IOM Worlds 2026 at Datchet - Runners and Riders Part 2 - The Riders
by Nigel Barrow 28 Dec 2025 08:01 PST
15-22 May 2026
Beating away for the clubhouse - IOM Ranking round 3 and 4 at Datchet © David Adam
There's an age-old debate in the horse racing world, around whether a great horse will win regardless of the encumbrance bobbing up and down in its saddle. And conversely, in the radio sailing world there's always at least one star in every sailing club of whom it is said they will win even if limited to racing a modified plastic bottle with a bin bag for sails.
In the horse racing world, the runner vs rider question reaches its pinnacle, if not its resolution, at major meetings such as the Aintree Grand National, the Melbourne Cup, the Dubai World Cup when the best of riders, ride the best of horses. The IOM World Championship is arguably our equivalent of these events except without the prize money.
What will it take to win?
To win the IOM World Championship, you need at least four things to come together. A proven fully sorted platform (boat, rig, sails foils). Repeatable base tuning so you are always fast. Good starts and first beat lane control. Tactical decision making under pressure (and emotional control over six hard days of racing).
If you are planning on winning in 2026, you will need to start by beating the 5 past world champions in the fleet along with the 2025 European champion and the other 4 continental champions as well. In addition, you have a fleet packed with talent and each one a potential winner.
Let's unpack the detail.
The Venue
Datchet will be a tricky venue for the skippers to navigate. One day it will be light and shifty on flat water. The next could be windy with a short steep chop. Over the course of a week we should see winds from several different directions with different features of the reservoir causing testing wind patterns. The emphasis will be on clean starts and getting to the right side of the course or the first shift early.
Tactically challenging
One needs a tough mindset. Getting off the line cleanly 3-5 times a day is critical so one can position your boat to take the all-important first shift. Mark rounding's need to be clean and tight without stalling, downwind one needs to sail to the fastest angle and never overlay the lay line. Tactically one needs to avoid disasters, read the course, adapt to change, and manage risk.
Who will be the best at managing the above?
A look at the data
Let's start with the profile of world championship winners over time since 1994. The event is held every two years.
Up to 2015 it was all about the British with their winning streak of 8 wins interrupted twice by Craig Smith (AUS), once by Brad Gibson (AUS) and once by Zvonko Jelecic (CRO). GBR winners included Graham Bantock, Martin Roberts, Trevor Binks, Brad Gibson, Peter Stollery and Rob Walsh. Zvonko, Martin, Peter and Rob will participate in May.
From 2017 onwards, the only names added to the trophy plate were Zvonko Jelecik (thrice) and Olivier Cohen. If the author picked a favourite on past results, he would have to go for Zvonko, but like the financial markets and, to prolong the analogy, also the horses, past performance is no guarantee of the future. Having said that in addition to the world titles, Zvonko won the 2025 Asian Championships, in 2023 the North American championships, the South American championships and the Europeans. Quite some record.
The countries and contenders
If last World's results were anything to go by, looking at the top 10 finishers, then the French look to be the dominant team with 4 skippers in the top ten. A couple make their own sails and their chosen runners are the Venti and the V12. Of course, they have Olivier Cohen (2022 World champion) as the benchmark and key competition to tune against. The Croatians, led by you-know-who, are always strong; also the Americans; and from Australia Paul Jones, who has always been consistent in the top end of the fleet and after his win at the recent Oceania championships, has to believe his time is coming. Peter Feldman (USA) is always at the front of the fleet so maybe it is his turn.
Unfortunately, the author must mention that Ian Vickers from New Zealand who finished second in the last world's will be missing. He would have been listed as one of the favourites.
Let's now look at the recent continental championships and see who starred there. Chen Luningning (K2) won the Asian Championships.
Robert Matulja won the European championships in a K2. The top ten was packed with stars including, Polish (Jan Springer), British (Rob Walsh and Graham Elliott), Croatia (the winner, Marko Matic, Zvonko, Mirko Ukas and Mario Skrlj), Spanish (Guillermo Beltri) and USA (Mark Gollison) all finished in the top 10 so any of these could make a challenge next May.
Paul Jones won the Oceania championships in a Venti and maybe it could be his year.
None of the top 3 in the South American Continental championship are entered but Pablo Walper who finished 4th has delivered excellent results and could be a contender.
Another name which may feature is Brian Shores from the USA. He recently won the North American championships with ease in a Venti but was chased hard on the last day by Peter Feldman. Of course, a key name missing from the US team is Ken Read (last year's North American winner) who must have other engagements. What a spectacle it would be if we could see, Zvonko Jelacic, Ian Vickers and Ken Read on the same stretch of water but sadly the latter 2 are not on the entry list. We can dream.
Conclusion
So, is it down to the horse or the jockey, the sailor or the design? The author comes down on the side of, "it's the sailor" (whereas in horse racing the jury will remain out).
To get an idea of the odds for this event focussing on the riders/competitor rather than the horse/design the author consulted with an old friend, Honest Nige, Bookmaker, Doyen of the Silver Ring to figure out some odds on the likely candidates.
Of course, individuals will have different opinions as they may have more information than the author. One thing we will never see is the amount of training that is done by individuals and teams or if anyone has uncovered that mysterious step in performance. Honest Nige has been doing the rounds observing the runners and riders but like a typical bookie would not give me any hints as to where the author should place his money... The field for the 2026 Worlds is wide open and likely, it will only be after day two or three that the emerging contenders will show themselves.
- Zvonko Jelecik 12/1
- Olivier Cohen 13/1
- Robert Matulja 13/1
- Rob Walsh 13/1
- Paul Jones 13/1
- Peter Feldman 14/1
- Guillermo Beltri 14/1
- Alexis Carre 14/1
- Xavier Liger 14/1
- Romain Dubriel 15/1
- Ante Kovacevic 15/1
- Peter Stollery 15/1
- Graham Elliott 15/1
- Craig Richards 15/1
Let the author know what odds you're offering for any dark horse outsider - it might be worth a modest investment.
Before you get your wallet our and place your bets, Honest Nige will not have his stand at Datchet as it clashes with the Royal Windsor Horse Show, but he will be keeping an eye out for results around the world to evaluate the riders current form and maybe tweak the odds.
And so before, perhaps to a general sigh of relief, the author drops the horse racing analogy for good, it may be worth reminding ourselves of the judgement of jockey Mick Fitzgerald, in a TV interview immediately following his 1996 victory, that winning the Grand National was 'better than sex'. We can only wait, breath bated, to learn how the winner of the 2026 IOM World Championship will characterize their victory.
If you missed the previous articles in this series, the links are below: