Please select your home edition
Edition
Savvy Navvy 2024

SB20 Australian National Championship at Port Dalrymple Yacht Club - Overall

by Jane Austin / SB20AUS Media 25 Mar 06:35 UTC 23-25 March 2024

Tasmania's world champion sailor Nick Rogers (Karabos), with his crew of Cole Dabner and Simon Burrows, has blitzed the fleet to win the 2024 Australian Championship on 13 points.

Rogers dominated the regatta winning seven of the ten race series to secure his first ever SB20 Australian title. The trophy caps off a great 2024 for Rogers who was crowned the SB20 Tasmanian Champion, with Dabner and Burrows, in February this year.

Rogers, one of the key drivers of the SB20 Class and the local dealer in Australia, has been after this title for over a decade and was thrilled with the win.

Rogers dominated the regatta winning seven of the ten race series to secure his first ever SB20 Australian title. The trophy caps off a great 2024 for Rogers who was crowned the SB20 Tasmanian Champion, with Dabner and Burrows, in February this year.

Rogers, one of the key drivers of the SB20 Class and the local dealer in Australia, has been after this title for over a decade and was thrilled with the win.

"I feel absolutely fantastic - the first one I have won in the SB20s, and I'm pretty excited about it. We loved the conditions out there. Today, we tried to just stay away from the other two boats, [Nutcracker and Ares], but we ended up getting involved with them anyway, and winning those two last races, I couldn't believe it," said Rogers.

Rogers paid credit to his crew, especially the local knowledge of Dabner who grew up sailing on the River Tamar from the Port Dalrymple Yacht Club, and stressed the importance of preparation for events like this.

"We spent months going through it all - deciding what sails we would use, and everything we chose worked well." said Rogers.

Despite the intense forecast, Race Officer Peter Sluce sent the fleet off for their last two races in 14-18+ knots of WNW breeze and on an incoming tide. The breeze was gusting over 20 knots which saw a few more thrills and spills on the race course.

Early leader Nutcracker, skippered by Rob Davis from Victoria, with David Chapman and Jock Calvert onboard, finished in second place on 20 points while Ares, skippered by Paul McCartney, with Will Sargent and Sam Tiedemann, finished in third on 23 points.

Rogers also took out the Masters' Division and Wicked, skippered by Paige Caldecoat from New South Wales, sailing with Nick Jones, Eirini Marios and Stephen Henley from Hobart, took out the Women's Division, despite a late charge from the Cook Your Own Dinner SB20 Sailing Team.

Follow the action on SB20AUS Facebook and results via the PDYC here.

Related Articles

Hamble Winter Series 2024 Race Week 1
Two completely contrasting days of weather The 43rd running on the Hamble Winter Series started with two completely contrasting days of weather. Posted on 9 Oct
SB20 Worlds 2025 in Singapore preview
100 days to go until the event It feels like just yesterday that we were counting down to the SB20 Worlds in Singapore in February 2021, only to see a global conundrum to force its indefinite postponement. Posted on 8 Oct
Cascais Vela 2024
Cascais bids farewell to summer with over 200 sailors participating This Sunday marked the end of another edition of Cascais Vela, a championship that has annually filled Cascais Bay with boats at the end of August for more than two decades, and this year brought together over 200 sailors across five classes. Posted on 4 Sep
25th SMU-RM Western Circuit Sailing Regatta
TWCSR successfully concludes its 25th edition The 25th edition of the Western Circuit Sailing Regatta (WCSR) concluded with outstanding success, underscoring the event's remarkable legacy. Posted on 20 Aug
Cowes Week Day 7: A classic finale
Downwind finish against the tide on the Royal Yacht Squadron line A spectacular final day of racing at Cowes concluded with a classic downwind finish against the tide on the Royal Yacht Squadron line, with competitors sailing tight into the beach off the Green in a thick and fast procession that lasted for hours. Posted on 3 Aug
Cowes Week Day 6
Close racing and clear winners Competition is always close across many Cowes Week classes, but few can rival IRC Class 3, where Adam Gosling's JPK 10.80 Yes! and David Franks' J/112e Leon have been match racing each other all week and are only two points apart at the top. Posted on 1 Aug
Cowes Week Day 5
Gladiator wins Britannia Cup In a stunning performance Tony Langley's TP52 Gladiator beat 34 of the highest rated IRC yachts competing at Cowes Week to lift the prestigious Britannia Cup, after a long postponement while competitors waited for a stable wind to materialise. Posted on 31 Jul
Cowes Week Day 4
The short series has now concluded, with nine of the 12 scheduled races completed Today dawned bright and sunny with a northerly breeze that faded during the morning as the land heated up, but a stable sea breeze failed to materialise, forcing racing for all classes to be abandoned. Posted on 30 Jul
Cowes Week Day 3
Sun, spectacle and tight finishes Racing today kicked off in a dramatic fashion, with the fastest yachts at the regatta, competing in IRC Class 0, starting close inshore and manoeuvring only a few boat lengths from the beach, before heading east from the Royal Yacht Squadron line. Posted on 29 Jul
Cowes Week Day 2
Families rise to the fore Family sailing has been a core feature of Cowes Week through its 198 year history and this year family crews can be found at the top of the leader board in several classes. Posted on 28 Jul
Savvy Navvy 2024Maritimo 2023 S-Series FOOTER