IOM World Championship 2026 at Datchet Water Sailing Club

IOM World Championship 2026 at Datchet Water Sailing Club - Day 2

by Mark Jardine 18 May 11:21 PDT 15-22 May 2026

To B, or not to B, that is the question.

It was a shifty and gusty day on the Queen Mother Reservoir, with rig choices often proving the difference between success and failure. The larger A rigs are superb when the wind is down, but hanging on in the stronger winds means you'll be flogging your sail and lying flat upwind, which downwind the nosedive is always a threat. So when to switch to B was a question that vexed many minds.

The shifting winds also kept the race team on their toes, resetting the start regularly to make it as square as possible and reduce the number of general recalls. The robo-buoys started the day, but then it went back to old-fashioned buoys with anchors as the chop built, and the RIBs had to weave their way through the IOM yachts to relay the line.

2026 IOM Worlds at Datchet Water Day 2 - Derek Priestley, Peter Baldwin & David Campbell-James - a lot of experience right there! - photo © Mark Jardine

Spotting the shifts and gusts when you're concentrating on sailing your yacht is a skill few have learned. Maybe they should go through Apache pilot school, where they are rigorously trained to switch eye dominance on the fly, to help see the bigger picture as well as their yacht. Possibly a touch of an extreme approach for model yachting, but the racing is hugely competitive, so any advantage needs to be at least explored.

On the up is Croatian sailor Robert Matulja (CRO 33), who put a tenth in the final race yesterday behind him to move up the leaderboard and into third overall:

"Today is really great sailing. It's really shifty with more wind at times, so it's sometimes harder to decide which rig, but obviously the B rig is working out much better for me. I have a good feeling with the B rig especially - the boat is just flying.

"I've been training in these conditions because I sail on the sea where we have a nice chop, and sometimes even big waves, so I know how to surf - a skill I learned all the way back when I was sailing Optimists."

2026 IOM Worlds at Datchet Water Day 2 - SWE 159, ARG 26 & BER 21 at the leeward gate - photo © Mark Jardine

Robert continues to sail bigger boats, active in J/70s, Melges 24s and ORC fleets in Croatia, showing how model yachting sits perfectly alongside many sailors 'sit-in' racing.

A sailor who has seen more than his fair share of the heats today is Josh King (GBR 126). Having won the seeding race, he raced in Heat A yesterday, but then an 18th in the first race today saw him suffer relegation, and then the wrong rig choice saw him drop to Heat C after Race 5. In Race 6 he very nearly made it back-to-back promotions, as he explains:

"First A heat of the day I picked the wrong side of the course, and was relegated, then in the B heat race I rolled the dice a little bit and put my A suit on as it looked like the front had come through and it would be alright, but I got half way round and it blew up heavily, and I struggled to complete the race and ended up in heat C. I came back to heat B, but just missed out on heat A finishing seventh, just a point off promotion. I'm getting some good value with lots of racing!"

2026 IOM Worlds at Datchet Water Day 2 - Race 4 Heat D start - photo © Mark Jardine

Josh completed his yo-yo day by getting promoted into heat A in Race 7, and led for a while before finishing ninth.

Overnight leader Aaron Farrar (AUS 37) has struggled on day 2, but he's not fazed at all: "I was a bit surprised yesterday to be on top, I'll take it, but I realise there's a lot of good sailors here and I'm probably not quite up to that standard yet as I'm still learning, but I'm enjoying it!"

On adjusting to different conditions Aaron added:

"It does make it difficult sometimes, especially if you're not used to the lump like it is out there, but it's the same for everyone so you just have to adapt and try to get a good tune in the boat, let the boat breathe, and just enjoy it."

2026 IOM Worlds at Datchet Water Day 2 - Sean Bradley, USA 46 downwind - photo © Mark Jardine

At the top of the leaderboard, French sailor Alexis Carre (FRA 73) is putting together a superb series, and is six points clear of defending champion Zvonko Jelacic, but he's acutely aware of how tight the racing is:

"I'm very happy; I had a good feeling in race 2 with the boat. After that, it really came down to very little - I think there was half a boat length between the three or four leaders - that's all there is to it. Overall, I'm very happy with the boat."

2026 IOM Worlds at Datchet Water Day 2 - Busy at the windward gate - photo © Mark Jardine

On the gusty and shifty winds Alexis added, "I love them. After all, the conditions are the same for everyone, so you have to focus on fine-tuning. I'm quite happy and I hope it continues in this manner.

When I asked if he can stay at the top he laughed, and said, "We'll see Saturday night, I hope. But hey, I'm not alone."

All-in-all it was a massive day on the water, and getting seven full races in the books, each made up of five heats, is a great start to the event.

Staying in heat A for all your races is hard enough, and we've seen some big names relegated, having to climb their way back up, so consistency is the name of the game, combined with good rig choices.

It looks like it'll be a wet start on Tuesday, and then become very windy, so the question may well become 'To C, or not to C'!

2026 IOM Worlds at Datchet Water Day 2 - NZL 23 downwind - photo © Mark Jardine

More information on the event website, www.iomworlds2026.com with provisional results so far posted on the event's Facebook page, and videos being uploaded to YouTube.

Provisional Results after Day 2: (one discard)

Pos	Skipper	Sail No	Club/City	Hull	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Pts
1	Alexis Carre	73	FRA	V12	2	4	2	10	1	3	4	16
2	Zvonko Jelacic	35	CRO	VISS	4	37	5	1	3	6	3	22
3	Robert Matulja	33	CRO	K2R	2	7	10	2	4	4	8	27
4	Peter Feldman	44	USA	VISS	3	5	4	6	16	5	6	29
5	Romain Dubreuil	77	FRA	Venti	3	6	8	4	2	7	13	30
6	Rob Walsh	25	GBR	Venti	6	10	12	7	6	2	2	33
7	Graham Elliott	9	GBR	BritPOP!	2	13	1	8	5	10	21	39
8	Craig Richards	2	GBR	Proteus	3	1	15	13	9	14	5	45
9	Paul Jones	48	AUS	Venti	10	12	6	12	8	23	1	49
10	Peter Stollery	39	GBR	BritPOP!	1	11	85	11	7	15	7	52
11	Aaron Farrar	37	AUS	V12	2	2	3	14	14	20	29	55
12	Steve Landeau	17	USA	Venti	6	31	13	3	11	11	17	61
13	Olivier Cohen	100	FRA	GC24	8	14	14	9	12	12	14	69
14	Jan Springer	10	POL	Venti	1	8	23	17	29	13	12	74
15	Brian Shores	117	USA	Venti	5	29	20	15	10	9	15	74
16	Josh King	126	GBR	POP!	1	15	11	18	37	23	9	77
17	Luningning Chen	12	CHN	VISS	1	21	16	22	13	8	19	78
18	Mark Golison	55	USA	Venti	2	3	18	29	19	19	26	87
19	Alex Scapens	106	AUS	V12	9	18	7	20	39	26	11	91
20	Pablo Walper	13	CHI	Venti	8	38	28	23	15	16	18	108
21	Pierre‑Yves Mechin	67	FRA	V12	5	37	9	5	18	36	48	110
22	Ante Kovacevic	30	CRO	VISS	11	24	32	21	17	18	25	116
23	Carlos Beltri	121	ESP	Venti	1	9	19	26	25	85	37	117
24	Matteo Longhi	11	SUI	V11	9	40	41	48	23	1	10	124
25	Sean Bradley	46	USA	Venti	6	27	29	19	30	31	16	127
26	Glenn Dawson	76	AUS	V12	4	17	38	46	28	24	22	133
27	Tim Hand	134	GBR	BritPOP!	7	30	27	16	20	34	53	134
28	Tony Edwards	75	GBR	R2V2	3	19	25	30	32	25	33	134
29	Guillermo Beltri	47	ESP	GC24	12	49	30	24	21	30	20	137
30	Barr Batzer	64	USA	V12	4	26	26	36	22	33	28	139
31	Remco Sol	193	NED	Shuffle cl	4	16	17	34	44	44	27	142
32	Soren Andresen	93	DEN	Nexus	3	20	23	37	36	48	24	143
33	Yann Masse	8	FRA	VISS	5	28	31	32	31	27	31	153
34	Paulo Maio Gomes	156	POR	BritPOP!	8	22	36	31	26	35	42	158
35	Paolo Cappa	130	ITA	Venti	13	59	40	25	33	17	34	162
36	Darin Ballington	98	GBR	BritPOP!	7	44	24	27	34	46	30	166
37	Hrvoje Duvancic	171	CRO	K2	14	58	33	47	24	32	38	188
38	David Lindsay	23	NZL	V12	14	53	67	28	35	29	36	195
39	Kurt Camilleri Burlo	3	MLT	K2	6	23	37	41	47	52	60	206
40	Ricardo Gonzalo Pollono	63	ARG	Venti	4	32	35	33	52	58	68	214
41	David Ramos	105	USA	BritPOP!	6	37	49	39	45	39	52	215
42	Gary McCarthy	181	AUS	GC24	11	43	43	40	40	42	39	215
43	Patricio Montero	38	FRA	V11	5	33	39	42	49	63	57	225
44	Ulf Lindberg	112	SWE	Proteus	7	45	48	39	41	49	63	229
45	Francisco Martinez Berzagay	116	ESP	V12	16	71	85	56	27	28	32	230
46	Thomas Enwall	50	SWE	V12	10	62	45	35	43	47	50	230
47	Elio Cavallo	113	ITA	GC24	10	46	46	45	46	37	46	230
48	Tonko Puljiz	40	CRO	VISS	11	54	55	50	55	39	23	232
49	Odd Ornulf Stray	90	NOR	VISS	11	56	42	44	55	43	44	239
50	Martin Roberts	22	GBR	BritPOP!	7	37	44	53	65	55	47	243
51	Colin Cashmore	45	NZL	V12	8	48	52	57	60	40	41	246
52	Jean‑Pascal Morel	24	FRA	V12	5	25	34	55	70	59	69	247
53	Paolo Patrini	14	ITA	K2	8	41	47	52	56	57	67	261
54	Adam Barboza	21	BER	K2	9	50	56	61	51	70	35	262
55	Gary Boell	71	USA	BritPOP!	14	85	51	43	39	51	64	262
56	Lionel Marsaly	31	FRA	Venti	16	42	54	51	55	61	49	267
57	Feliciano Ballestin	97	ESP	GC24	9	47	50	62	64	60	55	283
58	Diego Sebastian Louyer	26	ARG	Solaris	18	52	63	63	42	55	56	286
59	Vedran Vesanovic	144	CRO	K2	13	85	61	64	63	41	51	293
60	Claes Nordin	99	SWE	ProteusEVO	13	76	66	58	48	50	62	297
61	Rogivue Gerald	49	SUI	K2	14	55	60	70	73	45	55	299
62	Jimmy Teo	34	MAS	VISS	9	39	53	59	68	72	80	300
63	Peter Tans	149	NED	K2	15	67	85	49	59	70	43	303
64	Sven Forense	142	CRO	VISS	13	68	85	55	58	67	45	306
65	Bengt Oldsberg	159	SWE	K2	12	60	58	60	50	66	73	306
66	Baron Bremer	81	USA	Polaris	12	61	62	66	62	55	59	311
67	Stan Wallace	69	BAH	BritPOP!	7	52	59	70	67	65	70	320
68	Marin Bizjak	5	CRO	K2	10	63	69	65	75	77	40	322
69	Pablo Alvarez	74	CHI	GC24	16	70	70	71	57	56	65	334
70	Norbert Heinz	19	GER	Slice	10	65	57	67	71	73	71	341
71	Gary Winton	54	USA	V12	11	64	72	70	76	62	66	345
72	Rohner Ernst	120	SUI	Parabellum	12	57	68	76	78	70	76	359
73	Sam Davidson	175	JPN	Shokunin	15	73	77	77	61	64	84	367
74	Roberto Lindstaedt	20	BRA	V12	15	85	65	85	70	79	61	375
75	Haoyu Hu	51	CHN	VISS	17	69	71	75	72	81	75	379
76	Claudio Vaz	66	BRA	Polaris	18	75	73	72	66	76	78	380
77	Torsten Fildebrandt	87	GER	Venti	15	79	85	85	74	71	58	382
78	Chuck Millican	15	BER	VISS	12	66	76	74	85	80	79	387
79	Richard Smith	166	AUS	ProteusEVO	13	77	74	78	79	74	72	388
80	Torvald Klem	147	NOR	Orca	18	74	64	73	77	84	83	389
81	Eddie Bardgett	43	BER	V12	16	72	79	79	80	75	74	395
82	Eugeniusz Ginter	16	POL	Vihuela3	15	78	75	85	82	82	81	413
83	Wayne Correia	125	BER	V10	16	85	78	85	81	78	77	415
84	Gonzalo Ugarte	6	CHI	BritPOP!	14	85	85	85	83	83	82	432