2006 QUEENSLAND IOM CHAMPIONSHIP

They say in Queensland it is “beautiful one day – perfect the next” but this did not hold true over the weekend of 10^th – 11^th June when the State IOM Championship was hosted by the Fraser Coast Radio Yacht Club on their sailing venue at Hervey Bay.

The weather forecasters predicted periods of rain and moderate breezes which proved to be half right with 74mm of rain being recorded over Saturday so it was pleasing that all but one of the nominating skippers fronted for the event. To have a fleet of 42 boats compete in a Championship hosted in a city with only two IOM’s in the local fleet was extremely pleasing and shows the strength of the class in Queensland.

This was the second largest fleet for a state IOM championship, the largest being 45 in 2004 during the peak of ranking point hysteria leading up to the IOM Worlds when 15 interstate and two New Zealanders competed. On this occasion there were only four interstate entries with ARYA National Secretary Rob O’Brien making the trip north from Victoria and three other Northern NSW entries leaving the balance of 38 Queenslanders representing virtually all Clubs from Mackay to Gold Coast with an IOM presence.

After registration and weighing requirements were completed, racing commenced under the guidance of PRO Club Commodore Bruce Yarrow in heavily overcast conditions and little breeze from a northerly direction. The weather quickly deteriorated into heavy rain which Greg Torpy was later to state was the worst conditions he had sailed in during his five years in the sport.

After five races were completed and the rain turning the general area into mud it was agreed by all skippers that an early finish be taken, a relief to all concerned. At that stage Tom Butler led on 12 points with Greg Torpy, Alan Walker and Jon Wilson being tied two points in arrears and Rob O’Brien lurking close behind. That the races were completed in good spirits with virtually no complaints was a credit to the officials and the competing skippers.

Sunday saw continuing overcast conditions and little rain but the heavy rain overnight caused conditions underfoot to be slippery and had it not been for new steps to the waters edge, constructed by the Hervey Bay City Council in the proceeding month the event would have to been called off for safety reasons.

The breeze had swung more to the south and freshened providing much better sailing conditions which allowed nine further three heat races to be completed by the scheduled completion, a good effort. The four overnight leaders continued to fight it out at the top with little between them and the result still in doubt until late in the afternoon.

The stronger breezes brought with it more aggressive behaviour from some skippers with some not voluntarily taking penalties for infringements not witnessed by the observers, which was disappointing. With one competitor volunteering to withdraw to assist observers and two other observers appointed from competing skippers things improved.

At the end of fourteen completed races and two drops it was Tom Butler sailing a NZ Crossbred design on 42 pts in first place from Greg Torpy (Cockatoo 2) second on 46 pts and Alan Walker (Cockatoo 2) third on 50 pts. Jon Wilson (Bag) who ran into trouble on the last race finished close on 53 points and on a vote of all competing skippers was awarded the Sportsmanship Trophy.

The trophies were presented by the Hervey Bay City Council Mayor Ted Sorensen and the Club arranged for local newspaper and TV coverage which should help build the profile of our sport in this fast growing area.

PRO and Club Commodore Bruce Yarrow, Secretary Bob Sare and the small Fraser Coast Club members should be congratulated for conducting a great regatta in extremely trying conditions. Great support was provided by Gil Walker, David Black and Gordon James who travelled from Brisbane to take charge of the race scoring and fleet control.

The event was sponsored by Wide Bay Water and Handy Hire.