SB20 World Championship 2025 in Singapore Day 2
by Anna Zyk / Viola Devoti 21 Jan 21:05 PST
18-25 January 2025
Day 2 of the SB20 World Championships in Singapore presented sailors with exceptionally challenging conditions due to highly variable winds. The day saw three races conducted under persistent rainfall with wind speeds fluctuating between 4 and 10 knots. These inconsistent breezes, influenced by the Northeast Monsoon, typical for January, demanded constant adjustments from the teams to maintain optimal performance.
The shifty wind patterns, combined with the moderate sea state and significant tidal currents of the Singapore Strait, added layers of complexity to the races. Sailors had to be vigilant, adapting their strategies to the sudden changes in wind direction and intensity. Despite the difficulties, the fleet demonstrated remarkable skill and resilience, navigating the unpredictable conditions to complete the day's scheduled races.
Paul McCartney's Porco Rosso was the boat of the day with 1-3-5 finishes taking them to the overall lead. With two bullets and 26 points overall this Tasmanian team seem to have settled into their pace. In this really tricky day, a day when some others saw massive losses, they were the most consistent in the fleet.
"When you get over the line on Day 1, you got to do a good job on Day 2!" - said skipper Paul McCartney. "We've sorted out our speed, which wasn't great on Day 1. We were tracking well with good start positions today. Still had to recover from some tense roundings at the top mark, but our recoveries were good," - he added.
It's a very tricky racecourse here in Singapore with lighter breeze close to the shore forcing the boats to gybe-set catching the gusts. Shifty wind also made it difficult to get to the top mark, which left no room for error.
"We've done a great job at staying cool calm and collected no matter the situation we are in and made great decisions while keeping the boat going fast. Every race counts at this event and I'm sure it's going to come down to the last leg of the event!" - Will Sargent summarised the day.
No time to relax for Porco Rosso and the 2023 winning skipper and this year's tactician Will Sargent as team Xcellent of John Pollard, David Chapman and Henry Wetherell are just a point behind. Having scored a bullet in Race 6, they are currently second overall with 27 points.
"Very shifty day with wind from all sorts of directions, big comeback in the last race for us, when we had a bad start," - reported bowman onboard team Xcellent Henry Wetherell.
Following in third place overall is team Pinch of British sailor Morgan Peach with 32 points. Morgan has teamed up with his long-time sailing partners Owen Bowerman and Arran Holman. Morgan and Arran's history dates back to sailing against each other in Cadets. More recently Morgan has competed in the J70 and the 49er classes with Owen. At this event they are also joined by the Tasmanian Eirini Marios, who sailed onboard the winning team Ares at the SB20 Worlds 2023.
"I was first introduced to the SB20 in 2010, when I sailed with my dad [Adrian Peach] as the fourth crew. I've recently moved to Singapore and the fleet here has made me feel very welcome. Once I heard the worlds were here I knew that I had to compete! The conditions so far have been amazing, but very tricky. We have been playing snakes and ladders all week," - shared Morgan.
French Youth team from FFVoile of Paul Loiseau sit in a tie with the 3rd placed Pinch having scored a 3rd in the final race of the day shifting them one place up from yesterday to the 4th overall. Paul is no stranger to the SB20 Class having competed in the 2024 SB20 Worlds in Dubai, where they finished 10th overall and 3rd best Youth team.
With these tricky conditions, it's difficult to stay consistent in the game. The first discard is now in after 7 races and the Top 5 leaderboard has shuffled. Tasmanian Mike Buchanan on brand new Devoti boat finds himself in 5th position with 35 points, having scored a bullet in Race 7, the most difficult race of the day that witnessed a massive left shift off the starting line and made the first upwind very interesting.
"It's so close on the race-course! Once the discard is in, there are at least 10 boats out there that are pretty much at the same level. We are challenged by the weather this week, but we are enjoying the social part of the event," - says Mike Buchanan.
To help sailors relax after another tough day of racing Devoti Sailing has sponsored a party on Lazarus Island, one of many exciting events on the social programme here in Singapore. The young Tassie boys from The Hutchins School bagged an onshore win and a new jib in the game of cornhole - one of the winners of the night. This is the first time the Hutchins youngsters are competing outside of Australia at this level. Good luck on the water with the new jib, lads! And big thanks to Devoti for a great party.
For Day 3 the forecast predicts to be challenging again with potentially some rays of sunshine and at least two races on the table.
Full results [PDF]