One Metre Europeans at Pierrelatte, Southern France
by Tony Edwards 11 Oct 2010 08:27 BST
26 September - 3 October 2010
The International One Metre Class (IOM) specifically developed for radio controlled sailing is easy to transport and has become well established since its introduction around 1990. IOMs are built and raced worldwide. Its three rigs are one design, but the monohull can be developed within parameters. These small yachts have excellent performance, are great fun to race at all levels and the competition internationally is now extremely close, demanding practised control, concentration, quickness of though and a comprehensive understanding of the RRS. The class holds a World Championship every 2 years and a European (continental) Championship in between. This report covers the European Championship week held 26th September to 3rd October 2010 at Pierrelatte southern France.
Competitors from 14 countries including Australia converged on the venue, a water leisure park situated on the western outskirts of Pierrelatte in the Rhone valley about 70 miles north of the Med. The lake was formed by the extraction of stone for the TGV rail line. Prime mover local model shop proprietor Pierre Gonnet and his friends and family provided the backbone to support and organise the event. The lake is an ideal size with beautiful clear weed free water and a relatively low number of wind obstructions. The event was run very well with plenty of racing, starting at 9.00 am through to 7.00 pm each day. This was pretty tiring although there was a very worthwhile pause for lunch with excellent food provided for competitors washed down with wine.
Large radio sailing events are sailed in heats to accommodate radio frequencies and due to the need to observe and control incidents. The heat system enables 6 boat promotion giving 5 heats of 19 boats each for the 70 boat entry. The aim is to get into and stay in the A heat in order to achieve the lowest scores. The racing is intense and in this event there were 28 races (rounds) sailed, so 140 heats sailed in all. Competitor observers were linked with the international judges to watch the racing, observers calling contacts between boats and marks and the judges imparting immediate decisions under appendix Q. Radio yacht racing is fast and furious and this combination of observers with judges is an improvement, although vision, especially from the fixed control point, remains the greatest difficulty.
A fixed mound was used for the control point from which race officer Theo Wendling set a course to windward mark, spreader mark, and 2 off-wind gate marks. The start/finish line was positioned about midway between the windward and leeward marks so as to be seen from the control point. This gave a relatively short first beat, usually to a windward mark furthest away from competitors. As a consequence there were a lot of “difficult to see” and judge first mark incidents as the fleet had not separated significantly by the first windward mark. With this type of course the starboard lay line is difficult to judge and the port tack approach was often the optimum. The wind for 5 of the 6 days was from the north and the stability of the wind affected by a few strategically placed buildings and trees on the opposite bank. As a consequence large gains (or losses) could be made on the beats and by rounding the “correct” leeward mark. The choices were never easy and with 6 boat promotion if you pushed too hard to gain promotion it was easy to find yourself in the last 6 and relegated.
As the randomly drawn seeding races were sailed on the first day, competitors were faced with a strong (and very cold) northerly air stream and most chose their smallest C rigs. After 4 great races Brad Gibson (Britpop) was looking strong with 2 wins until black flagged in race 4. Olivier Cohen (FRA Pikanto) won the 4th A race. Zvonko Jelacic (Pikanto) led from Marcos Egea (Pikanto) and Marco Matic (Pikanto).
Day 2 – 6 rounds were completed in a combination of A and B rigs, the wind strong at times, usually at the most inconvenient moments. Martin Roberts (Viper) got going and should have won the first A heat, but hit a mark and was relegated. He recovered strongly with 2 wins on the day. Brad had a poor day, visiting B heat 3 times, but immediately climbing back. Zvonko too had a poor day including 4 visits to B heat and 2 B heat scores, all that he could later discard. Meantime Graham Bantock (Pikanto) had his best day of the week with 2, 5, 4, 6, 13, 4. Michael Scharmer (Mk XVc) recorded his only win on day 2. Getting and staying in A fleet was the first problem and any reasonable consistency the second. Marco Matic’s consistency put him in the lead from Rob Walsh (Lintel) and Ante Kovacevic (Pikanto).
Day 3 – windy and cold again, B rig all day. Marco Matic scored well including a second win in the last race. Brad Gibson had an outstanding day with scores of 4, 1, 2, 1, 1, 4. Zvonko managed low scores and a win and Rob Walsh had a win and two seconds, but ended the day relegated to B fleet. Graham Bantock and Marcos Egea both had a poor day (by their standards) recording low A and B fleet scores.
After the lay day “rest” Thursday produced a strong A rig wind. Marco and Brad wobbled a little and Zvonko was the best of the three with another win. Alexis Carre (FRA Pikanto) advanced with two wins whilst Martin Roberts, Rob Walsh and Graham Bantock consolidated.
At last Friday brought greater warmth and initially an A rig then B rig breeze with the wind dying at the end of the day. Marco Matic was disqualified from the first race, but got straight back into the low numbers. Brad had two wins and Martin one. So it was down to the wire and the last day dawned hot with no wind. After a two hour + delay racing got under way in a light southerly, but the course allowed little beating making the starts crucial. The final 3 races were sailed. The top three all churned out low A fleet scores maintaining their overall positions with Marco Matic (CRO) deservedly winning on 106 points and three wins from Brad Gibson with 124 points and seven wins and Zvonco with 136 points and two wins. The event was streamed live on www.justintv.com . The full final results and links to excellent photographs can be seen via the event website.
In summary this was a very well run championship, but the fixed control point, although raised to improve vision, did restrict the race officer’s ability to set optimum courses with a sufficiently long first beat and these factors contributed significantly to the number of first mark incidents. Marco Matic’s performance was a model of consistency and he was the only competitor to score all his races, apart from a DSQ, in A heat. Brad Gibson’s performance was outstanding with seven wins, using his latest very narrow and chined Britpop design. Numerically Bantock’s Pikantos were the most successful design developed with the Croatian team and with seven represented in the final top ten. Robert Walsh performed consistently well with his Lintel to finish 4th and Martin Roberts 5th had great speed with his Viper, but unfortunate failures and mishaps cost him vital places. Most of the leading designs were represented including Peter Stollery with his new Isotonic, Jeff Byerley’s latest Kirby design had the speed as did his Mad Max; Obsessions, Robots, Isis, Widgets, V7, Sharks were all on the pace and had their moments. Overall there was little to choose between boat designs, but it was achieving the set up of the boat and rigs to suit the conditions of each day and controlling the boat at the start that made the difference. More than ever before the event demonstrated how quickly scores accumulate if you are unable to make and stay in A fleet. A big thank you to the French for hosting this championship and we now look forward to the IOM World Championship on the marine lake at West Kirby 28 May – 4 June 2011.
