ARYA National Championships Preview: Radio Sailing bigger than ever!

by Sean Wallis 28 Jan 2019 06:30 GMT 4-16 February 2019

Queensland IOM State Championship Oct 2018 © Nick Lindsley

West Australian's on their way with boats in tow © Ross Bennett

The biggest event on the Australian radio sailing calendar commences in less than a week and sees over 120 entries from across Australia, New Zealand, Japan & USA. The Australian Radio Yachting Association (ARYA) National Championships for four classes of radio yacht are being held on the Gold Coast at Regatta Waters Lake from the 4th 16th February 2019 to determine Australia's best.

The International One Metre Class (IOM), which boasts the biggest fleet of over 70 boats, will no doubt be a close fought battle with current Australian Champion, Paul Jones, looking to defend his title which he claimed in a final race decider in Hobart last year. Jones has proven he is the one to beat claiming victory in all but one of the regional championships he competed in over the last twelve months, with his only flaw, faltering at the Queensland State Championship which saw WA's Sean Wallis take out a victory on the very same waters this event will be held. Wallis will be seeking a repeat of his performance at this event to claim his first Australian title.

This one won't be a two horse race, South Australia's Scott Mitchell is a past championship winner and will look to get another victory under his belt along with another West Australian, Ross Bennett, who has been runner-up a number of times and will seek to ditch the "brides-maids" dress.

Another close fought battle will be in the Marblehead Class where Scott Condie (NSW) will be hoping to retain his crown. Sailing the UK built "Grunge" design, a boat designed by Australian Brad Gibson, Condie may not have it all his way with Victorian's Kirwan Robb and Andy Reid, also sailing the Grunge, expected to ensure that this championship goes down to the wire, although even this trio may find other challengers in the mix.

The speedster of all the classes is the Ten Rater. These sleek racing machines are the fastest of the classes and will provide some close racing. Defending champion Andrew Reid from Victoria will be sailing the Gibson designed "Trance" and although dominant in Hobart, with others now sailing either the "Trance" or the Australian built "Sanga", this will be another championship that will go down to the wire.

The smallest fleet will be the International A Class. These elegant boats typically weigh between 13-16kg and are a classic looking boat with characteristics of a full-size yacht that are impressive to watch. NSW's Brian Dill will favourite for a championship win, but like the other classes, racing is expected to be extremely close and picking a winner is not the easiest of challenges.

ARYA President, Sean Wallis stated "This year's event is one of the biggest in years, the IOM class sees over 70 boats, which is the largest fleet seen since the Worlds were hosted in Mooloolaba in 2005, and certainly reflects the level of interest in our sport".

A team of volunteers from local clubs and the Queensland Radio Yachting Association (QRYA) has been planning this event for more than 12 months, with the support of the Southport Yacht Club and the City of Gold Coast. Event Manager Ron Fawcett said 'Competitors will start arriving in the first few days of February from locations as distant as Japan, the United States of America and New Zealand. A strong contingent from Perth will be traveling further than the New Zealanders!'

The event will be based from the Southport Yacht Club Watersports Centre that was opened just last year. State level radio sailing events have been held on two occasions leading up to this national event so the local organisers and sailors could gain experience at this exciting venue. The expansive lake offers fair courses to be set in any wind direction.

Event Schedule: