IRSA World Championship set for Biblis Riedsee, Germany

by Henning Faas, IRSA 25 May 2018 00:52 AEST 24 May - 1 June 2018

Marblehead racing © IRSA

Everything is well prepared for the IRSA (International Radio Sailing Association) World Championship. 120 participants from 16 countries have registered for the regattas in Biblis Riedsee, Germany. From the 24th - 26th May competitors will be sailing to crown the 9th Ten Rater class World Champion and from 27th May – 1st of June racing will be for the title of 18th Marblehead class World Champion.

After 2016 in Limone Italy with 48 participants, a field of 60 participants has registered for the World Championships in the Ten Rater class. Also in the Marblehead class a fully booked field with 84 participants can be expected for the first time. 30 years after the last World Championship in Germany / Berlin, the German Sailing Association has again been commissioned by World Sailing and the International Radio Sailing Association as host, since it is already a first respect success, that in these classes never a Worlds with a larger field of participants was sailed.

The World Championship is being organized by IRSA, the German Sailing Association and the German Club "SV Biblis". The team led by Henning Faas, Andrea Hölscher, Ralf Kratz, Jürgen Eiermann und Rainer Blüm has spent countless hours to prepare the venue at Riedsee Biblis. The event will be opened on May 24th with an official ceremony and a large Opening Dinner at the club SV Biblis.

The organizers has invited Pierre Gonnet from France to be the lead race officer for both events. Pierre has spent a lot of time evaluating how to best cope with the expected wind conditions. He will lead the regatta together with Nigel Winkley (Chairman of the DSV Committee Radio Sailing) and Marco Colombo (Racing Officer of SV Biblis) and ensure that it comes to fair competitions. As head of the jury, the chairman of the Racing Committee of the IRSA Patrick Villain from France was appointed. He will work with his team of six international umpires to ensure that the rules are respected.

The publication of the results was also well prepared and so the participants were already divided into groups. The participants from 16 countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherland, New Zealand, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, England, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine) can already be found at worlds2018.marbleheadclass.org resp worlds2018.tenrater.org about the opponents in the first race. As usual, interested parties can follow the constantly updated overall results and the group divisions here.

Some of the top sailors are:

Brad Gibson GBR 42
He is the defending champion in both classes and so will certainly put a lot of pressure on his shoulders. He has since been beaten at any event with his constructed for the 2016 World Cup Ten Rater "Trance". For the first time this year, other participants from England and Australia will use this design. Also unbeaten but since 2012 he is in the Marblehead class with his "grunge". This boat is now driven by a larger number of other sailors. With this boat Brad Gibson is now three times in a row World Champion (2012 Ploermel / France, 2014 Gouda / Netherlands, 2016 Limone / Italy) remains the question of whether it will succeed in Germany for the fourth time.

Brad Gibson - photo © IRSA

Graham Bantock GBR 95
Multiple World, European champion in all classes. Second of the World Championships 2012 & 2014 third in the Marblehead class he will try to get the most out of his own design "Quark". In the Ten Rater class, also with his own design "Diamond", he had to settle for second place in 2016, but he will do his utmost to get the title back.

Matteo Longhi ITA 24
Winner of the national championships in France, Italy and Switzerland. He will certainly put considerable pressure on the English at the top. Most recently, he managed a close second place at the 2016 Marblehead World Championships behind Brad Gibson. He will also compete in the Ten Rater class and try to get to the top with Marc Pomarede's new French design.

Martin Roberts GBR 55
World Champion of the Marblehead class 2006, third 2012, he was able to achieve in 2016 with the slightly older boat only 13th place. He will compete this year with a new design, the French "Nioutram" and is also a favorite for the world title.

Rèmi Brês FRA 48
For years at the top of the world Rèmi entered places in the top ten in the world. For 20 years he drove the same boat a "Margo" by Paul Lucard. This year he starts with a new design. Like Matteo Longhi, he is expected with a nioutram by Marc Pomerade. It will be exciting what the experienced sailor Rèmi Brês can get out of the design.