Well it was in sailing world in the spring. And as a subscriber to UK’s Yachting World I’ve read all about them at Cowes week. I’ve gone as far as to fill in my US address into the UK VW Touareg site in order to get a DVD on them (it worked!)… Well they are finally in the states. Yarrow and I were trying to get out on the water to go I-14 sailing on Saturday but needed a universal. West was sold out so up to Vanguard we went. I’d heard on Sailing Anarchy that there were SB3s “here” but no one could confirm that… So I asked in the shop and after a bit of pressing, yes they were here, 2 brand new SB3 (on UK non US street legal trailers even)! I asked about getting a ride and couldn’t get a confirmed date. Just that they would be down at sail Newport for a Thursday night to show off. I’ll be trying to get a ride on one ASAP. I also asked about boat shows and it seems Vanguard wants them to be the hit of the show at Annapolis, but I wonder why it can’t be the hit of both boat shows… Or at least be here for serious inquiries to get a test sail…

As for my impression? Well price will be the main thing that determines if this class is a success. With a Viper 640 coming it at under $30k brand new and with an established OD fleet in Marblehead the SB3 can’t sell for a whole lot more than that and be a huge success IMHO. If they go a whole lot higher than the low thirties then they will be too close to the Melges 24 IMHO. Time will tell. As for the design, I love everything about them except the mast. Why on earth did they put in an aluminum mast??? My biggest issue is in rigging the boat. You MUST have 2 people to do it safely with the heavier aluminum rig. It is deck stepped, but I doubt 1 person could position it alone. It’s also going to make the boat a bit slower sailing with all that weight aloft. Sure it’s “bulletproof”, but at what cost. And what would a carbon rig really cost? Seems on a small boat like this it would be not significantly more expensive… The viper already has one and has a lower sticker price.

It will be an interesting fall/winter/spring to see how the sail, and and interesting summer to see how they sail. I really wish they’d get going with them as it would be an awesome start for the class to get 10+ boats down to Key West for race week… Then get at least one fleet somewhere for summer 2008. I can only hope some people in Newport pick them up. They look like the perfect boat for someone who got out of their etchells.

It was also interesting to see the Nomad -vs- the Laser Stratos. Very similar boats. I’m sure we won’t see (more than the 1 they brought over) any over here… Too similar. I also found the vector molds out in the back. Sad to see that boats dead. It was a great boat with not enough backing and American sailors aren’t ready for swimming lessons I suppose. Check the gallery for shots of the stratos and nomad as well as the vector molds.