Great start for Queensland SB3 teams

Kai Timm, Owen Muyt and Fred Blenke sailing Club Marine White got off to a great start in the SB3 William Angliss Victorian Championship at Audi Victoria Week, winning the first race by almost a minute in blustery winds on Corio Bay.

Second across the finish line, 59 seconds astern, was fellow Queensland entry Club Marine Blue, skippered by Rod Jones, followed another 59 seconds later by British skipper Jono Shelley at the helm of Credo-Group.com.

There was confusion at times during the race, which took the fleet of one-design keelboats on an 80-minute-plus passage including a lot of reaching legs around a series of fixed marks in Corio Bay. The remainder of the series will be raced on shorter windward/leeward courses.

Kai Timm said, “We were third to the first mark  but then we took the lead on the second reach, because we were the only ones knowing where to go; while some of the other boats put up spinnakers and went too low.

“We were leading by quite a margin, but then we weren’t sure where the next mark was, and Rod [Jones] caught up to us. We both got lucky and took first and second.”

Timm and Jones are the principals of Oceanburo, the distributor of the SB3 one-design keelboat class in Australia.

The Tony Castro-designed SB3 originated in the United Kingdom, where fleets of 100-plus boats are common. It is one of the most tightly restricted one-design keelboat classes in international racing, and is designed for minimal maintenance, easy trailability, and relatively low cost. The international class association’s stated philosophy is “to provide inclusive, high intensity, great fun, and easily attainable high quality racing for its members”.

Currently actively raced in nine countries and with fleets being developed in ten more, the SB3 class is growing fast overseas and within Australia, where the fleet of 15 boats racing at Audi Victoria Week demonstrates interest and the prospect of a world championship on home waters is encouraging further momentum. The 2012 SB3 world titles are scheduled to be held at Royal Geelong Yacht Club, following the 2010 world titles in July on Lake Garda, Italy, and the 2011 worlds in Weymouth, England.

Three races are scheduled for the second day of racing in the SB3 William Angliss Victorian Championships at Royal Geelong Yacht Club, with the first start from 12.40pm.

With one win under his belt, Kai Timm does not expect an easy ride for the remainder of the series.

“The first five places are going to be hotly contested,” he said. “Andrew Crisp has been very successful in other classes like the Dragons and B14s. Jono Shelley has been in the SB3s for the longest of all of us, and Rod Jones and his team are very experienced sailors.”

Follow the action daily and view images, video and full results at: www.victoriaweek.com

Vanessa Dudley, Audi Victoria Week media