SB20 World Championship 2025 in Singapore Day 3
by Anna Zyk / Viola Devoti 22 Jan 22:50 PST
18-25 January 2025
Day 3 of the SB20 World Championship brought light and shifty winds challenging the 53-strong fleet to stay sharp and adapt quickly. Despite the puffy breeze, two exciting races were completed offering intense competition and some standout performances.
As the championship sets toward its second half the British-flagged team Xcellent of John Pollard, David Chapman and Henry Wetherell take the lead with 30 points, having scored two 3rd finishes on Day 3.
Closely behind, just three points away, is Porco Rosso of Paul McCartney who were less consistent than on Day 2, but remained in the Top 10 on the finishes.
"By far the toughest regatta venue I've raced at in so far in my short sailing career!" - admitted Will Sargent, winner of the 2023 SB20 Worlds.
The French youth team FF Voile of Paul Loiseau tackled the light winds with a 6th finish in Race 8 and made it to the 3rd place. They dropped their focus a bit in Race 9, which became their discard, but sit comfortably in their position with 51 points overall two days before the end of the championship.
"The conditions of this regatta are definitely the highlight of the event! It's a hard one, but we are used to that and we adapt ourselves quickly. The top three teams are very strong and we're trying to be as fast as they are. Our target is to be the Youth World Champion and to finish on the podium," - said optimistic Paul Loiseau.
It was quite a job for the Race Committee to get those two races in these light and shifty conditions. With big holes in the breeze at times it's critical to keep in the puffs as long as possible, especially downwind:
"Has been quite tricky at times knowing which breeze will hold at the top mark as it's set pretty close to the shore to allow for a long enough first leg," - commented Mike Buchanan, skipper of rental Car currently in 4th and four points behind the French Youth team.
"Great to see Devoti so committed to the Class and building super stiff and quick boats that really look the part too - and to have Chris from Devoti and Kah Soon from Constant Wind and their teams here to sort out everything has been amazing,"- Mike added.
Closing the new Top 5 is team Pinch of Morgan Peach, who sails in a crew of four having not sailed in this setup before. Can it be the young female talent onboard the secret of their smooth performance? Arran Holman, mainsheet trimmer for this regatta, responds:
"We are all old mates and we all generally helm boats. Eirini [Marios] keeps it really chilled and gets us through the leeward gates without tangles and keeps it very relaxed onboard. She is definitely a value to our team," - said Arran.
The light and shifty conditions on Day 3 tested the skills and patience of all competitors. With the top spots separated by narrow margins, the competition is more intense than ever as teams prepare for the next day of racing.
Race 8 was won by the early regatta leader Go with the Flow led by skipper Bart Tygat from Belgium.?"It has been a very complicated race with very shifty winds. The most important was to stay under the pressures and predict the shifts," - reflected Bart on the win which shifted them up to the 6th place overall.
Race 9 victory went to truly international Dubai-based team KODA, skippered by Italian Paolo Borghesi, who sails with Swiss-American Chris Rast and Ukrainian George Leonchuk:?"It was a great day. After a few hard days, we had a great race. The wind was very light, so we stayed in a free area and it paid off."
With 9 out of 13 planned races concluded, it looks like maximum of two races per day will be scheduled until the end of the championship. The forecast is very "monsoony" for Thursday and Friday with spells of rain and patchy wind. Another challenge for the Race Committee and the racing teams alike.
Will team Xcellent manage to stay in the lead and win the coveted trophy? In the trickiest ever SB20 World Championship will it be the prowess of Aussie tactics coupled with the British desire to win? We will find out in just two days.
Stay tuned for more updates as the SB20 World Championship continues!
Full results [PDF]