The Grove Fruit Juice 2005 World Championship for the International One Metre Class (IOM) of radio controlled yachts being hosted by the Mooloolaba Radio Yacht Club on Quad Park’s Lake Kawana wound up yesterday (Saturday) after seven days racing and 24 completed races with Craig Smith Australia (79 Pts) 1st from Graham Bantock Great Britain (84 pts) 2^nd and Paul Jones  Australia (90 pts) 3rd

This regatta has had everything with gale force winds of 40+ knots on the opening day, moderate conditions on the second and third days to drifters on Tuesday morning and light to moderate conditions for rest of the regatta so the skippers have had to contend with the full range of conditions.

On the opening day (Saturday) in the gale force conditions Craig Smith sailing superbly finished with three straight first placings to be 4 points clear of Graham Bantock with Peter Stollery a further 4 points behind. At that stage both Craig and Graham were both sailing superbly and looked like being the boats to beat.

On the Sunday in moderate conditions Graham sailing very consistently didn’t have a bad race to move into 1^st place while Craig struggled all day to drop to 6 points behind with Paul Jones being the big mover climbing four places into third with Peter Stollery slipping to 6^th.

Similar conditions on Monday saw Graham continue his dominance and with placings of 2, 3, 6, 1 move fourteen points clear of Craig with Peter Stollery and Martin Roberts locked together in third 2 points behind. With Paul Jones a further two points in arrears four boats were virtually locked together while Graham appeared to have a comfortable lead.

In the drifting conditions on Tuesday things all changed around when Graham was caught out in the conditions and dropped back into B Fleet with a 18^th place and was caught in B fleet for two races with placings of 28 and 30 before returning to the top fleet with a 10^th dropping to 4^th overall at the end of the day. In the meantime Craig with placings of 16, 2, 1, 3 moved back into the lead with Martin Roberts (5, 6, 2, 6) in second and Peter Stollery  (3, 1, 16, 9) in third.

Wednesday was a lay day allowing the competitors to relax before commencing all again at 9:30 am on Thursday for the final three days. With five boats within 11 points of the lead the regatta was still wide open.

In the light to moderate conditions Thursday  Craig and Martin maintained their positions but Graham again in form made up some ground to move into third from Paul Jones 4^th and Peter Stollery slipping into fifth and gradually loosing touch with the leaders.

On the penultimate day after the first race a third drop became available and Graham moved into second place with Craig in second. It was Craig’s turn to put in a poor one and with a voluntary withdrawal in race 20, after doubts about a mark rounding, Graham with two wins for the day moved into the lead once more from Craig with Paul Jones in third.

With only 16 points separating the first four boats at the start of the final day it was going to be a tense run home. A breeze shift after the start of the first race of the day which saw that race abandoned did not help things. In the re-sail Craig sailed a consistent race for second and with Graham trapped back in the fleet and finishing 13^th moved into the lead once more.

Graham pulled two points back in race 23 leaving him to beat Craig by 5 places for the Championship. The crowd was quiet at the start of the final race and the tension could be felt. The three leaders all manage a good start and soon were clear of the remainder of the fleet. Paul took the lead from Graham but on the first reach Craig slipped into second and from then on covered Graham’s every move to finish second and take the Championship.

Final results were:

1^st            Craig Smith, Australia                        79 pts

2^nd           Graham Bantock, Great Britain           84 pts

3^rd            Paul Jones, Australia                         90 pts

Brad Johnston, Australia finishing in 7^th place overall after two wins on the final day took out the Masters Division (Over 55)

The Grove Fruit Juice 2005 World Championship for the International One Metre Class (IOM) of radio controlled yachts being hosted by the Mooloolaba Radio Yacht Club on Quad Park’s Lake Kawana with a field of 84 yachts representing Australia, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Spain and USA is currently at the half way stage.

The event is wide open at this stage with three former world champions Craig Smith (AUS), Martin Roberts (GBR) and Graham Bantock (GBR) together with Peter Stollery (GBR) and Paul Jones (AUS) within 13 points of the lead.

This regatta has had everything with gale force winds of 30+ knots on the opening day, moderate conditions on the second and third days to drifters on Tuesday morning before the breeze settled in to remain light throughout the day so the skippers have had to contend to date with the full range of conditions.

On the opening day (Saturday) in the gale force conditions Craig Smith sailing superbly finished with three straight first placings to be 4 points clear of Graham Bantock with Peter Stollery a further 4 points behind. At that stage both Craig and Graham were both sailing superbly and looked like being the boats to beat.

On the Sunday in moderate conditions Graham sailing very consistently didn’t have a bad race to move into 1^st place while Craig struggled all day to drop to 6 points behind with Paul Jones being the big mover climbing four places into third with Peter Stollery slipping to 6^th.

Similar conditions on Monday saw Graham continue his dominance and with placings of 2, 3, 6, 1 move fourteen points clear of Craig with Peter Stollery and Martin Roberts locked together in third 2 points behind. With Paul Jones a further two points in arrears four boats were virtually locked together while Graham appeared to have a comfortable lead.

In the drifting conditions on Tuesday things all changed around when Graham was caught out in the conditions and dropped back into B Fleet with a 18^th place and was caught in B fleet for two races with placings of  28 and 30 before returning to the top fleet with a 10^th dropping to 4^th overall at the end of the day. In the meantime Craig with placings of 16, 2, 1, 3 moved back into the lead with Martin Roberts (5, 6, 2, 6) in second and Peter Stollery  (3, 1, 16, 9) in third.

Wednesday was a lay day allowing the competitors to relax before commencing all again at 9:30 tomorrow (Thursday) for the final three days. With five boats within 11 points of the lead the regatta is still wide open.

The Grove Fruit Juice 2005 World Championship for the International One Meter Class (IOM) of radio controlled yachts is to be hosted by the Mooloolaba Radio Yacht Club on Quad Park’s Lake Kawana  on the Sunshine Coast over the period 15^th to 24^th September. This is the first time the Championship has been held in Australia and has attracted the maximum field of 84 yachts representing Australia, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Spain and USA.

The event will be sailed under the same rules as full size craft, with minor amendments to allow for the skipper not being on the boat and controlled by a race committee and six International Judges.

THE BOAT

The International One Meter Class (IOM) is the smallest of the International Classes and is the fastest growing class both in Australia and Internationally with 810 boats currently registered in Australia and 110 new boats being registered last year.  As its name suggests it is one meter in overall length and has a minimum weight of 4 Kg. The class is rigidly controlled and has three rigs of sails to suit the differing breezes, allowing it to be sailed in any conditions likely to be experienced.

The technical goal of the IOM Class is above all to allow everyone to sail an International Class at low cost, in other words to remain accessible to most of us.

COMPETITORS

The eighty-four competitors from fourteen countries include most of the best radio sailors in the world including the current world champion Trevor Binks of Great Britain and all previous world champions, Graham Bantock Great Britain 1994,1999, Craig Smith Australia 1997 and Martin Roberts Great Britain 2001.

Australia ranks highly in the IOM Class with Australian skippers all sailing locally designed and built boats being placed second, third, fourth and tenth at the last world championship. The top Australian prospects include Craig Smith, a former world champion with an America’s Cup background and builder of the TS2 IOM, Paul Jones the current Australian champion and former 16 ft skiff champion, Brad Gibson, designer of the successful Disco IOM and former dinghy champion and 18ft skiff sailor and Greg Torpy a local Sunshine Coast sailor is an ex Olympian and forward hand on the current world champion Etchells.

LOCATION

Sailing courses will be arranged on Quad Parks specialized water sport Lake Kawana. Quad Park at Kawana Waters on the Sunshine Coast with excellent spectator viewing of the event. (Sunshine Coast UBD Map 90 Ref 9G.)

PROGRAM

The event will be run over the period 15^th to 24^th September with practice and measuring on the 15^th and 16^th and racing from 17^th to 24^th with racing between 0930 and 1700 each day. Each race will be run in five heats (20 boats per heat) with the best four placed boats being promoted to the next heat and the last four relegated.

WEB SITE

A web site has been established at http://www.rcyachts.net/iomworlds and this will provide complete detailed information including race reports and results of each day racing posted promptly each evening.

Annie Scanlan - Marketing & Events Coordinator
320 Nicklin Way, Bokarina, Qld 4575
PO Box 201, Buddina, Qld 4575
Mob: 0439 923 721
T: 07 5437 7666  F: 07 5437 6274
www.quadpark.com.au Information including race reports and results of each day racing posted promptly each evening.

MEDIA

Event contact is David Turton

54442440     

0412 551 594

WEB PAGE  www.rcyachts.net.au/iomworlds

EMAIL  davidturton@bigpond.com

Photo Gallery is Peter Duncan Galleries  http://www.questphoto.com/