The final gun fell on a memorable three-day regatta as 25 boats lined up at Dubai Offshore Sailing Club (DOSC) for the Wicked SB20 Middle East & UAE Championship 2025 – an event made possible once again by the support of its title sponsor. What followed was three days of fiercely competitive one-design racing, where light, shifty breezes tested every sailor’s skills.
From the very first start, it was clear this year’s fleet was more competitive than ever. International names and local sailors joined the crews, raising the bar considerably. The tightness of the competition became only more evident as the regatta progressed – after two days of racing less than ten points separated the top five boats.
Team Kidzink of Charlotte Borghesi, who sailed with an all-female crew of Pippa Kenton-Page, Lovisa Karlsson and Federica Salva, mastered the tricky Dubai conditions and emerged triumphantly at the top. Their consistent results in Top 3 throughout the regatta allowed their worst result (10th in Race 8) become the discard and concluded with a smashing, nearly 20-point advantage. The girls also secured the Women’s title ahead of Speedy Habibi and Sultana. Another big win for Charlotte after the 2024 Dubai SB20 Worlds with a mixed crew, this time showing who is the boss in this male-dominated fleet.
For Charlotte this result carried a deep satisfaction: “The Wicked Middle East Championship was, yet again, a great event… With a high quality fleet of both local and international sailors and professionals the racing required full-on focus mode,” – she concluded. “It’s such a privilege to be able to sail amongst family and friends at the highest level… When you find your right team it’s just like winning the lottery and I couldn’t wish to sail with anyone else! On top of all of this – I can’t pretend – it feels amazing to beat the boys!”
Behind Kidzink, the fight for the remaining podium spots was exceptionally tight, with fortunes shifting race by race. Ultimately it was Pavel Grachev on Medusa who claimed second overall, sailing quite a clean and consistent regatta (including two bullets). Grachev, an experienced keelboat sailor with a strong background in Melges 20 and recent campaigns in J/70, brought a wealth of Italian sailing skills with Giulio Desiderato and Ettore Botticini aboard. Medusa had trained pre-event in Dubai waters, which paid off with the runner-up slot ahead of some top SB20 sailors.
Third place went to Paolo Borghesi on Koda. Paolo and his crew – George Leonchuk and Diogo Pinto – sailed a strong, disciplined weekend keeping themselves in contention through mid-fleet finishes nerly tied on point with the second-placed Medusa.
Just off the podium Arsen Chubarkov’s actiTIME finished fourth, showing their trademark moments of brilliance – including a race win and a second. In fifth– Hendrik Witzmann on Desert Eagle, fresh from his European Championship win earlier this year – delivered a steady regatta with a race win and a third, but wasn’t immune to the volatility of the light, tide-affected conditions. In conditions like these the smallest misread was costly: “a couple of wrong calls on shifts and you’re suddenly ten boat lengths behind,” – commented some of them.
Youth talent shone too – Wind Warriors, skippered by William Borghesi sailing with his 2025 SB20 Worlds crew Rhys Jones and Matteo Paulon with Afonso Leite, they finished an exceptional sixth overall. Proud mum Charlotte noted: “William and his team arrived at the top mark in the top three in almost every race – super impressive!”. In the other categories, Angry Bird took the Masters title, while SuperSonic won the Corinthian division, followed by Ragged Edge in second and Old Spice in third.
Will Sargent, who was back onboard Paul McCartney’s Porco Rosso with Ed Snowball, training ahead of the Tasmanian State Championship next weekend, summarised the regatta perfectly: “It was light, shifty and in a couple of races the tide played a big part. The Dubai fleet’s depth has improved dramatically – it was impressive to see the level there now, compared to previous events.”
UAE SB20 Class President Michal Pajak reflected proudly on what this edition represented:
“Over the past few years we’ve built a strong and healthy SB20 fleet here in Dubai – one we’re truly proud of. The racing continues to attract top international sailors. This weekend delivered world-class competition with multiple Olympians, World Champions and European Champions battling it out on the water. Huge congratulations to Kidzink! And a big thank you to everyone – our sponsor Wicked, sailors, organisers, volunteers and supporters – you’ve made this championship one to remember.”
Photo credits: Mike Brignall
