Fierce competition expected as the Dart SB3 Nationals approaches

Momentum is growing in the run up to the inaugural SB3 National Championships to be held during Skandia Geelong Week, 25 - 27 January. Heads are being turned in Australia and throughout the world’s sailing community. There are 12 confirmed teams for the event which feature some of the country’s top sailors and who all are looking forward to a slice of the action.

Early entrants include:

1. ‘PWC’ Skippered by UK yachtsman Jono Shelley and featuring a highly skilled crew, this team will be hard to beat as they have been racing the SB3 in Europe for the last four years. Sponsored in the UK by PWC, this team has always featured highly at the major event. They are travelling half way round the world and mean business.


2. ‘Tasqua Youth’ Former Australian Sabot champion Sean O’Rourke has good reason to be excited about his future career in One-Design fleet racing and the highly competitive IRC class ocean racing. The exceptionally talented Mooloolaba Yacht Club sailor, who added the Audi Australian IRC championship to his impressive career as a member of the Rod Jones skippered OceanBuro crew, has been selected to skipper the Tasqua Management Services Dart SB3.

3. ‘Team Oceanburo’ Skippered by Kai Timm, tactician and top sailing coach. Kai is the distributor for the SB3 in Australia and will have had a chance to sharpen his teeth well before the event.

4. ‘Guy Bancroft’ This top Melbourne based sailor just missed out of the top spot at this years B14 World Championships. Guy is vastly experienced with high performance sailing and should be on the pace from day one.

5. ‘Newcastle Yachting’ skippered by Glenn Coulton, GC is an ex FF15 World Champion and J24 National Champion and will be joined by Dale Sharp from his J24 campaigns.

6. ‘Insomnia’ skippered by Newcastle Restaurateur Mark Prince. Mark will be joined by crew including Steve Mackay.

This is the first time many of the teams will compete in the SB3, lured here by the strict one design performance sailing of the Dart SB3 national championship. Oceanburo, distributors for the SB3’s have made a limited number of charter boats available to enable sailors the chance to enjoy all that Skandia Geelong Week has to offer. These boats will also be available for sale after the event at a reduced rate. To find out more please visit: www.dartsailboats.com or www.oceanburo.com.au

We have been delighted with the response to the SB3 and the event is shaping up fantastically for the SB3 racing. As well as the national championships, Skilled Engineering is joining in the fun by running the Skilled Corporate Cup in SB3’s. This event will give Skilled staff teams the chance to test their sailing abilities under the watchful eyes of experienced sailors for the overall Corporate Cup victory. Another great event for the SB3 at SGW.

Everyone is getting onboard! Are you?

Former Australian Sabot Champion Joins the SB3

Former Australian Sabot champion Sean O’Rourke has good reason to be excited about his future career in One Design fleet racing and the highly competitive IRC class ocean racing.

The exceptionally talented Mooloolaba Yacht Club sailor who added the Audi Australian IRC championship to his impressive career as a member of the Rod Jones skippered OceanBuro crew has been selected to skipper an exciting new Dart SB3.

One of the four Dart SB3’s which are due to arrive in a shipping container next month has been sponsored by Tasqua Management Services a Sunshine Coast Development and Investment Company to further promote youth sailing at the Mooloolaba Yacht Club.

Sean O’Rourke who valued leaning ‘the ropes’ with Sabot class racing on the open ocean courses off Pt Cartwright showed his class when he won the National Gold Medal in a similar open water racing environment on Port Denison (Bowen).

He has since matured into a clever tactician and his selection to steer the new Dart SB3 under Tasqua Management Services ‘Battle flag’ is a fitting reward.

Mooloolaba Yacht Club has a proud history of producing Australian junior class sailing champions but unfortunately they have either drifted away from the sport or continued their senior class racing with Brisbane clubs.

Fortunately this exciting new One Design sailing program to be managed by Rod Jones and Kai Timm the principles of the successful OceanBuro racing team promises to stem the flow of talent by offering young Sunshine Coast and Queensland sailors an opportunity to compete in National and World championships.

The program will be officially launched with Sean O’Rourke and Matt Jones nominated to represent Queensland in the inaugural Dart SB3 Australian championship which will be sailed in conjunction with Audi Geelong Race Week series in late January.

Meanwhile the OceanBuro Performance Sailing squad members O’Rourke and Jones will enter into an extensive sail training program off Mooloolaba where they will develop their understanding of racing the Dart SB3 to her potential.

Skipper Sean O’Rourke and Matt Jones will have almost three months to become familiar with the new class which promises to provide champion youth sailors and older sailors with the opportunity to experience the challenge of one-design class racing in club, Queensland, Australian and World championship regattas.

The Dart SB3 has experienced tremendous growth in Europe with big fleets competing in fleet racing on the major international sport boat regatta circuit.

They have the design pedigree to make an exciting debut in Australia but more importantly the class will encourage both young and old Sunshine Coast sailors with a personal challenge to compete in an affordable strict one design class with the Mooloolaba Yacht Club based OceanBuro sail development program.

The combined support of Tasqua Management Services and the sailing skills of Rod Jones, Kai Timm and Sean O’Rourke have provided a solid foundation to inject a high standard sail development program back into the proud history of the Mooloolaba Yacht Club which has played a major role in producing a number of Australian champions including the 2007 Audi Australian IRC trophy winner Alegria.

Charter SB3's available for Sale at a Great Price

A unique opportunity exists to enter the exciting new SB3 fleet in Australia
- at a once only price

After Skandia Geelong Race Week in 2008 , Oceanburo will release its fleet of 8 charter boats , For Sale , on a first in best dressed basis.

These are brand new SB3s , except for the four days of sailing they will be involved in at SGRW ….

They will be sold with brand new sails ( not the sails used by the charters ) and in full Oceanburo SB3 specification

Our standard SB3 pack includes
- Fully rigged ready to sail Dart SB3 with
- Hyde Race Sails pack ( brand new sails – main / jib / asso )
- Tactic Race Master electronics
- Fibreglass removable outboard bracket
- Road Trailer ( Australian built by Belco Trailers and fully ADR compliant )

This normally retails for $49,990.00

However 8 only boats will be available after Skandia Geelong week for $47,490.00 with the added inclusion of a custom Dart boat cover , normally a $990.00 option.

This represents a near $3500.00 saving on normal retail.

There are 8 boats only , this offer will not be repeated and the offer is available for boats ex Geelong or Melbourne and is open from now until close of the offer on February 28th at 1700 hrs.

Don’t Miss this opportunity to join the fastest growing one design class in the world today……..

Please email Oceanburo to register your interest today.

kaitimm@oceanburo.com.au

www.oceanburo.com.au
mob 0404094244

International Sailors Join the SB3 Action at Skandia Geelong Week

Even if the weather isn’t hot in Geelong for this year’s Skandia Geelong Week, the SB3 racing is forecast to be sizzling! Top international crews will be competing against crews from Melbourne, Hobart and Queensland for the inaugural SB3 event at Skandia Geelong.

Billed by one of the UK visiting teams as “revenge for the Ashes”, these teams mean business! Are they going to have it their way? It looks unlikely, with some top Australian teams including experienced international sailors, impressive pedigrees and a string of results already under their belts.

Choosing a winner in a fleet packed with talent is almost impossible, but two skippers to watch will certainly be Jono Shelley and Kai Timm. Shelley is flying from the UK to try and win the SB3 event at SGW. Shelley has always placed well in the SB3 events around the world, and has come second three years in row at Skandia Cowes Week. Kai Timm, the tactician from the current Audi IRC championship winning boat Alegria, is sure to be another front runner.

The SB3 is the fastest growing sports boat fleet in the world and has attracted some of the best sailors including triple Laser World Champion Glenn Bour
ke: “In my opinion the SB3 is simply the best small keelboat money can buy. They are good in light airs or a howling blow, they are tactical upwind and down which makes for good racing and, once you launch the masthead spiny then get ready for some blasting downwind action. But what really helps set this one design apart from all the others is how easy they are – easy to find crew, with only three necessary, easy to rig, easy to tow and best of all, easy on the pocket”

Oceanburo, distributors for the Dart SB3’s, have made charter boats available for the event. Giving potential customers the chance to sail and experience this awesome boat and event before purchasing.

Rodney Jones, Director of Oceanburo, says: “I have always enjoyed Skandia Geelong Week and am really excited about the prospect of the strict one design class racing. With the added competition that the overseas sailor will bring, this is truly set to be an event to remember.”

Skilled Engineering, renowned for the provision of workforce solutions and helping companies deliver a competitive edge, are joining the action by running the Skilled Corporate Cup in SB3’s. This event will give Skilled staff teams the chance to test their sailing abilities under the watchful eyes of experienced sailors for the overall Corporate Cup victory. Another great event for the SB3 at SGW.
Everyone is getting onboard! Are you?

To find out more about the Dart SB3, please contact:

Dartsailboats
Tel: +61 (0)3 9016 4151
Email: info@dartsailboats.com
http://www.dartsailboats.com

Glen Bourke Wins UK SB3 Nationals

On the final day of the Laser SB3 National Championships two races were completed in light airs before the third race was abandoned. Overall victory went to Glenn Bourke, Jeremy Troughton and Tony Kilby sailing Musto. Russell Peters (Tack Tick) won the first race of the day with Glenn Bourke close behind in second and Barry Parkin (Hullabaloo) in third. Race two saw Paul Brotherton cross the line first with Colin Simmonds second and Parkin taking third once again. Bourke was safely in sixth place, with nearest rival, Peters, in ninth.

With the third race abandoned, Bourke, Troughton and Kilby were crowned the 2007 Laser SB3 National Champions after a 14 race series that saw some spectacularly close racing over four days. Second was Russell Peters with Greg Wells and James Grant, who had lead after the second day when they won three of the four races. An OCS on the third day and then a couple of double digit results were enough to let the ever-consistent Bourke, back into the lead, which he held to the final race. In third overall was Badger Racing; Paul Lovejoy with Rob and Peter Greenhalgh and Sally Wilson, and fourth was Paul Brotherton with Bill Masterman and James Fawcett in Pants.

Long days on the water battling against the cold northerly and a strong ebbing tide to get back to the warmth of the HISC bar meant many of the fleet found the event exhausting. This didn’t stop them celebrating in the usual energetic style at the Saturday evening Championship Prize Giving and Dinner.

The SB3 Class Association President, Daniel Geoghegan, described the event as one of the highest-calibre regattas seen on the SB3 circuit to date. He thanked Volkswagen Touareg for their generous sponsorship throughout the season. Dave Cheyne was given a special trophy for his commitment and superb work for the class over the years. Laser Direct Event Support were highlighted for doing a fantastic job, in particular Ian Mills, putting in long hours to ensure everyone’s boats were in top shape.

Prizes were awarded for the SB3 Grand Prix Series, which comprised of four events during the season:
1st Place: Palava - Geoff Carveth
2nd Place: Team Touareg - Craig Burlton
3rd Place: Champagne Blonde – Daniel Geoghegan

On winning the Laser SB3 UK National Championships for the second time, Glenn Bourke thanked Hayling Island Sailing Club for their friendly welcome, giving a special mention to the PRO Paul Carpenter, his team of volunteers and the protest committee for their professional running of a brilliant series. “We had a fantastic battle with Russell and his guys on Tack Tick, I lost count of how many wins they had. I am very pleased to have won it and couldn’t have done so without my crew JT and Tony, who did a great job both at Cowes and here.”