International One Metre Worlds at Carlisle Bay, Barbados
by Tony Edwards 6 Jul 2009 12:15 BST
21-28 June 2009
Radio sailors from all over the world gathered for the 2009 IOM World Championship 21-28 June hosted by the Barbados Sailing Association and sailed on the open sea in Carlisle Bay. This really was a champagne venue of sun, sea and sand with brisk easterly breezes requiring A and mostly B rigs. The 66 boats were split into 5 heats using 6 boat promotion, providing time for a refreshing dip between heats.
The Bajans put the event and full itinerary together in record time and produced a most enjoyable championship sponsored amongst others by Barbados Tourism and Mount Gay Rum. The boats were stored and rigged ashore some distance from the control point which was a scaffold platform at the end of a wooden pier from where the boats were launched and retrieved. This required a right first time trim as there was little opportunity to make adjustments once launched and alternative rigs were at the other end of the pier. The length of the pier added a logistical headache for the race team solved by having the heat board ashore, admin desks at both ends and runners in-between.
Racing got underway soon after the splendid opening ceremony where competitors were warmly welcomed by the Prime Minister of Barbados and the country flags paraded by the Digicel promotional girls. Australian PRO Jeff Byerley set a standard windward/leeward course with windward offset mark and, after the first day, two leeward gate marks. The wind mostly stayed from the same easterly direction, but was generally unstable and constantly variable in both pressure and direction. The PRO set a line with a strong port bias, but even so the wind often changed during the count down presenting the starboard end as the only place to be.
Racing was monitored by a distinguished team of international judges led by David Lees and working in three pairs each pair “assisted” by a competitor buddy. Competitors took a while to get used to the system whereby no contacts were called, but skippers could protest and judges dispensed immediate justice as they saw it. The decisions and competitors understanding of the process improved as the week progressed and crucially kept the event moving avoiding lengthy protests, but the system is at best work in progress.
The first seeding round mostly sailed in A rig saw wins for Zvonko Jelaciv and Mario Skrij of CRO, Robbie Walsh and Dave Potter GBR and Michael Scharmer of GER sailing yet another innovative wooden boat with wooden masts. Notably the first B heat of round 2 included defending champion Brad Gibson and former champions Graham Bantock and Martin Roberts. The numbers competing and the move to 6 boat promotion after race 2 produced a major rescheduling of the heats which caught many by surprise. The reality is that with 6 boat promotion and 18 boats per heat, only 6 boats actually stay in the heat after each race. At the end of day one it was Robby Walsh topping the leader board narrowly from Mario Skrij, Zvonko and Brad Gibson.
The first heats racing on day 2 were met with a downpour. There was sun cover at the pier end for the race team, but no shelter for the skippers who needed to see their boats. Fortunately any rain we had did not last long and dried quickly in the heat. During the second day it became evident that consistency was to be crucial in this regatta but very hard to achieve. After indifferent starts both Martin Roberts and Graham Bantock managed to claw their way into A heat with GB scoring the first of his 5 race wins. After 5 complete races it was Zvonko who led by a point from Brad with Robbie Walsh third and Alexis Carre FRA a consistent fourth.
Day 3 was sailed mostly in second rig and saw rounds up to race 9 completed before the lay day. Notable was a bizarre port and starboard incident resulting in Martin Roberts (starboard) being red carded by the judges and taking the lonely walk back down the pier for an early swim and a discardable 67 points. Brad and Mario dead-heated for first place in race 7, Zvonko won race 8 and Robbie race 9, but only after recording his two lowest A heat results and a trip to C heat. At the break with 2 discards Brad led by a point from Zvonko.
The racing settled to a pattern on days 4, 5 and 6 those doing best starting at the pin end with the ability to get quickly onto port to make the most of the “usual” port lift into the first mark. This pattern was occasionally interrupted by a starboard shift which left the port end boats stranded. Race 16 B was notable when the starboard finish line buoy became untied and had blown nearly to leeward of the down-wind gate marks when the last boats finished. The race was not re-run and the resulting protests kept the judges busy well into the next day. Mario Skrij was the only person to stay in A fleet for the whole event, both Brad and Zvonko visiting B on at least one occasion. But, it was the consistency of scoring during the last 3 days that won this event for Zvonko sailing his Pikanto with only 49 points after 3 discards. Brad Gibson (Widget) was 2nd with 61 points, Mario Skrij (Topiko) 3rd 70 points, Robbie Walsh (Lintel) 4th 80.1 points, Marco Matic (Pikanto) 5th 90 points and Martin Roberts (Widget) 6th on 114 points.
Zvonco fully deserved his win and was part of a remarkable team performance by the Croatians who, nurtured by Ante Kovacevic, have become the team to beat in radio sailing. Penny McIntyre and the Barbados Sailing Association Team pulled out all the stops and provided a truly memorable event thoroughly enjoyed by all.
The full results and additional photographs are available on www.sailbarbados.com