Sailors from five Australian states were represented amongst a fleet of twenty boats at this year's Victorian IOM State Championship held at the bayside venue of Karkarook Lake over the weekend of 2-3 September.
The fleet included some of the fastest skippers in the country which ensured that this event would come down to the wire.
Clear blue skies and fine weather was on the cards, with light wind predicted. Racing indeed commenced with extremely light winds, making it challenging for skippers and PRO David 'Yoda' Thomas alike.
With still a light, although more consistent breeze after lunch, racing proceeded at a good pace. All skippers had up and down results, as the scores reflected.
An innovative course featuring a windward gate helped to spice up the racing. At this stage Sean Wallis, Paul Jones and Greg Torpy were consistently up the pointy end. A total of eleven races were sailed for the day.
A number of skippers gathered at the local watering hole for a cleansing ale, a feed, and a recap of the days sailing.
Sunday morning had northerly winds of 4-6 knots, promising a consistent day of sailing.
At times winds varied from light to top of A rig conditions with enough shifts to offer tactical options to the skippers.
Rescue boat operators Scott Fleming and Andrew Crocker were kept busy tweaking the course throughout the day. We thank them as well as Cameron Davies (on Saturday) for their efforts.
The afternoon saw Glenn Dawson hit a rich vein of form taking a number of wins and strong results to climb up the scoreboard. The usual suspects were still at the pointy end, and so it played out overall.
In the end Sean Wallis was a deserving winner as our 2023 champion, from Paul Jones and Greg Torpy.
A huge thanks to Jayne Fleming and Mary Davis for scoring the event, and Andrew Reid and Rob Nowak from the VRYA for organising the event which was sailed in good spirit and sportsmanlike manner.
The spectacle of closely raced IOM's presented a great sight and interest for the viewing public, showing radio sailing in a great light.
Pictured L-R: Greg Torpy, Sean Wallis, Paul Jones