeyoffice.Co.Uk GBR3200 Craig Burlton 9 10 66 10 9 6 8 2 19 2 3 144
5 Sybarite GBR3104 Dominic Akers-Douglas 18 25 16 1 16 14 21 6 12 7 13 149
6 Badger Racing GBR3082 Paul Lovejoy 7 1 8 12 6 2 10 20 42 42 24 174
7 Team Touareg GBR3130 Jeremy Hill 8 27 9 29 12 13 5 25 4 23 20 175
8 Murphy & Nye GBR3184 Mr N Biggs 20 20 12 27 10 30 15 7 14 16 21 192
9 Credo GBR3134 Charles Murray/Jono Shelley 30 22 15 20 3 20 13 18 37 14 1 193
10 Doolali GBR3017 Colin Simonds 43.5 3 13 9 69 5 3 13 27 5 4 194.5
11 Chaotic GBR3234 Nick Phillips 25 5 11 32 31 18 30 16 5 19 8 200
12 Jenny GBR3051 Jon Powell 19 31 5 5 7 44 26 9 30 32 6 214
13 Camel Pie GBR3078 Mark Cam & Fiona Frankling 1 15 46 22 22 32 25 5 9 17 31 225
14 Bish Bash Bosh GBR3055 Roger Hexton 22 8 33 43 13 23 18 21 13 11 29 234
15 I Maximus GBR3106 David Brown 29 16 7 26 27 12 6 28 29 33 28 241
16 MarineOnTheWeb.co.uk GBR3149 NickJones, IanHarrison, MarkGillett 12 6 23 17 28 33 12 35 28 25 26 245
17 Let's Be Free GBR3023 Sandy Baillie Strong 23 35 46 13 11 24 22 24 46 9 10 263
18 Argo II GBR3163 Alec Russell 24 65 17 14 37 22 4 29 16 22 16 266
19 Outkri GBR3183 Kit Glover 14 14 18 7 30 39 33 26 40 39 19 279
20 Finitor 7 GBR3060 Stewar Reed & John Mawdsley 43.5 24 28 31 1 3 16 14 35 15 69 279.5
21 Dirty Harry GBR3201 Richard Mcadam/Lyon/ Whelan/Hall 2 17 21 25 21 9 34 15 43 28 69 284
22 3-Some GBR3029 Duncan Pryde 43.5 32 25 3 17 29 27 34 26 31 18 285.5
23 Scoundrel The T'rd GBR3056 Paul Foddy 43.5 42 27 11 69 7 2 33 15 26 12 287.5
24 Blind Ambition GBR3080 Ann & Nick Jackson 11 28 46 67 24 23.6 23.6 23.6 3 6 40 295.8
25 Tba GBR3156 Pauline Mccracken & Jason Pyke 10 65 14 44 29 21 31 19 38 34 2 307
26 Stripped Bare GBR3108 Tom Vernon 28 23 31 6 23 34 19 23 51 35 36 309
27 Shaun Beaver GBR3231 Tim Fells 43.5 65 4 66 5 11 9 4 8 27 69 311.5
28 Denali GBR3193 Fenton Burgin 6 11 22 30 42 36 48 40 25 29 32 321
29 Blue Job GBR3014 Marshall King 13 2 2 8 69 69 69 69 17 3 5 326
30 Gill-Racing Snake GBR3039 Mark Reddington & Stewart Calaghan 27 19 46 36 20 43 44 36 6 24 30 331
31 Team Maclaren GBR3031 Catherine Summerhayes 5 65 46 66 2 4 17 12 32 20 69 338
32 Sail Navy GBR3215 Stephen Walton 43.5 41 67 67 36 17 14 10 21 18 9 343.5
33 Tba GBR3157 Chris Gillard 43.5 39 46 46 25 28 28 42 10 53 17 377.5
34 Flamin Galah GBR3081 Magnus Anderson 43.5 45 46 47 18 25 29 17 39 37 39 385.5
35 Risk Premium GBR3218 Mark Rushall 67 67 67 67 15 15 7 3 1 10 69 388
36 Bathstore GBR3146 Tim Cork 43.5 43 26 48 26 26 38 27 50 30 35 392.5
37 Tba GBR3236 Anthony Williams 43.5 38 24 19 40 35 69 32 22 38 69 429.5
38 Murphy's Law GBR3221 Stephen Wilkinson 16 65 32 21 33 31 32 45 45 44 69 433
39 Trouble & Strife GBR3276 Ian & Clare Armstrong 67 67 20 24 38 19 37 67 7 51 37 434
40 Asbo GBR3207 Richard Purssell 43.5 34 46 66 19 27 23 8 54 46 69 435.5
41 Air Tight GBR3167 Ian Watts & Martin Bowmer 43.5 65 34 35 32 46 41 37 41 48 33 455.5
42 Skallywag GBR3077 Rob Day & James Ford 43.5 26 46 42 35 48 39 39 54 52 41 465.5
43 Eau No! GBR3084 Mark Stokes 31 21 67 22 43 49 40 38 49 45 69 474
44 Sworded Fish GBR3283 Simon Blake 67 67 68 67 69 16 20 67 11 4 23 479
45 Slo-Mo-Shun GBR3136 Iain Chidgey 32 18 30 39 69 47 47 46 33 50 69 480
46 Hobgoblin GBR3079 Eurof Philips & Lee Moseley 26 37 35 18 69 69 69 69 44 21 27 484
47 Barbarian GBR3012 Benjamin Sturges 43.5 44 46 41 69 40 35 41 34 54 38 485.5
48 Binn Eadair GBR3275 Brian Nixon 67 67 68 67 39 42 43 31 23 36 11 494
49 Impact Promotions GBR3203 Steve Pears 43.5 65 29 34 69 69 69 69 31 12 15 505.5
50 China Girl GBR3140 Derek Johnson 17 40 46 4 69 41 69 43 53 56 69 507
51 3 Fat Lads GBR3204 Martin Wadsworth 43.5 30 46 15 67 45 42 44 69 47 69 517.5
52 Geronimo GBR3126 Simon Hume 67 67 67 67 34 37 36 47 36 41 22 521
53 Hooligan GBR3067 SimonJackson, MartinGrey, DanielHawkins 43.5 65 46 37 45 38 45 67 47 69 69 571.5
54 Trunk Monkey GBR3209 Michael Cooper 15 33 3 45 69 69 69 69 69 69 69 579
55 Flippett GBR3110 J Blanshard 43.5 36 67 67 41 51 46 30 69 69 69 588.5
56 Headless Chicken GBR3145 Lucy Wood & Sarah Williams 43.5 29 10 28 69 69 69 69 69 69 69 593.5
57 Heart Of Gold GBR3267 Tom Hayhoe 67 4 46 39 46 50 67 69 69 69 69 595
58 Yalta GBR3252 Christoph Toepfer 43.5 13 46 33 69 69 69 69 69 69 69 618.5
59 The Rat Pack GBR3162 Chris Russell, Ian Duke & Rob M