Poole Yacht Club has proven itself as a world class event venue
by Karenza Morton 19 Sep 2013 10:53 BST
6-14 September 2013
The Poole Yacht Club has proven itself as a World Class event venue - that is the opinion of event director, John Yonwin, after the 2013 International 2.4mR World Championships came to a conclusion on Saturday (14 September).
The club had never hosted a World Championships before, and the 2.4mR Worlds had not been held on British shores since 1994.
But after an invitation from the Fordingbridge-based Secretary of the International 2.4mR Class Association, Steve Bullmore, to host the 2013 Worlds just under a year ago, a core group of Poole YC volunteer members set about organising the event from scratch.
And all their efforts were fully rewarded as they, and some 130 volunteers including many from the host club and neighbouring Parkstone Yacht Club, saw some 80 competitors from as far a field as Australia, the USA and Scandinavia enjoy a truly memorable event.
Sweden's Stellan Berlin won the World title in nail-biting fashion in the last of 11 races from Britain's London 2012 Paralympic gold medallist, Helena Lucas, with her British Sailing Team teammate, Megan Pascoe claiming bronze.
Yonwin said: "The team have really come through and as the week went on we gained in confidence and found that the competitors' feedback was very encouraging and that encouraged us as volunteers. I'm very proud indeed.
"We couldn't have done this event without so many people giving up so much of their time and the input of our sponsors. Most of the volunteers were on site for over a week plus the hundreds of hours' organisational time so it's really down to the volunteers doing well to have pulled this off to the standard we have.
"None of this would have been possible without Steve Bullmore. Steve recognised the opportunity bringing the event locally could hold. He worked tirelessly in assisting Poole Yacht Club in getting the event off the ground and putting all the plans into place while helping drive interest in the event both at home and internationally."
Poole YC is now hoping its ability to host a World class event will carry favour with sailing's national governing body, the RYA, as the club bids to become a recognised High Performance Hub as part of the RYA's London 2012 Legacy programme.
Bronze medallist and Rio 2016 hopeful, Pascoe, who has personally been involved with the UK 2.4mR Class Association for over 10 years, believes there was a lot of Olympic and Paralympic legacy on show throughout the week-long event.
She said: "For the Poole Yacht Club to host this event has been amazing. They have done it with style. It's not known for hosting huge events, but it's definitely a force to be reckoned with around the country now.
"The race committee did a great job and we had a World Class race team out there. That's what London 2012 has done, it gave these guys a lot of training and they really are very, very professional now. That makes the racing perfect. Poole YC should be very proud of themselves as they also put together an amazing volunteer set."
Next year's World Championships will be hosted by The National Yacht Club, Toronto in Canada, home of the International 2.4mR class President, the double Paralympian, Bruce Millar. He admits Poole has set a standard to follow.
"The week was a wonderful example of how the class and the organisers have worked together to make it a Worlds that people will remember and that people enjoyed. The sailing was good, and overall I think everything went to plan. This event has given us a level to try to achieve when we host the next Worlds in Toronto."
The 2013 2.4mR Worlds were supported by a number of local companies including Powerboat Training UK, the Mar-Key Group and Palmer's Brewery as well as Volvo Car UK. Volunteers from Sainsbury's Poole branch were also on site every day to provide free packed lunches and water for all the volunteers.
For full reaction and results from the 2013 International 2.4mR World Championships visit www.24mworlds2013.co.uk