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SARSA IOM Nats 2007, Wemmerpan.

26.05.2008

A tranquil Midmar Dam

SARSA 2008 IOM Nationals - 1st-3rd May

Report by Des Fairbank

The IOM start was scheduled for 11h00 on Thursday to allow for late registration and measurement. There were 21 entries and two fleets were planned using HMS 2006. The wind however was not playing ball and was blowing almost on shore and made Dave’s task extremely difficult to lay a course. By the time the wind had settled sufficient for Dave to set a course everyone was on their second rig’s. Racing only got going around 11h30. Sailing was extremely difficult with the waves causing havoc with boats next too each other or rounding the marks. Surfing down the waves was extremely exciting and the conditions were very new to many of the skippers. Unfortunately a mix up in the sorting out of the second B fleet race resulted in it having to be re sailed. By the end of the three days our scoring team had mastered the system having never handled HMS before. Due to the conditions races were not moving as fast as Dave would like. Apart from the conditions on the water the waves were making it difficult to take boats in and out on the temporary jetty. When we returned from lunch the waves had flooded our rescue boat and it was submerged up to the motor lid. Fortunately after pulling it out the motor started. Two races later the conditions worsened and when two boats became entangled it became obvious that our rescue boat was totally unsuitable for these extreme conditions. Fortunately the boats came apart but in the mean time the wind had swung further to the South West and even more on shore requiring the course to be changed. It was then decided that it was not safe for anyone to venture out on the water in the rescue boat in these conditions so sailing was abandoned for the day.
Onshore conditions

Friday was very different with almost no wind at all. By the time racing got underway there was just enough wind to produce good racing with the wind back over the dam wall. Racing continued throughout the day in light conditions. Five firsts in a row by Des Fairbank sailing his Topiko put him well in the lead by the end of the days sailing.
Windward beat

Saturday got underway in a light wind still from over the dam wall but as the day progressed it got stronger and the last few races were sailed in conditions which were pressing the number 1 rigs. Sailing was very close with several different skippers winning races. However a further three firsts ensured Des Fairbank successfully defended his title and ended up on 22 after 16 races. Shaun Carroll sailing his Cockatoo2 finished second on 41 points followed by Mickey Schierhout on 64 sailing an Ikon which had just come back from Sailsetc after having a new fin and rudder fitted.

All the skippers

Sailing stopped at 12h30 to enable the Bill Reynolds Inter Provincial to be sailed at 13h00. The Northvaal team pulled off a very good win from the Freestate who beat the KZN Team on a count out and the Western Cape filling the fourth spot.

PERS No.	NAME		Tot.	1st.D.	2nd.D.	3rd.D.	TOTAL	POS
56	Des	Fairbank	40	9	5	4	22	1
32	Shaun	Carroll	93	21	21	10	41	2
95	Mike	Schierhout	108	18	13	13	64	3
88	Barry	Loubser	108	17	13	13	65	4
104	Gino	Pozzobon	107	13	13	11	70	5
90	Joe	Robbertse	104	10	9	9	76	6
19	Norrie	Taylor	130	19	14	13	84	7
92	Christo	Wiese	125	14	13	12	86	8
13	Ernie	Shaw	141	18	16	14	93	9
73	John	McKerchar	148	21	18	13	96	10
47	J J	De Beer	171	18	17	15	121	11
40	Bernie	Warner	183	21	20	16	126	12
23	Stephen	Woolfenden	178	17	16	16	129	13
9	Anton	Zietsman	210	19	18	18	155	14
71	Hennie	Olivier	222	19	18	17	168	15
132	Robin	Gracie	232	21	20	20	171	16
93	Bjorn	Hanssen	230	21	19	18	172	17
26	Don	Gibson	238	21	21	18	178	18
4	Keith	Gerson	262	21	21	20	200	19
24	Ron	Uthermolen	289	21	21	21	226	20

Congratulations to Des on retaining the IOM title!

UK IOM Nats 2008 Report - 3rd-5th May

UK Nats 2008 Poole

A brief report back on the UK nationals held in Poole over the bank holiday weekend 3rd-5th May. 57 entries divided into 4 fleets, averaging around 17 boats per fleet, so starts were always critical. We sailed in the main lake at Poole, which is fed by the estuary with the wind coming out of the SE direction over the railway line & trees, the rotor effect causing a number of shifts up the beat. Saturday we had mid to top No.1 suit conditions, with the odd boat trying No.2 but reverted quickly back to No.1. The main problems were the wind gusts that always had potential for causing broaching on the runs. I've seen some of the top skippers hold the runs purely by sailing by the lee in the gusty conditions, so only the main sail is powered up downwind. Worth practising!
D Fleet beat

Sunday & monday we had very light conditions, which was pretty patchy across the course, with the odd frustrating drifter. Again, I think the starts were key, picking off the shifts up the beat, and then looking to sail into the windier patches downwind.

The event was won by Graham Bantock sailing what seems an updated version of the Topiko called 'Topikante'. Not sure what the changes are though, if any. There were a number of international competitors from Croatia, Germany & Malta, and including 4 from RSA, myself, Ray Flanigan, Bjorn Grohmann & Andrew Doyle. Andrew was sailing his new Stealth MkII for the first time and finished with a creditable 31st, achieving at least one A fleet start in his first ever UK Nationals. Ray(50th) & Bjorn(51st) both had a good event for what I think was their first Uk Nationals too. Ray was sailing his new boat Goblin which is his modification of the Triple Crown. Bjorn continues to sail his wooden Nimbus which seemed to improve on day 2 after we racked the mast backwards a little. I finished in 15th position and was awarded the MYA Novice Trophy. NOVICE you say!! I had the same thoughts. Well actually it is awarded to the highest placed MYA registered skipper that hasn't previously won an MYA National event.

Full results available at http://www.mya-uk.org.uk/reports/documents/2008/08_IOM_Nationals.pdf

Some pics of the event available here.

http://www.mikemillard.com/galleries/sailing/2008-05-03/1/

Some video footage for those with broadband connections.

http://www.malcolmdonald.com/

This was a response to an email conversation with Steve Woolfenden regarding UK A Fleet sailing, which may be of interest to others back in SA.

My experience here of A fleet sailing is that everyone knows the rules, sailing in a professional manner, so they know to give room at the mark for the inside boats i.e. when approaching 4 boat lengths, the inside boat will generally call the overlap and possibly " no water behind <sail number>" and boats to the outside will start to give room, and by doing so your indicating to boats behind not to try the take the inside. In fact, it's more often that the outside boat makes this call to fend off any unnecessary incidents, and it also indicates to the observers that boats clear astern have no rights at the mark.

Make no mistake, incidents still happen, but it's usually as a result of being forced into a situation that can't be avoided, so you take your chance where possible. There's certainly less screaming and shouting than what you might experience in SA. I find that you can stay more focused on sailing the race with less shouting. Also, at the starts, it's far more orderly with each skipper picking their spot on the line, and if you get pushed over, then so be it, you sail above the line until you find another gap or go round the end and start late if need be. There's certainly less running down the line, or barging at the pin end.

As you move down the fleets, obviously you will encounter more incidents due to lack of experience, and you need to call and make your intentions clear on the water. To sum up the difference between A fleet & D fleet, an A fleet skipper will generally take your stern on a port/starboard up the beat, whereas the D fleet skipper will tack under your port side at the last minute. Sound familiar??

I've learned a great deal sailing here in the UK over the past 18 months, and by regularly chatting with the Birkenhead/Fleetwood guys at events I've picked up a lot from their informal debriefs as they criticise each other's sailing. This is something we don't do back in SA. We don't talk about the mistakes or tactical decisions on the water that could have won or lost the race, rather we argue about incidents and rules looking to put blame on someone else for a poor race.

Stealth MkII

Andrew Doyle took delivery of the new Stealth MkII shortly before the UK Nationals. The Stealth MkII is designed by Trevor Bamforth ( of Stealth Yachts & Sails), and is currently in production in Italy. I've added a few pics of his boat below. Excuse the quality, as I took the pics with my phone camera.

Lester Gilbert observing Andrew's new Stealth MkII

13.05.2007
Well there's lots of news in this long awaited update to the site, with pics/results from the recent SARSA Nats, the latest revision of IOM Class Rules were released in April and with the IOM Worlds entry closing date approaching, the SARSA IOM Ranking Schedule is now available for selection purposes.

2007 SARSA Nationals - 28th April ~4th May
The event was hosted by the Northvaal region at Wemmerpan on the southside of Johannesburg. Three classes were sailed, namely 36 Shipmate, RM & IOM. April-May are not typically good months for wind in the north of the country, and so most of the sailing took place in very light variable conditions, or "North-East-South-Westerlies" as Joe Robbertse would put it!
Des Fairbank re-captured the IOM Trophy with his Topiko, winning no less than 11 of the 20 races, in the flukey conditions. Congratulations Des! who also took the 36S Trophy, Norrie Taylor 2nd, and Simon Pomeroy 3rd.
Congrats to Norrie Taylor won the RM Trophy, with Bernie Warner close on his heels, and a well deserved 3rd went to Roy Reynolds.

2007 SARSA Nats Team Photo

Results:
36 Shipmate
1st - Des Fairbank, 2nd Norrie Taylor, 3rd Simon Pomeroy
RM
1st - Norrie Taylor, 2nd Bernie Warner, 3rd Roy Reynolds
IOM
1st - Des Fairbank, 2nd John McKerchar, 3rd Derek Bremner

Norrie Taylor - RM Nats Winner

Norrie Taylor - RSA19 Des Fairbank - RSA56

Best Novice: Rodney Landman
Best Boat: Joe Robbertse

The drifter conditions that were endured.

2 LYNX's hunting down Des' (RSA56) TOPIKO.

Follow the links for results:
Results Summary - All Classes
IOM Results Full

IOM Class Rules
The IOMICA Technical Sub-committee have issued the 2007 v1 IOM Class Rules. These can be downloaded from the following link:
IOM Class Rules 2007 v1

2007 IOM Worlds - Marseille, France
The Worlds will be held 13th~20th October in Marseille, hosted by the FRA NCA. All info relating to the Worlds can be found on the host club YCPR website - click here.
RSA have been allocated two positions in the initial Stage One of the alloaction rounds. Stage Two of the allocation should release additional positions which are allocated according the schedule provided by IOMICA, in which a number of positions could become available to South African skippers. Entries close on the 1st July 2007. Those interested in competing should contact Des Fairbank by 31st May. RSA entries are allocated according to the IOM Ranking Schedule, which can be found at the following link:
2007 SARSA IOM Ranking 09May2007.pdf

SARSA News
Andrew Doyle tendered his resignation as SARSA Chairman, and Des Fairbank was duely elected as is replacement. Roy Reynolds was elected as Secretary.

28.12.2006

Seasons Greetings to all. I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays in sunny South Africa. I'm envious of you all!

Joe has certainly been busy over the past few months since the Nationals. I just saw the 'new-look' LYNX last week, with some good modifications. We now have two LYNX's in the UK. We hope to see a few more on the water in RSA soon.

I have updated the For Sale page with some new items. There are 4 complete 'ready to sail' IOM's for sale.

I'm looking for some new pics to liven up the web page, so please send me any content you may have.

A little belated, but I have added the full results of the SARSA IOM Nationals held back in September 2006.

30.09.2006

B fleet at the windward mark.

The 2006 SARSA IOM National Championships got off to a slow start on the 28th September with an unexpected delay in the morning due to a lack of wind. The event was hosted by the PE Radio Boat Club at the superb EP Power Boat Club facility on North End Lake, just outside the city limits. There were 26 entrants, with good representation from each region.

Sheldon McGlone (41-TS2), Jonathan Levin (86-Contender),
Bernie Warner (40-Cheetah) beating to windward mark.

Cobus De Beer (47 - Cheetah)

Day One:
At about 10h30, a light breeze came up out of the east progressively strengthening to moderate No.1 suit till around lunch time. The course allowed for long beats, which became challenging at times due to the ever present wind shifts. Following the lunch break the wind swung round to a southerly direction, forcing a course change to the eastern bank in front of the clubhouse, making for very flukey sailing, with mega wind shifts around the windward mark caused by the clubhouse and nearby trees. Competition was fierce nevertheless, with numerous protests holding up proceedings throughout the day. As a result, only 7 races were sailed for the day. Shaun Carroll showed us all how it was done with no fewer than 4 firsts from 7 races. The points standings for the top 5 skippers were very close leaving a lot to sail for over the next few days.

Preliminary Results:

1st - Shaun Carroll - 14 pts
2nd - Simon Clarke - 19 pts
3rd - Gino Pozzobon - 22 pts
4th - Des Fairbank - 26 pts
5th - John McKerchar - 35 pts

Nick Bornman - (77 - TS2)

Day Two:
The day got off to an early start with a light breeze filling in from the east, not without similar wind shifts as we experienced on day one. Choose the right course on the windward beat and you could benefit from a friendly lift to the mark, however the scenario changed from beat to beat so it didn't always pay to sail the same course each time. Day two brought about some other obstacles to contend with i.e. drifting weed, plastic bags, so there were a few unlucky skippers that suffered the odd set back as a result of this. I personally experienced this not once, not twice, but 3 times which became pretty evident on the score sheet at the end of the day. During the afternoon session, the breeze stiffened a little with the odd gust causing the occassional 'nose dive' but nothing threatening enought to change sail suits. Besides the odd blunder, Shaun Carroll sailed consistently as ever, however Des Fairbank put in a few good performances in the afternoon to see him climb the order to 2nd spot, enough to put some pressure on Shaun for the final day's sailing. The battle for 3rd, 4th & 5th was very close, so there was plenty competition left for the final day. Eight races were completed for the day.

Preliminary Results:

1st - Shaun Carroll - 28 pts
2nd - Des Fairbank - 33 pts
3rd - Simon Clarke - 54 pts
4th - Gino Pozzobon - 55 pts
5th - John McKerchar - 60 pts

Day Three:
The final day was a cracker! Moderate to top No.1 suit out of the south west for the first race or two, and then a quick race or two on No.2 suit before the southwester really came howling through gusting to well in excess of 25 knots. At times even the tiny No.3 suit was no match for the gusts, with the hulls heeling beyond optimum. Heavy weather sailing does not go without problems, with a number of early retirements, DNF's, entanglements, sheet snagging, sails blown out etc, including the sinking of the rescue boat after lunch. A special mention for Ron Utermohlen who sailed his first Nationals and managed an A fleet appearance in the final race. Well done, I hope this inspires you for the future.
All the top 5 skippers spent some time in the B fleet on the final day, so the positions changed readily as the day progressed with the Championship resting on the final race.

Congratulations to Shaun Carroll on winning the IOM title for 2006!!

Shaun Carroll RSA32 - Cockatoo II

Well done, and a big thank you to Nick Bornman and his team for a great Nationals. Special thanks to Brian Reynolds (Race Officer), Lucile Bremner(Scorer), Colin Bremner(Scorer), Mike Stretton (Race Secretary), Derek Bremner, Cobus De Beer (Measurement) and Shaun Carroll (Measurement)

Final Results:

1st - Shaun Carroll
2nd - Des Fairbank
3rd - Simon Clarke

Des Fairbank RSA56 - Topiko Simon Clarke RSA94 - Lynx Gino Pozzobon RSA02 - Gadget

Full results posted here.

SARSA_IOM_Nationals_2006_Results

17.09.2006

A lot of water has 'flowed under the bridge' so to speak since the last update. We've had 3 provincial events, namely the Peter Simons Trophy, the Free State IOM Open Championships and the KZN IOM Provincial Championships.

16~17 June - Peter Simons Inter-Provincial Trophy
A team event that was sailed in light to moderate conditions over the two days, with the best three scores from each province counting toward the total. The hosts were very competitive with everything pending on the last race, however it just wasn't enough to haul in the Gauteng team. Shaun Carroll took individual honours with his Cockatoo II.The event was well attended by the local public, after some great PRO work from Tony Flanigan. The event was sailed in good team spirit.
Well done to Gauteng, and to Shaun. I stand to be corrected, but I think this is the first time the trophy has been won by Gauteng. An event which was traditionally sailed between FS and KZN.

Gauteng Team: Simon Clarke, Gino Pozzobon, Hennie Pretorius, Grant Anderson

Final Results:
Gauteng - 199
Free State - 210
Kwazulu Natal - 402

5~6 August - Free State IOM Provincial Championships
The event was well supported by the local Free State radio sailing community, with unfortunately only two visitors this year. Tony's PR work from the previous event in June paid dividends, with no less than 4 new skippers on the water. Well done to the Free State guys in getting these guys on the water so soon. The conditions were light to moderate No.1 suit, with saturday providing some frustating light air sailing improving considerably on sunday. Once again, Shaun's Cockatoo II proved to be unbeatable at times. The new LYNX's sailed by Andrew Doyle and Simon Clarke had their moments, but consistency was the name of the game. John McKerchar had some trouble getting his Topiko on the pace early saturday, but the afternoon session produced better results. A special mention to the new skippers, Anton Zietsman (Snr), Anton Zietsman(Jnr), Stefan Coetzee & Ron Utermohlen who sailed an excellent regatta for newcomers to the sport.

Full results: Click here

Top 5 Results:
1st - Shaun Carroll - 50
2nd - Simon Clarke - 65
3rd - John McKerchar - 87 (countback - 7x 1st's)
4th - Andrew Doyle - 87 (countback - 4x 1st's)
5th - Cobus De Beer - 145

12~13 August - KZN IOM Provincial Championships

The event was sailed over Saturday and Sunday. Saturday started on No. 1 rigs and in the afternoon we were sailing on No. 2 rig. Shaun was flying on his No 1 and when we changed to No 2 Simon had a couple of excellent races. Sunday started very light with it being extremely difficult with one race being sailed from the HMYC jetty before the wind settled and we had a day of excellent No. 1 rig conditions with a chop to contend with. Report by Des Fairbank.

The event was won by Shaun Carroll, his 3rd Provincial victory in a row, closely contended by Des Fairbank.

Picture courtesy of Richard Willington.

Full results: Click here

Top 5 Results:
1st - Shaun Carroll - 21
2nd - Des Fairbank - 29
3rd - Simon Clarke - 46
4th - John McKerchar - 48.5
5th - Gino Pozzobon - 58

2006 UK Nationals
I was fortunate enough recently to have the opportunity to participate in the 2006 UK IOM Nationals, held on the Marine Lake in West Kirby (near Liverpool). Great venue, plenty of wind and wave action. Just the thing I needed to test my LYNX in before our Nats down in PE later this month. With most of the sailing taking place on No.2 & 3 suits, it was the perfect opportunity for some heavy weather tuning with wind speeds exceeding 40km/h at times. I thought the LYNX faired well in the conditions, with the odd few teething problems i.e. running rigging snagging etc, but no equipment failure. I expect positive things from this boat in the future. My own sailing skills didn't do any justice to the boat's performance, only managing 34 overall out of a 57 strong fleet. Check out the MYA website for some pics and full regatta report.

LYNX close hauled through the waves at West Kirby. Picture courtesy of Martin Mason.

2006 SARSA Nationals - North End Lake, Port Elizabeth.
To be hosted by PE Model Boat Club 23~30 September, incorporating 3 classes - 36 Shipmate, Marblehead & IOM.
Regatta schedule:

23 Sep 2006 Registration, Practice, Equipment Inspection

24 Sep 2006 Opening of Event

24 Sep 2006 R 36 Class 09:30 - 16:30

25 Sep 2006 R 36 Class 09:30 - 12:30

25 Sep 2006 Marblehead Class 13:30 – 16:30)

26 Sep 2006 Marblehead Class 09:30 - 12:30 / 13:30-16:30

27 Sep 2006 Marblehead Class 09:30 - 12:30)

27 Sep 2006 Bill Reynolds Trophy 13:30 – 6 races are completed

28-29 Sep 2006 IOM Class 09:30 -12:30 / 13:30 -16:30

30 Sep 2006 IOM Class 09:30 - 12:30 / 13:30 -15:00

30 Sep 2006 Final racing day 09:30 -15:00

30 Sep 2006 Award ceremony 19:30 at Algoa Bay Yacht Club.

04.05.2006

The Northvaal IOM Championships took place at the Centurion lake over the past long weekend (29/30 April). A good turnout for the 'Vaal' with 16 entries including a number of visiting skippers from Kwazulu Natal, Free State and as far a field as the Eastern Cape. Unfortunately the conditions, light and shifty, didn't exactly make for exciting sailing, with what wind we had coming out the east, which is not the norm for this venue. This made course selection extremely difficult with many races starting on a reach or run, leading to chaos at the first mark. Radio interference from the neighbouring scale boat fraternity didn't help matters either. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable weekend.
There were a few new boats on the water, Des' Topiko which was a 'flyer' in the prevailing conditions, Shaun's Cockatoo which look extremely promising on it's first outing and my Lynx, which after a few adjustments appeared to fair better on day 2. We also had a few of our newer skippers taking part in their first provincial championship, namely Rodney Landman and Jean Du Plessis.
All in all, no one could really catch Des, although Shaun had a good go at it, but the real competition appeared to be between 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th places with only a few points separating them in the end.
Well done to Des Fairbank (1st), Shaun Carroll (2nd) and Christo Wiese (3rd).

Full results available here.

The next major IOM event will be the Peter Simons Trophy, hosted by Free State Radio Sailing. Watch this space for more detail.

12.03.2006
Its been a long while since my last post. The pressures of work are partly cause for this, and most probably my lack of enthusiasm for radio sailing after my poor performance in Australia. My apologies to all. That's all behind me now, hopefully, except for the work pressures that is! I'll soon be taking delivery of Shaun Carrol's new design, the LYNX......time to try something new! Talking of new boats, a couple of our skippers have invested in new 'overseas' designs lately. Hennie Pretorius and Des Fairbank took delivery of new TOPIKO's. Nick Bornman in PE imported a 2nd hand TS2 and went on to win the Table Mountain Championships at Rietvlei in November last year. Good one Nick!! We brought back a Cockatoo2 from the Worlds for Shaun Carrol, which has provided a good benchmark for his LYNX design. Shaun's still awaiting the 3 suits of sails he order from Mirage Yachts. They were apparently posted in December, but it's a postal mystery as to where they have ended up! Peter Simons is currently preparing to mould the RAGE under license from Mirage Yachts in addition to the KITE he currently produces.

Hull comparison - left to right: Cockatoo2, Cockatoo, Disco.

I have updated the For Sale page with some new items. 2 IOM's up for grabs.

As for the 2005 IOM Worlds, I have the following comments:

Personally, it was a disappointing regatta, performance wise, and I think most of the other SA members felt the same, and I think we all agree that we don't do enough serious sailing here in SA to be able to compete at that level. We can't spend 3 days trying to get the boats on the pace. Gino was the only one that showed some level of consistency, sailing in the C Fleet most of the time. Barry had a good seeding race and hung on to the upper fleets before sliding down the order like the rest of us.

Day 1 started with a bang.....wind gusting to 43kts, pushing No.3 rig to the limit and beyond at times, which is not something we get much practice in. From the afternoon of day 2, the wind swung round to the east and settled down with the layed courses not lending themselves to tactical sailing i.e. shifty, very port biased lines, with very short beat to windward mark, needless to say if you weren't in the right spot on the somewhat short line (for a 20 boat fleet), then you had no chance of making the top 4 promotional places. Without boatspeed, you're dead on courses like these...there's no room for error here. These conditions continued for pretty much the rest of the Championships.

Chaos at the windward mark!! Typical of the short 'start to windward' leg and port-biased line.

The umpiring system was questionable at times, especially the new format being applied, according to modified version of RRS Appendix Q, which in my opinion needs some serious re-thinking for future events. We all fell victim to a number of questionable calls, or 'on the water' protests on other boats that were called "incident not seen", very frustrating indeed!!! from my observations , both as spectactor and competitor, umpiring consistency was a big problem.

Make no mistake, competition was tough. You can clearly see that the standard of radio sailing in Australia is high, probably due to the big fleets they get at National & State championships etc. What we need in SA is more inter-provincial competition, with larger fleets, on waters like MAC Rietvlei with wave action, and heavier airs.

SARSA and SAS:

SARSA has now officially been recognised South African Sailing as the National Discipline Authority for radio-controlled boats in South Africa. All regions, committee members and RCL chairman are requested actively partake in the drafting of all bylaws that is necessary to govern our body of the sport under the guidance of SAS.
Thanks to Des, Roy and Andrew for all their contributions to finally achieve closure in this matter.

Other correspondence:
Check out the new Free State Radio Sailing blog spot at freestateradiosail.onesite.com

23.08.2005

2005 KZN IOM Provincials, Midmar
Day 1 - A good turn out of 20 entrants were treated to some superb sailing conditions. The strong easterly on saturday and gusty westerly that blew sunday was a true test for skipper and equipment alike. Sailing got under way a little later than expected saturday morning due to some light shifty stuff making course laying tricky, but this was short lived. After a couple of races on No.1 suit in the morning, the rest of the day was spent on No.2 suit, with a very long port-biased start close to the bank produced many a port-starboard clash at the windward mark, not to mention the numerous requests for water off the bank. By the end of day 1, only a few points separated the top 5 skippers, with RSA 56 leading the pack. There were no observers appointed on day 1 which unfortunately saw many an incident going unpenalized. This was addressed by the race committee on day 2.
Day 2 - It was No.3 suit from the outset, spectacular stuff! These IOM's really do plane, especially in gusts up to 24 knots! As could be expected in these conditions a number of boats showed symptoms of water damage, broken sheets etc, and it wasn't long before some boats were forced into retirement. RSA 95 put in a good effort on day 2 with some good finishes to close the gap on the top 2, especially after RSA 94 broke a sheet post in race 14, but honours went to RSA 56 with good consistent sailing over the 2 days. Congrats Des! 18 races were completed.
For the RSA Worlds entrants, one couldn't have asked for a better final practice session. Thanks to Bjorn Hanssen and his volunteers for a well organised regatta.

Top 5 Results:

POS	SAIL NO	NAME	BOAT	TOTAL
1	56	Des Fairbank	Ikon	35
2	94	Simon Clarke	Ikon	53
3	95	Gino Pozzobon	Ikon	56
4	19	Norrie Taylor	Stealth	61
5	173	John McKerchar	Gadget	70

Full results available here.

07.08.2005

I have included a new page specifically for RSA NCA communication.

The following skippers will be representing RSA at 2005 IOM Worlds in Brisbane, Australia next month.

RSA56 - Des Fairbank
RSA94 - Simon Clarke
RSA19 - Norrie Taylor
RSA88 - Barry Loubser
RSA73 - John McKerchar
RSA95 - Gino Pozzobon

Guys, please check your sail no. & frequency allocation by the event organisers.
2005 IOM Worlds Competitor List

06.08.2005

Reminder: 13th-14th August - KZN IOM Provincials at Midmar. Late entries will be accepted. Please contact Bjorn Hanssen.

Results:

Coca Cola Free State Open Championships - 23rd-24th July

11 boats entered the event, and unfortunately poorly supported by the neighbouring provinces. Nevertheless racing got under way in very light shifty conditions, which continued for the entire event, barring the last hour on sunday, when we were treated to a much welcomed moderate breeze out of the west. The shifty conditions made for difficult sailing, testing the patience and concentration of every skipper. A good test of light weather skills. Clearly Shaun had the edge on us all this year. Congrats go to him on winning both the Open & FS titles. 19 races sailed with 3 discards. Thanks again to Coca Cola for their continuous support of the event.

POS	NAME	TOTAL
POS	NAME	TOTAL
1	Shaun Carroll	30
2	Simon Clarke	49
3	Norrie Taylor	54
4	Christo Wiese	62
5	Cobus de Beer	67
6	Andrew Doyle	69
7	Bjorn Hanssen	99
8	Ernie Shaw	111
9	Peter Senn	121
10	Hennie Olivier	147
11	Tony Flanigan	149

19.07.2005

Upcoming events!!

This coming weekend (23rd-24th July) is the Free State IOM Champs, so for those of you who want to experience some good sailing and hospitality, head down to Bloem this weekend. Click on the link for NoR & Entry Form. Should you require accommodation please contact Andrew ("andrew.doyle" at "absamail.co.za")

The 36 Shipmate Class Nationals will be hosted by Northvaal over the weekend of the 30th-31st July at Victoria Lake Club in Germiston. A dinner will be held on the evening of the 30th July, so for those not sailing, but wish to attend and rub shoulders with the best radio sailors in the country, contact Roy ("rkr" at "netactive.co.za). Price R45/head.

Not to forget the KZN IOM Champs next month 13th-14th August at Midmar, book your diary now. Click on the link for the event schedule & accommodation info pack.

******* I have received my photos, yes, that suspicious package you received in the post is the Photo CD you ordered, in case you forgot. No names mentioned!! *******

25.06.2005

The "For Sale" page has been updated with more items, so please take a look.

2005 Nationals Photos????? I would be interested to hear from those of you who placed photo CD orders with Mustie at the Nats, and whether anyone has actually received anything as yet. The 2 week delivery has now become 2 months and no sign of the photo CD or collage that I ordered.

08.06.2005

Notice of Race: 2005 RSKZN IOM Provincial Championship - 13th-14th August 2005 to be held at the Henley Midmar Yacht Club.
Entries close 5th August. Accommodation details will be posted here in the near future.
Click on the links for the NoR, Sailing Instructions and Entry Form.
This is the last major local IOM event before the IOM Worlds, so a good turnout will most certainly provide some good practice for those travelling to Australia in September.

05.06.2005

Included a "Locations" page, with map links and contacts for all regional sailing locations. If there is someone, or a venue I've missed, please drop me the details, and I'll gladly add them.
Added a Calendar page, referencing all national & provincial radio sailing events.

24.05.2005

For those of you who may be looking to join the One Metre fleet, there are two Contender IOM's listed on the "For Sale" page.

Regional IOM Representatives

KwaZulu Natal - Ernie Shaw
Western Cape - Paul Schnider
Eastern Cape - Nick Bornman (tbc)
Free State - Shaun Carroll
Gauteng - Simon Clarke

17.05.2005

IOMICA Forum - There is a forum area on the IOMICA website specifically for the RSA NCA. This was setup and communicated previously by Des following the acceptance of RSA into IOMICA. Ideally, the RSA IOM forum would be a good platform for discussions on rules interpretations, technical issues or could be used by the novice skipper seeking help with the finer aspects of IOM building, tuning and sailing. In order to make use of this forum, you will be required to register a username. I urge all RSA IOM skippers and owners to register on this forum. Just click on the link. IOMICA Forum

Following the recent 2005 Nationals, the IOM National Ranking has been updated and I have included the latest ranking on the site. This is the official ranking for the 2005 IOM Worlds selection.
The current ranking system is based on the past 3 Nationals results, with the best 2 counting towards the National ranking. A proposal for a new ranking system has been put forward to SARSA, and is currently under discussion by the regional bodies.

Notice of Race - The RSKZN IOM Provincial Championships will be held at the Henley Midmar Yacht Club on the 13th/14th August 2005. The official NoR will be posted here shortly.

06.05.2005

I have posted the full results for all classes of the 2005 SARSA Nationals that took place at Gariep Dam recently.

2005 SARSA Nationals Results - click here

01.05.2005

IOM Nationals - Final Result - Saturday 30th April. Day 3 started out with similar sailing conditions to the previous day until after lunch, when the wind switched to a southerly direction with the odd gust to add a little excitement. The A fleet races were pretty tense with less than 10 points separating the top 6 places that morning. By the end of the day there had been a fair amount of movement up and down in the fleets, which reflected in the final results. A total of 16 races were sailed with 2 discards.

Final Top 5 results as follows:

Position	Skipper	Boat	Points
1	Simon Clarke	Ikon	42
2	Des Fairbank	Ikon	55
3	Norrie Taylor	SA Stealth	56
4	Barry Loubser	TS2	63
5	John McKerchar	J-Boat	64

Full results to follow.

At the evening prize giving, Des Fairbank (KZNRSA) and Roy Reynolds (NRSC) were both presented with small gifts as a token of appreciation for the hard work and dedication they had put into radio sailing in South Africa over the past years.

2005 South African M Champion - John McKerchar
2005 South African IOM Champion - Simon Clarke

30.04.2005

IOM Nationals - Day Two - Friday 29th April. Light to fair conditions out of the east to north east, slightly more tricky than day one with varied wind shifts on each beating leg. Each fleet was fiercely contested for the top 4 promotion. Good sportmanship was shown by all. No 'off-water' protests to date. Top 10 results after 11 races, 2 discards as follows:

Position	Skipper	Boat	Points
1	Simon Clarke	Ikon	28
2	Shaun Carroll	Cheetah	32
3	Des Fairbank	Ikon	34
4	Norrie Taylor	SA Stealth	36
5	Barry Loubser	TS2	36
6	John McKerchar	J-Boat	37
7	Joe Robbertse	Cheetah	42
8	Cobus De Beer	Cheetah	53
9	Gino Pozzobon	Cheetah	72
10	Mike Schierhout	Ikon	81

IOM Nationals - Day One - Thursday 28th April. The 30 entrants were divided into 3 fleets, for racing according to the Heat Management System. The conditions were light to moderate out of the north east. The sailing was very competitive, especially in the A fleet and really showed an improvement in the standard of sailing, with no one skipper dominating the fleet. Top 10 results after 5 races, 1 discard as follows:

Position	Skipper	Boat	Points
1	Simon Clarke	Ikon	8
2	Norrie Taylor	SA Stealth	10
3	John McKerchar	J Boat	13
4	Nick Bornman	Cheetah	17
5	Shaun Carroll	Cheetah	18
6	Cobus De Beer	Cheetah	19
7	Des Fairbank	Ikon	19
8	Gino Pozzobon	Cheetah	21
9	Joe Robbertse	Cheetah	23
10	Barry Loubser	TS2	24

The SARSA AGM was held on thursday evening, following the Extraordinary Electoral meeting to replace the outgoing SARSA President, Des Fairbank, who resigned from the position in February. Andrew Doyle of FSRSA was elected as the new SARSA President. Simon Clarke of NRSC was elected as the SARSA IOM Class Representative as interface to IOMICA. The new SARSA Constitution was accepted and adopted at the AGM, pending ratification from SAS.

The Bill Reynolds Trophy was sailed on wednesday 27th April in light conditions out of the SE. The format for this trophy was as follows:
Each province fields 3 skippers, and only 6 races are sailed with no discards. Scores for all 3 skippers are totalled, and the province with the lowest score wins. Congrats to KZN for retaining the trophy! Results below.

Position	Teams	Points
1	Kwa Zulu Natal	73
2	Eastern Cape	78
3	Gauteng	120
4	Free State	121
5	Western Cape	135

Check out the results page for full results of the 2005 Nationals to date. Click on link below.

2005 SARSA Nationals Results - click here

27.04.2005

Marblehead Nationals Day Two - Wind - 12-20km/h out of the SE. First heat of the day was sailed on B rigs, thereafter A rigs remained the order of the day. We managed to complete 8 races on day 2. The final top 10 standings after 14 races, 2 discards as follows:

Position	Skipper	Boat
1	John McKerchar	Paradox
2	Des Fairbank	Paradox
3	Shaun Carroll	Paradox
4	Bernie Warner	Paradox
5	Andrew Doyle	Paradox
6	Simon Clarke	Excalibur
7	Sheldon McGlone	Paradox
8	Nick Bornman	Paradox
8	Joe Robbertse	Excalibur
10	Mike Schierhout	Paradox

26.04.2005

Marblehead Nationals Day One - 18 entrants, with two fleets. Wind - 2-10km/h out of the NE. Good sailing conditions in general, with the odd dead spot here and there. The day got off to a slow start after the port start mark was lost in deep water after a course change. Sailing was fair, with good sportmanship shown by all. Needless to say there were no protest hearings.
After 6 races, the top ten results as follows:

Position	Skipper	Boat	Points
1	J. McKerchar	Paradox	7
2	S. Carroll	Paradox	11
3	D. Fairbank	Paradox	11
4	B.Warner	Paradox	20
5	A. Doyle	Paradox	22
6	S. Clarke	Excalibur	26
7	N. Bornman	Paradox	32
8	S. McGlone	Paradox	36
9	D. Bremner	Bubble	40
10	M. Schierhout	Paradox	42

Pics to be posted later.

25.04.2005

The SARSA Nationals begins today with the Marblehead class, followed by the IOM class on thursday 28th April. The past two practice/measurement days have yielded a moderate to fresh breeze out of the west which tends to settle towards late afternoon. The wind out on the course has been 'switchy' at times due to the surrounding 'koppies' (hills). The course has been set in the basin of the Free State Sailing Club. See pics below.

Competitor list will be included in an update later today.

Event schedule:

Marblehead Class - 25-27th April
Bill Reynolds Trophy - 27th April (Afternoon)
IOM Class - 28-30th April

16.04.2005

The 2005 SARSA Nationals will be taking place at the Gariep Dam, just outside Colesburg, from 23rd-30th April. The event is being hosted by Free State Radio Sailing. With 1 week left, now's the time to do any final checks or maintenance, if you haven't done so already.

I have updated the Technical page with the latest rules interpretations and class rules amendments. Check out the discussion document on Water Free Measurement.
With the Nationals around the corner, and a plan to hold the 2007 IOM Worlds in South Africa, it would be worth reading a discussion paper on IOM Fleet Umpiring put together by IOMICA.

12.01.2005

Well, it's a new year and I wish you all fair winds for 2005. May this be a memorable sailing year.

With a new year comes new things, so I've added a "For Sale" page to the site for those of you who may have some boats in the garage gathering dust. Why not advertise them here and give someone else an opportunity to enter the sport.

Check out our first ad - Aluminium Boat Stands by Anthony Spillebeen.

Santa brought me Virtual Skipper3 for Xmas. It's installed, but I haven't had enough hours playing time to give it a real review yet.

14.11.2004

Whilst sailing at the RC Laser Nationals down in Durban last weekend (6-7Nov), some you the guys were talking about a virtual sailing game, used by the members at Point Yacht Club. I assumed it was Virtual Skipper, a game which I have been playing for over two years now, after being introduced to it by a fellow RC skipper in Belgium. Virtual Skipper version 3 is now available on the market, however my experiences are based on version 2. See screen shots below.

Basically, it's a virtual sailing game which can be played as a single player against the computer, online over the internet or over a LAN network against fellow skippers. The game caters for all abilities, from "Easy" to "Pro", with a choice of classes, from Melges24 to ACC, from match racing to fleet racing, with user custom conditions, boat skins and scenery.

From a radio sailing point of view, this is the closest thing to our sport without being at the water, and a great alternative for those windless days. I would say that one of the game's greatest benefits is the rules aspect generated by the ISAF module, whereby a drop-down visual displays all boats racing, and the ISAF rule number that is in play at any stage of the race. A red rule number next to a boat means that it has the right of way over you according to that rule, and vice versa, a green number means you have right of way over it. What better way to learn the RRS? If you are unsure of the rule, simply click on the number display for the text explanation. For more about Virtual Skipper navigate to the followings below. VSK3 is currently retailing at US$45.00.

Virtual Skipper2 Virtual Skipper3

03.11.2004

The Northvaal IOM Championships were held at Wemmerpan, JHB over the weekend 30th-31st October. Report as follows:

Day 1 -14 Entrants - sailing started at 14h00. Good easterly breeze from across the lake, with the occasional gusts overpressing the No.1 rigs at times. This first 7 or so races were marred by floating litter which had been blown across from the other side of the lake earlier that morning. Almost every skipper encountered a floating bag or packet of some sort during each of the earlier races, with finishing positions becoming somewhat of a lottery. Shaun Carrol opted to sit out a number of races during mid afternoon due to the numerous encounters he experienced. By late afternoon, it seemed that most of the litter had settled and racing was back to normal. Last race was completed before 17h00 and a total of 13 races were sailed for the afternoon.

Day 2 - The fleet was reduced to about 11 boats, with John McKerchar, Rob Willcox and Neil MacDonald unable to attend due to other commitments. The prevailing wind was much lighter than Day 1, coming out of the north east. With wind shifts of 90 deg at times, and the odd gust, it made for the interesting racing. Thankfully, there were very few incidents with floating litter, allowing everyone to get on with some competitive sailing. 11 races were sailed to complete the agreed 24 races for the event.

A big thank you to guys from the Free State who travelled from Bloemfontein to support us, we look forward to sailing with you again soon.

Pictures to follow soon.

Final Results - Top 5

1	Simon Clarke	BEL 94	44	Ikon
2	Eddie Morf	RSA 16	68	Kite
3	Shaun Carrol	RSA 32	73	Cheetah
4	Kobus de Beer	RSA 47	81	Cheetah
5	Hennie Pretorius	RSA 61	105	Italiko

22.10.2004

I have included a web search facility in the bottom frame that specifically focuses on sailing related sites. To register your site in this search engine go to www.sail-search.com

My Ikon on No.3 suit, surfing 24 knots of breeze at the recent Nationals in Cape Town. Pictures courtesy of Paul Schnider.

Click on picture for larger version.

17.10.2004

Congratulations!! to Graham Bantock (above) on winning the European IOM Championships for 2004, held in Arcos, Spain over the past week.

Final Top 10 standings

1	Graham Bantock	GBR 95	78	Topiko
2	Peter Stollery	GBR 39	88	Isotonic
3	Franco Borini	ITA 81	109	Ikon
4	Michael Sharmer	GER 09	110	Scharming XI
5	Torvald Klem	NOR 471	115	Cockatoo
6	Brad Gibson	AUS 142	115	Disco
7	Pierluigi Puthod	ITA 122	119	Topiko
8	Guillermo Beltrí	ESP 47	140	TS2
9	Carlos Beltrí	ESP 100	152	Gadget M
10	Ante Kovacevic	CRO 130	164

15.10.2004

After Day 5 at the 2004 Europeans, Bantock appears to have extended his lead over the fleet through consistent A fleet sailing, and having only notched up one win thus far. Klem, Borin and Gibson have asserted their attack on 2nd position by all achieving a number of top 3 positions on day 5.

1	Graham Bantock	GBR 95	48	Topiko
2	Peter Stollery	GBR 39	73	Isotonic
3	Torvald Klem	NOR 471	86	Cockatoo
4	Franco Borini	ITA 81	88	Ikon
5	Brad Gibson	AUS 142	91	Disco

14.10.2004

Latest results from the 2004 IOM Europeans.

1	Graham Bantock	GBR 95	28	Topiko
2	Peter Stollery	GBR 39	33	Isotonic
3	Michael Sharmer	GER 09	52	Scharming XI
4	Stefano Savelli	ITA 54	56
5	Jeff Byerley	AUS 07	60

For full results listing (resultados completos in PDF format) visit the Spanish RC Sailing site www.velarc.com/eur2004.htm

Sailing resumes again today after the rest day yesterday, and will finish on saturday. You may note Graham Bantock is sailing his new design 'Topiko'.

On a local note, the Northvaal IOM Championships will be held over the weekend 30-31 October at Wemmerpan, JHB.

30 Oct - 13h00 - Registration & 14h00-17h00 - Racing Day 1

31 Oct - 10h00-15h00 - Racing Day 2

10.10.2004

For those of you who don't know, IOMICA hosts a web discussion forum at the following location http://www.iomclass.org/phpBB2/ . As an IOM owner, you can register with the forum and join in the various topics of discussion. Each National Class Association (NCA) has a dedicated area for country specific discussions. Before you can join a group i.e. RSA NCA, you will need to register first.

07.10.2004

The 2004 European IOM Championships gets underway on saturday 9th Oct and finishes on saturday 16th Oct with a full 7 days of racing. You can follow the progress at http://www.1metrosailsur.com/eng/regata_eur.htm (Note: no updates since regatta began!!)

For those of you having your eyes set on the 2005 Worlds in Oz, check out the link below for the official 2005 IOM Worlds site.

http://rcyachts/iomworlds

Above: 2004 IOM National Champion's boat, an Ikon sailed by Des Fairbank.

29.09.2004

On the 16th September, South Africa became the 15th Nation to join IOMICA after meeting the necessary requirements. SARSA, the current governing body for radio sailing in South Africa, will act as the National Class Association (NCA) for International One Metre boats. A class secretary will be appointed by SARSA in the near future.

Full results of 2004 IOM Nationals posted here. Click on link.

25.09.2004

IOM Nationals – Day 4 – The final day’s sailing was hosted by a 17-23 knot howling southeaster. There was no doubt from outset that No.3 suit would be the order of the day. With the C fleet diminishing to 4 boats by midday due to fatalities and withdrawals, the last two hours sailing was reduced to two fleets. The final day most certainly turned into a “survival of the fittest” so to speak, with boats surfing the downwind runs and the slightest touch of a rudder could have spelt disaster. A true test of skill and endurance.

Final Top 10 Standing

Position	Skipper	Boat	Points
1	Des Fairbank	Ikon	44
2	Barry Loubser	TS2	51
3	Norrie Taylor	SA Stealth	97
4	Shaun Carroll	Cheetah	103
5	Simon Clarke	Ikon	129
6	John McKerchar	Gadget	138
7	Peter Simons	Kite	192
8	Andrew Doyle	Cheetah	213
9	Derek Bremner	Contender	217
10	Dealtry Pickford	Contender	233

Full results and pictures of the event will be posted here soon.

24.09.2004

IOM Nationals – Day 3 – The day started with around 6-9 knots southeasterly, but soon after the first race the wind strengthened to 9-14 knots with most boats now sailing on No.2 suit. There was a brief threat of rain coming out of the south east in the morning, but we were only spared a few drops, much to everyone’s delight, no doubt! The wind settled a little during the lunch interval, however, once the racing got under way again she began to blow once more, topping around 17+ knots around late afternoon. A few boats suffering broken sheeting and jib pivot points due to the harsh conditions. The last few races were challenging to say the least, with all boats still sporting their No.2 suits, tacking in the choppy, blustery conditions became quite a problem. Only 6 races were sailed due to a somewhat lengthy protest late afternoon.

Top Ten Day 3 (after 20 races)

Position	Skipper	Boat	Points
1	Barry Loubser	TS2	32
2	Des Fairbank	Ikon	35
3	Shaun Carroll	Cheetah	64
4	Norrie Taylor	SA Stealth	78
5	Simon Clarke	Ikon	86
6	John McKerchar	Gadget	96
7	Peter Simons	Kite	126
8	Derek Bremner	Contender	140
9	Andrew Doyle	Cheetah	165
10	Dealtry Pickford	Contender	165

23.09.2004

IOM Nationals - Day 2 – With 11-14 knots Northwester blowing, most boats sailed on No.2 suit all day, with some opting for No.3 suit after lunch following some over-pressing gusts. The strong and somewhat choppy conditions made for difficult sailing, which saw many a tack stalled. As could be expected from such heavy weather, many boats suffered damage of some kind.

Top Ten Day 2 (after 14 races)

Position	Skipper	Boat	Points
1	Barry Loubser	TS2	21
2	Des Fairbank	Ikon	27
3	Shaun Carroll	Cheetah	45
4	Norrie Taylor	SA Stealth	53
5	John McKerchar	Gadget	63
6	Simon Clarke	Ikon	67
7	Peter Simons	Kite	100
8	Derek Bremner	Contender	103
9	Dealtry Pickford	Contender	106
10	Andrew Doyle	Cheetah	116

22.09.2004

IOM Nationals - Day 1 – 31 entrants, which is the largest fleet to date at a South African Nationals, sailing in 3 heats according to the Heat Management System. Conditions were light variable in the morning, with the wind direction shifting from NW to South and then back to NW, strengthening in after lunch, providing some No.2 suit sailing. The wind settled again for the last few races of the day, with all skippers back on No.1 suit.

Top Ten Day 1 (after 7 races)

Position	Skipper	Boat	Points
1	Barry Loubser	TS2	15
2	Des Fairbank	Ikon	15
3	Norrie Taylor	SA Stealth	24
4	Shaun Carroll	Cheetah	29
5	Paul Schnider	Contender	32
6	Simon Clarke	Ikon	35
7	John McKerchar	Gadget	40
8	Peter Simons	Kite	45
9	Jonathan Levine	Contender	50
10	Andrew Doyle	Cheetah	52