International One Metre World Championships in Gladstone, Australia - Overall
by IOM Worlds 28 Oct 2024 17:42 AEDT
20-28 October 2024
Zvonko Jelacic from Croatia wins the International One Metre World Championships in Gladstone, Australia © Lacey Blake - CINOVA
By day three of the regatta, two sailors had stepped to the fore and become the pair to watch. Over the next few days, they swapped positions at the top, the gap between them widened and compressed and at the end of the regatta, racing finished with only one point between the two.
Zvonko Jelacic from Croatia was victorious. He held off the New Zealander Ian Vickers who finished second. Going into the final race, Vickers trailed by 7 points. Both sailors started near each other, but Vickers was able to tack onto an early left shift and lead at the first mark. Zvonko was back in the fleet but was powering through. Into the finish, Sean Fidler from the US had moved into the lead, with Vickers second and Zvonko just holding on for eight.
Alexis Carre from France faded today, but had enough points in reserve to hold onto his third. Xavier Liger, also from France moved into fourth after a strong day, just pipping Peter Feldman from the US, who was also having a strong day, but suffered in the final race.
Overall, it has been amazing World Championships. The event benefitted from choosing the City of Gladstone to host. It was the first international event ever hosted by Gladstone and the locals embraced it. The event also put on an amazing live stream, attracting a global audience thrilled to be able to watch all of the racing.
Chairman of the World Working Group, Mr Grant Gooper, the man who made it all happen said, "I couldn't be any prouder that a small regional city was able to put on a World Class event". Certainly, it will be an event the sailing World and the IOM community will talk about for a long time.
Congratulations to Zvonko and all the competitors for what has been a fantastic regatta.
You will be able to rewatch the event on YouTube. The link for the stream and results are all available at www.iomworlds.com