IRSA

Limone sul Garda / Italy, October 4, 2016. Brad Gibson GBR takes the title from Graham Bantock, who held the title World Champion of the ten rater class since 1999. Brad Gibson at the head of the scoreboard was not letting up on his earlier form by posting back to back wins over the challenging Graham Bantock and FRA’s Christophe Boisnault. Thanks to the hosts and people of North West Garda Sailing for their efforts and hospitality.

The World Championship was organized by IRSA and the Italian “Vela Club Campione”. The team led by Virginio Boglietti, Renato Bolis, Matteo Longhi and Gerd Mentges with help from the team of North West Garda Sailing did a great job. Thanks for his work also to Pierre Gonnet our unwavering race officer and last but not least the umpires around Gordon Davies and Chris Atkins (Vice President at World Sailing).

Day 1 of the 2016 Ten Rater class World Championship

Morning sunshine through a light fog greeted skippers on day 1 of the 2016 Ten Rater class World Championship here in Limone del Garda, Italy. This years event is the first to be held for the ‘thoroughbreds’ of radio sailing in 18 years and is the 8th time it’s being held. As racing got underway rolling the skippers briefing at 10am, there was great interest to see how the wide range of designs and setups would fare against the known long standing benchmark ‘Diamond’ of defending champion Graham Bantock from GBR. Light winds for the 3 seeding races in waves had wins for FRA’s Stephane Burtin, GBR’s Recently crowned national champion Brad Gibson and local favorite, Italian Matteo Longhi. Soon after the fleets were set and with the southerly ‘Ora’ wind stable we were underway. At the sharp end it was Brad Gibson, Christophe Boisnault, Matteo Longhi and Graham Bantock putting their best foot forward.

Day 2 of the 2016 Ten Rater class World Championship

Skippers were greeted by light rain and little to no wind on day 2 of this year 10 Rater class World championship. With the morning ‘Peler’ northerly winds non existent, the opportunity was taken by skippers to discuss what direction the class should take to build on from the success and interest created with this championship. The notion of forming a class association was widely supported and it was agreed a wider working party should be formulated from not only skippers present but also be welcoming to any skipper across the globe wishing to steer the class forward. The meeting was adjourned soon after the earlier than normal arrival of the ‘Ora’ breeze which remained rather unpredictable over the day in overcast conditions.

A and B rigs were swapped in and out with some real cloak and dagger stuff going on at the top end of the fleet. To the racing and it was close at the top but by day’s end Brad Gibson had stretched his lead over both Graham Bantock and FRA’s Christophe Boisnault who were locked in a tie for second. Italy’s local hero, Matteo Longhi recorded a couple of heat wins to remain in contention for a podium place but would need to be at his best to match the consistency of the top 3 in the large wave conditions.

The full force of Lake Garda kicks in on the last day.

Day 3 and the final day of racing for the 10 Rater Worlds at Limone sul Garda had skippers arrive to strong winds gusting at over 30 knots and racing put on hold due to safety concerns over both launching and retrieval, and the vicious glare created by the morning sunshine. Some were enjoying some practice with smallest suits being used in the crashing waves but most kept their powder dry noticing the difficulty the course laying RIB had in even nosing up to set the course area.

At around 11am conditions had backed off a little to allow racing to commence with D and E suits chosen. As the racing continued the ‘Peler’ northerly winds continued to blow showing off this class at speed surfing the large waves.

With the 4pm close of racing fast approaching under a quickly dying wind, A fleet was called to the control area for what was to be the final race of the event. With light rigs set, eyes turned to the south where a near instant change in wind direction came over the race course. Last minute hurried rig changes were made by some with the fleet launching in rigs ranging from A to C. This heat proved to be a showcase for the event with inches separating Gibson and Bantock after a ding dong battle in overpowered conditions.

After boats had been packed away all that was left to do was share the spoils, with GBR’s Brad Gibson crowned the 2016 World Champion after a solid 3 days racing from defending champion Graham Bantock GBR in 2nd and FRA’s Christoph Boisnault rounding out the podium. Our hosts at West Garda Sailing and FIV were roundly thanked, along with the beach bar staff who kept all well fed and watered over the past 10 days.

The top Sailors are

1. Brad Gibson GBR 42 (Trance)

2. Graham Bantock GBR 95 (Diamond)

3. Christophe Boisnault FRA 13 (Diamond)

4. Matteo Longhi ITA 24 (Kamsim 2)

5. Patrice Montero FRA 38 (Diamond)

6. Marc Pomerade FRA 44 (Kamsim 2)

7. Garry Bromley AUS 90 (Dimaond)

8. Yannik Rossignol FRA 22 (Diamond)

9. David Potter GBR 20 (Defector)

10 Nicholas Selves FRA 7 (Diamond).

Full Resultlist:

http://worlds2016.tenrater.org/index.php/results/full-results

More information can be found on the event website at:

http://worlds2016.tenrater.org

Limone sul Garda / Italy, October 1st, 2016. After a week of tough sailing in Limone / Lake Garda the 2016 (2014, 2012) Marblehead World Champion is Brad Gibson. The model of consistency, Brad was never ruffled or fazed by the conditions and competitors and managed to combine quality racing with his usual top quality socializing. Well done Brad! Thanks to the hosts and members of North West Garda Sailing for their great effort and hospitality.

After 5 days of racing in a variety of conditions, Brad Gibson has been crowned the 2016 Marblehead class World Champion here in Limone del Garda. The result for Brad makes this 3 in a row – hat trick, a feat only bettered by fellow GBR skipper Graham Bantock who despite a late charge, just fell short of runner up, with that honour going to Italian Matteo Longhi.

The World Championship was organized by IRSA and the Italian “Vela Club Campione”. The team led by Virginio Boglietti, Renato Bolis, Matteo Longhi and Gerd Mentges with help from the team of North West Garda Sailing did a great job. Thanks for the work also to Pierre Gonnet our unwavering race officer and last but not least the umpires around Gordon Davies and Chris Atkins (Vice President at World Sailing).

At halftime we had a tight battle between Brad Gibson GBR only one point ahead of Matteo Longhi ITA and another three points clear of Marc Pomerade FRA. With Yannik Rossignol FRA, Graham Bantock GBR, Lincoln Mc Dowall AUS and Chris Harris GBR all in contention with 15 points separating them from first, it was all to play for in the last two days of racing. On the last two days Graham Bantock was able to change the order with consistent sailing achieving top 3 places and getting the better of Marc Pomerade FRA who slipped back to 4th by one point but not quiet able to match Matteo Longhi ITA who took a well deserved runner up spot.

Of the rest some may have hoped for a little more but across the board all enjoyed the experience and will be back for more in Germany 2018.

The Top Sailors (Designs) are:

1. Brad Gibson GBR 42 (Grunge)

Marblehead class World Champion in 2012, 2014 and now 2016 achieved the hat trick with his internationally and nationally undefeated Design “Grunge”.

2. Matteo Longhi – ITA 24 (Nioutram)

Put the maximum pressure on Brad Gibson at the top. Sometimes a little too quiet and fair racing the newly design “Nioutram” by Marc Pomerade from France.

3. Graham Bantock GBR 95 (Quark)

Second at the World Championships in 2012, 2014 and now third in 2016. Sailing his own design “Quark”.

4. Marc Pomerade FRA 44 (Nioutram)

The developer of the “Nioutram” racing his own design at the front of the fleet, archiving good results with the predecessor “Tramontan” the new design seems a good step forward.

5. Darin Ballington GBR 98 (Grunge)

6. Chris Harris GBR 21 (Starkers)

7. Yannik Rossignol FRA 22 (Nioutram)

8. Robert Walsh GBR 25 (F-3)

9. Laurent Gerbeaud FRA 71 (Quark)

10. Ante Kovacevic CRO 9 (Quark)

Full Result List:

http://worlds2016.marbleheadclass.org/results/full-result

More information can be found on the event website at:

http://worlds2016.marbleheadclass.org

Limone sul Garda / Italy, September 28, 2016. Halftime: The leader board is developing as expected with a tight battle for the title amongst the top seven sailors. Currently leading is the reigning World Champion Brad Gibson GBR but only one point ahead of Matteo Longhi ITA and another three points clear of Marc Pomerade FRA. Yannik Rossignol FRA, Graham Bantock GBR, Lincoln Mc Dowall AUS and Chris Harris GBR are all in contention with 15 points separating them from first, so it’s all to play for in the last two days of racing.

On Saturday September 24th the 17th IRSA Marblehead World Championship was officially opened. The 76 participants, waving the flags of the 15 nations represented at the event  entered the the centre of Limone. Forming a large circle in the old market place in central Limone they were welcomed by Limones Mayor Franceschino Risatti, Andrea Corsato the chairman of North West Garda Sailing and the Chairman of the RC Sailing Federation Modelvela Italy Idalgo Pierini. The official speeches ended with the words “above all I wish you all good wind.”

With consistently sunny weather 40 races have been sailed in 5 groups. As expected, the mornings feature a northerly breeze that dies at around 10:30 and is replaced with the southerly Ora at about 13:00. The open venue is developing the expected waves, with some sailors having significant problems in these conditions not often found in RC sailing. The race team is using the conditions as good as possible with racing starting early in the morning at 9:00 and the continuing through until 18:30.

Sailing is on an “Up and Down” course within a circle of buoys and the actual marks are anounced by the Race Officer just before the start. The seven umpires lead by Gordon Davies and Chris Atkins (Vice President at World Sailing) initially had trouble keeping up with the fast-sailing Marbleheads. Incidents between boats were in the most cases resolved between the skippers involved. Nevertheless it came to a few protest hearings which were then handed to the international jury to rule on.

On the evening of September 28th , the Lay Day, there was a gathering of the Marblehead  sailors present in Limone. The Chairman of the International Marblehead Class Committee Matteo Longhi reported on the development of the class over the past two years. Further, the establishment of a class organization (ICA) independent from IRSA was discussed and it has been agreed to establish a working group by January 1st, 2017. This group will be tasked with defining and taking the next steps in the process of founding a Marblehead ICA. During the event Nigel Winkley (Chairman RC Sailing devision of the German Sailing Association DSV) and Henning Faas (the Deputy Chairman) reported on their bid for the 2018 World Championship to be held in Germany by SV Biblis. A decision by IRSA on the hosting of the 2018 Worlds is expected by the beginning of 2017.

We have another two days of exciting competition ahead of us, where changes at the top of the list as well as the following places can be expected.