IRSA World Championship Radio Sailing at Segelverein Biblis e. V. (Germany)
by Henning Faas, IRSA 5 Jun 2018 19:01 BST
24 May - 1 June 2018
Brad Gibson in once again the World Champion of the 10 Rater (2016, 2018) and Marblehead Class (2012, 2014, 2016, 2018). The silver medal went to Christoph Boisnault, France, who participated 30 ago in Berlin achieving a 12th place, while bronze went to Peter Stollery, Great Britain, who also had raced in Berlin in 1988. It was close racing in stifling heat and mostly light wind at SV Biblis on the Riedsee. The final result was raced for in a total of 87 heats.
Ten Rater World Championship (24–26 May)
While the wind had been great all week, the World Championship started with a 3 hour wait for wind. At 1 pm a steady breeze developed so that racing could get under way. Quickly, a total of 9 heats was completed in three groups. After these three rounds it was close at the top with Brad Gibson on 4 points leading from Matteo Longhi ITA on 7 points and Christoph Boisnault FRA with 10 points. he evening concluded with the so-called international dinner where the participants brought along specialities from 16 different countries.
25th May: in the early morning the Riedsee was covered in thick fog. The fog was cleared away by a light breeze at around 10 o'clock and so the fourth and fifth round could be carried out quickly. In the afternoon, the sailors had to wait a few more hours in stifling heat before at a steady north wind arrived at around 4pm. The races were now extended to 7pm and so could six heats could be completed. With 7 rounds completed Brad Gibson GBR had the lead with 5 points but Matteo Longhi ITA and Christoph Boisnault FRA were now tied on 11 points. They day way completed with the famous paella of SV Biblis.
26th May: contrary to the forecast the 3rd day of the World Championship only offered little wind for sailing. Nevertheless, race director Pierre Gonnet and Jürgen Eiermann managed to finish six more races in best conditions. This however could not change the result that much, and so the new World Champion is the old World Champipn Brad Gibson GBR with 12 points ahead of Christoph Boisnault FRA with 20 points and Matteo Longhi ITA with 22 points. Best German was Gerd Mentges with a very good ninth place.
Marblehead World Championship (28 May – 1 June)
The first day started with a light breeze from the north east and this allowed for three rounds with a total 15 heats to be completed on this day. At the end of the day and before the "International Dinner", where all sailors present specialties from their countries, Christoph Boisnault FRA was leading with 3 points ahead of Brad Gibson GBR with 8 points and Ellio Cavallio ITA with 12 points
29th May: a steady breeze from north made for another four races to be sailed on this day. After seven full rounds Christoph Boisnault was 8 points ahead of Brad Gibson with 10 points and Peter Stollery with 19 points.
30th May: On this day, the wind made a break and the sailors had to hold out in the shade until the afternoon when finally, a steady breeze from the east set in. Then, however, two full rounds were sailed and the third round started. After nine races Christoph Boisnault and Brad Gibson were almost tied with two points' difference and together with the third placed Peter Stollery they had already separated from the remaining fleet by more than 10 points.
31st May: once again the wind did not really want to appear that day and so the rounds were essentially raced between 5pm and 8pm. However, the time was used meaningfully and so in the morning a meeting of the International Marblehead class with all present 76 sailors was carried out. In addition to the development of the class, the applications for the World Champonship 2020 - England or Italy were discussed.
1st June: On the last day of the World Championships the Riedsee welcomed the participants with a nice southerly breeze allowing for a quick strart of the last races. However, Brad Gibson was unbeatable and confidently won rounds 11 and 12. In the end, Henning Faas and his team tried to complete one more round, but unfortunately missed the time limit by five minutes. Thus, also in the Marblehead class is the old the new: World Champion Brad Gibson GBR with 22 points ahead of Christophe Boisnault FRA with 29 points and Peter Stollery GBR with 38 points. Best German was Valentin Fuchs in 20th place.
At the joint closing dinner Henning Faas and his organizing team received standing ovations for a few minutes for the perfect organization of the event. After 30 years it is once again Germany that has set new standards for the World Championship.
Further Information:
worlds2018.marbleheadclass.org
worlds2018.tenrater.org
www.radiosailing.org
www.radiosailing.de