Dueck GM Canadian IOM Championship

The IOM Championship of Canada was hosted by the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club during the last three days of October. Sponsor for the event was Dueck GM, Canada's largest GM dealership.
The International One Metre Class is the most active R/C class in the world with more than 9,000 boats sailing worldwide. Regattas in the class attract a broad range of racing sailors from retired Olympians to up and coming professional sailors looking to hone their tactical skills.
The championship saw a total of 21 races (How about 21 starts and 150 mark roundings in two days as a test for your tactical ability!)

Weather for the event was spectacular; strong onshore westerly winds produced large waves and serious surfing was the order of the day downwind. With the wind generally above 14 knots most boats were using their #2 rigs (IOMs have 3 different sized rigs which may be selected by skippers to suit the weather for each race.)

Three skippers stood out in the fleet: In third place was Pete VanRossem from Kingston Ontario. Pete did an impressive job sailing his California built, Ericca design which is not known for strong rough water performance. Second was Jason Rhodes, a Vancouver sailor who now runs the Quantum loft in San Francisco. Jason sailed a MIOMI design which he put together himself from a kit supplied by designer, Don Martin. The MIOMI was particularly fast upwind in strong winds and rough water. The top skipper was Jeff Weiss from Newport Beach California. Jeff is a veteran big boat sailor who has been coming up in the IOM standings. Winning this year's Canadian Championship is Jeff's top performance to date. Sailing his, always impressive, Australian TS2 design Jeff handled heavy weather with ease. He finished in the top 3 in 15 of the 21 races.

The last two IOM regattas of the 2004 season are both in So Cal. The 2005 season gets underway in January. Events are scheduled in Florida, San Diego and Dallas during the first three months of the year.
For more info on IOM sailing in the US check out: http://onemetre.smbyc.com

Don Martin - dam242@telus.net