One Metre Worlds at West Kirby Sailing Club - Preview

The world’s best model boat skippers will be converging on the Wirral over the late May bank holiday to compete in the International One Metre (IOM) class World Championships, hosted by West Kirby Sailing Club and the Model Yachting Association.

The event is expected to attract 76 of the world’s best radio sailing skippers from more than 20 countries. The opening ceremony will take place on Saturday 28th May at West Kirby Sailing Club on the Wirral and will be followed by six days of racing on the marine lake, concluding on Saturday 4th June. The World Champion will then be announced in a medal ceremony at the sailing club.

Croatian, Zvonco Jelacic, will be fiercely defending the coveted title of World Champion, from the 2009 World Championship in Barbados. However, he will be coming up against strong opposition from the best radio controlled skippers in the world including, Martin Roberts from Birkenhead a former world champion.

Radio sailing is raced in a series of heats, each comprising up to 20 yachts and typically lasting about 15 minutes. The boats are very evenly matched for speed. The racing is very close, highly competitive and operates to the same racing rules used for full size sailing.

The radio controlled boats are steered from the shore by the competitors and have a winch on board to sheet the sails in and out. Tactics, an ability to read the wind conditions as well as the technical skill to sail the boat fast, combine to make radio sailing a real challenge. Racing is contained within an area which can be clearly viewed from ashore making it an excellent spectator sport as members of the public can closely follow a full race from start to finish from the sea front.

The International One Metre radio controlled yacht was conceived in the late 1980’s as one of the first model yachts to be specifically designed for radio control rather than free sailed. Model yacht racing using reliable radio control has rapidly become popular and the IOM class has quickly grown, becoming an International class, sailed worldwide, which is recognised by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). Another benefit is that these small yachts are relatively easy to transport and most overseas competitors will bring their boats with them on the plane as unusual luggage.

Planning for the Championship commenced early in 2010 and the organisation is now in place centred on the excellent facilities and infrastructure of host West Kirby Sailing Club - with support from Wirral Borough Council and event sponsors. A Race Committee will run the racing under the control of the Principal Race Officer and a team of International Judges will oversee each race and administer on the spot decisions to competitors in accordance with the Racing Rules of Sailing.

Together with the 76 competitors, husbands, wives, children, friends, judges and the race team the event will bring over 200 people to the Wirral over the week.

The top skippers have been selected and put forward for the championship by their respective countries. Details of the event and entrants are published on the event website www.iomworlds2011.wordpress.com. The event will be professionally filmed throughout the competition and edited highlights streamed via the event website. Event streaming has been trialled at previous championships and has been keenly followed across the world. Visit the event website for more detail and the latest information.