Yachting with a difference - Australian Radio Controlled National Championships

Apart from the rustle of the breeze in the reeds and from the gentle wake of
the competing yachts, the only sound was the polite murmur of “starboard”
on “contact” from one of the dozen or so yachtsmen lining the banks of
Risdon Brook Dam on the eastern outskirts of Tasmania. Occasionally, a
request for “buoy room.”

But the intensity of the competition was just the same as that shown by
helmsmen and crews of another fleet of racing yachts, where I
had watched a boisterous start to their race a few kilometres downstream on
the River Derwent.

The first event was the start of the Hobart Combined Clubs Long Race
off Kangaroo Bluff at Bellerive. The second was the final heats of the
International One Metre class at the Australian Radio Controlled Yachts
national championships on Risdon Brook Dam.

Racing a radio controlled yacht requires much the same concentration and
skill of steering as 40-footer and a similar knowledge of the racing rules of
sailing. The difference, of course, is in the size of the boats and the fact that
there are no crew to shout at.

Many of the competitors at the Australian Radio Controlled Yacht
championships are current or former prominent sailors. Rod Jackman took
a day off from sailing with his father Roger on Doctor Who, while John Cole-
Cook is a former ocean racing yachtsman to contest the International One
Metre class finals on Risdon Brook Dam.

Other competitors, who came New South Wales, Queensland, Western
Australia, Victoria and New Zealand, have been racing these boats for many
years or also retired big boat racing skippers or crew.

Their boats are highly sophisticated racing craft, the hulls of fibreglass, mast
and boom of fine grade aluminium, the sails made of draughtsman’s film.
Apart from using a transmitter to steer the boat, most have electronic winches
to control the sails on and off the wind.

Design rules vary for the different classes but in the case of the International
One Metre class, it is a ‘box’ rule that allows flexibility in hull shape. The
latest trend is for hulls with a chine, with a deep bulb keep that comes within a
weight restriction.

The 2012 Australian championships for the International One Metre (IOM)
class ended yesterday, ending a week of competition in the A class, 10 Rater
and Marblehead classes.

The A class championship went to West Australian Graham Howie, beating
Tasmanian Michael Hickman and another WA entrant, Gary Cotterell.
Victorian Lincoln McDowell won the 10 Rater title from Graeme Howie and
Queenslander Jeff Byerley.

Tasmanians dominated the Marblehead class, with Denis McLoughlin winning
from Lisa Blackwood and Michael Hickman.

The IOM class attracted 38 entrants with close competition in the flukey
and gusty breeze that swept across the dam waters, the competitors lining
the bank, their fingers steering their boats and adjusting sail trim with slight
movements of the toggles on their radio transmitters.

At the end of the day, Queenslander Michael Grieve took out the title from
Craig Smith (Vic) and Paul Jones
(NSW) with Michael Hickman (Tas) fourth overall. John Cole-Cook finished
eighth overall and Rod Jackman 12th.

The championships were conducted by the Risdon Brook Radio Yacht Club
which holds races every Sunday. Contact is Alan Furmage on (03) 6248
5237 or email: alan.furmage@southernphone.com.au or go to the national
website: www.radiosailing.org.au

- Peter Campbell