IOM National Championship 2025 at Lincoln Model Yacht Club

by Nigel Barrow & Darin Ballington 23 Apr 14:03 BST 19-21 April 2025

The first start of the weekend - IOM National Championship 2025 at Lincoln © Nigel Barrow

The International One Meter radio sailing boat is raced all over the world and wherever you go the fleets are fiercely competitive. The UK Nationals is the pinnacle of our racing calendar and, with qualification for the worlds in the UK at Datchet next year, all the top contenders were out to gain valuable ranking points.

Lincoln Radio Sailing Club is one of the best venues in the country but like 95% of the clubs, it is impacted by weed in the summer, so this championship had to be held over Easter to avoid any weed growth impacting the event. Family commitments may have kept several competitors away otherwise we would usually see the full 76 entries for the event.

The Lincoln team did an amazing job. Anyone with a motor home on arrival was allocated a space on the lake bank not too far from the clubhouse. A large marquee was erected and used for the weighing of boats on the Friday and sheltering from the rain on Monday. Bacon butties were available every morning (thank you Richard, Judith and Jess Jutsum) and tea and coffee in continuous supply. Launching and recovery platforms were in the best of order and the organising team made us all very welcome. Everything was in place to give competitors a fantastic weekend of racing.

The organisers - IOM National Championship 2025 at Lincoln - photo © Nigel Barrow

On the Friday before racing, competitors were asked to bring their documents, fins and bulbs to the marquee for processing. The fin and bulbs were weighed, and each competitor had to pick one of 3 tokens face down which had an A B or C on the covered side so a rig could be picked at random to check the all up weight of the boat.

The IOM has three rigs, large, medium and small. Each rig has to weigh the same, so corrector weights need to be added to the smaller B and C rigs. Fully rigged with batteries, the boat must weigh no less than 4Kg. At times there was frantic activity with skippers trying to reduce the weight of fin and bulb by drilling out the lead or adding correctors to achieve the overall weight but most boats were on spec.

Once weighed, boats were allowed out to practice.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny with a good breeze from the East, down the Southern shore of the lake, ideal for good racing. After a briefing from our PRO Darin Ballington, Lester Gilbert (protest chair) gave us a few tips on how the rules apply when an infringing boat gains an advantage over a heat or an individual boat as there was confusion on this in the past. It's a shame one or two failed to listen to his comments. Lester's role was to pre-empt protests, where possible.

If two competitors were unable to settle their differences on the water by one doing an exonerating turn, they were invited to have a chat with Lester who would explain the likely outcome of a protest hearing. The offending boat was given the opportunity to retire meaning demotion to the next fleet but limiting the damage to their score. If they went to protest and lost, then they would be scored last place plus 1, i.e. 59 points (and demoted to C heat).

There was a fleet of 58 boats. You cannot logistically have 58 boats on a starting line so we use a scoring system called Heat Management System, which spits the fleet initially into three heats and these initial heats are called the seeding race.

After each seeding race, the top six or so boats go into A heat, the next six into B heat and the rest into C heat. Once the seeding races are complete the fleet is sorted by position. C heat then races first and the first six boats of that heat are promoted to the B heat. In the B heat, the top six boats are promoted to the A heat and the bottom six are demoted to the C heat. In the A heat only the bottom six are demoted. A race is finished on completion of the A heat.

The great thing about this system is a competitor can have a hiccup and get demoted but recover again quickly with little downside on his results. Boats that get promoted only count the result of their last heat in that race.

Action on the bank - IOM National Championship 2025 at Lincoln - photo © Nigel Barrow

Although not a perfect direction the easterly breeze allowed PRO Darin and ARO Pete to set a course with a long first leg creating good separation and enough shifts to give plenty of opportunity for the fleet. Sailing in 3 heats of over 20 in each heat the basic format would stay the same over Saturday and Sunday. Pete was kept busy in the boat, tweaking the course, with the odd boat retrieval when the breeze built to the top of A rig.

Saturday saw the completion of 6 races, 18 heats of the highest quality sailing, Brad was sailing beautifully but the pack behind him were chasing hard, with Josh King (26), Tim Hand (134), Pete Stollery (139) and Derek Priestley (67) all pushing him hard. Day 1 saw wins for Brad, Peter Baldwin (63), Chris Harris (186) - seeding races - and Josh and Derek in the later races. Many others had good or bad days, but all had a story to tell in the evening at the local pub.

Unbeknownst to skippers, at the 11th hour the landlord informed the club that the chef and catering team had left the pub, however, he would sort something out and get back to us. What he provided was "The Lincolnshire Fryer" a mobile fish and chip van with a menu of local pies, Grimsby fish and plenty of sauces all cooked in the mobile chip van just in time. It was fantastic, all eaten in the pub marquee and accompanied by a few drinks and plenty of banter. Thanks to the Railway, you delivered (phew).

Sunday was much the same with another 6 races completed (18 heats), the fleet board team of Jen Hand, Judith Baldwin and Sharon Plested continued to provide quick turnaround of the heats and combined with Anne Dennis, finishing and Colin Helliwell on the computer kept everyone updated and informed of their position. The use of Google Drive and the club website allowed instant visibility of the race results around the globe; an amazingly simple and effective way of keeping everyone informed.

Monty the dog, and Garry Benson were an invaluable aid in finding and tagging the observers for each heat, the skippers should also be commended, as there were no heats delayed due to a lack of observers, thank you for this.

The only person who was underemployed was Lester Gilbert our protest chair, he and the race team were happy about this, with only occasional discussions and involvement during the whole weekend, although his quiet confidence and guidance helped many and avoided further disputes. Thank you, Lester, and Garry, for giving your time.

With so much going on, it's difficult to pick out many of the individual results, but the race wins went to Austin Guerrier (06), Craig Richards (112), Brad and Peter Baldwin with consistent sailing from Mark Gollison (155) seeing our American guest rise nicely up the leader board.

As the previous day, PRO Darin stopped the days sailing around 6.00pm after 8hrs of racing. Skippers retired to their hotels, campsites, or vans after a long day, looking forward to more of the same on the final day.

We won't dwell too long on Monday's weather, other than to say that the wind direction and strength allowed only one further race to be completed, the introduction of the forecast rain and complete absence of breeze by early afternoon left the race team little alternative than to call an end to the racing at 2.30pm.

Brad Gibson, overall winner - IOM National Championship 2025 at Lincoln - photo © Nigel Barrow

The single race completed was won by Chris Harris, but the highlight of the day, and possibly the whole weekend was when Noah McIntosh (age 12) finished in the promotion places in the final heat of the event to a round of applause from the skippers. Sadly, the wind gods denied Noah the chance to compete in B heat. However, his superb attitude, enthusiasm, maturity, and ability were complimented by many, and for this he was awarded the Captain David Perkins Trophy for the event, and a mention in the winner's acceptance speech. We are sure that he will only get better and look forward to seeing him at many future events.

The clubs' landlords, Mary and Sally kindly presented the main prizes, with Darin presenting David Lapes (56), the Radox Trophy, a packet of bath salts for the most heats sailed in. And Mark Gollison a pair of Lincolnshire mugs with sweets for the long trip back to the US. In accepting the winner's trophy, Brad thanked the event team, acknowledged the competition of his fellow skippers, and mentioned the quality of young skippers who he knows will be challenging him in a few years.

Final words, must be about the fantastic volunteers this weekend, from those who have spent time preparing the event, to those who stayed behind after the event to drop the marquee in the rain.

Derek Priestley was first veteran - IOM National Championship 2025 at Lincoln - photo © Nigel Barrow

Thank you to every one of you:

PRO- Darin Ballington - LRSC
ARO/Boatman - Pete Walters - LRSC
HMS/Computer - Colin Helliwell - LRSC
HMS/Fleet board - Jen Hand - LRSC
HMS/Fleet board - Judith Baldwin
Start line - Sharon Plested
Finisher - Anne Dennis
Protest Chair - Lester Gilbert - Broads RYC
Observer Marshall - Garry Benson - Fleetwood MY&PBC
Bacon Butties - Richard, Judith, and Jess Jutsum - LRSC

List of Winners:

2025 MYA IOM National Champion - Brad Gibson - Birkenhead RSC
2025 MYA IOM Veteran Champion - Derek Priestley - Fleetwood MY&PBC
2025 MYA IOM Junior Champion - Oliver Stollery - Guildford MYC
2025 MYA IOM Vulturesoft Trophy Winner - Paul Plested - Birkenhead RS&PC
2025 David Perkins Trophy Winner - Noah McIntosh - Birkenhead RS&PC

Noah McKintosh wins thje David Perkins trophy - IOM National Championship 2025 at Lincoln - photo © Nigel Barrow

About the top competitors

Brad won overall in his Post Punk design. The boat has the lowest profile of any I have seen and was always sailing fast. His skill is exceptional. Never in trouble, always sailed clean and has the ability to recover from bad or indifferent starts. 9 of his 13 results were in the top 3 and he was 37 points clear of second place. His ability to sail fast in a bow down mode is the best in the fleet. We all have some catching up to do.

Peter Stollery after 9 months of off the water, returned where he left off to finish on the podium in 2nd. Always consistent and in the right place at the right time in his Britpop.

Craig Richards sailed his own Proteus design to third place. He started development of his 3d printed design Proteus in November and is now on version 13. A feat unachievable moulding hulls with with Epoxy glass.

Mark Gollison was visiting from the US and finished in 4th in a Venti. Mark had 3 blips on his scoresheet and without those he would be a podium contender. He was 7th overall in the recent Europeans and is one of the top US sailors.

Peter Baldwin sailed a great regatta to finish in 5th in his Britpop with Chris Harris in a Four Kilo rounding out the top six.

There were some notable performances. Local boy Tim Hand with his Britpop sporting a dodgy knee from a recent accident finished in 7th place and has upped his game since last year. Derek Priestley finished 8th and won the veterans trophy sailing an SV.

Oliver Stollery was first junior - IOM National Championship 2025 at Lincoln - photo © Nigel Barrow

Do you want to join in the fun

If any dinghy sailors or yachtsmen are reading this, Radio sailing is one of the best ways to learn about or develop your sailing skills. Even Ken Read has a couple of boats to practice with. Instead of experiencing one or two races a day where you spend most of the day hiking or sitting on the deck on long tacks, one is able to experience many races. I think my record was 24 races in a day in one open meeting.

From club sailing to open meetings, to ranking events, to national and international championships, there is always something for everyone in this sport and you don't have to get your feet wet. If you are thinking about getting involved, find your local club and come and join in the fun.

Thank you, Lincoln RSC. We look forward to returning.

Paul Plested was first novice - IOM National Championship 2025 at Lincoln - photo © Nigel Barrow

Overall Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the One Metre nationals then enter your Gear Guide information here

Pos	Hull	Sail No	Skipper	Club/City	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	Pts
1	Post PUNK	42	Brad Gibson	Birkenhead RS&PC	1	4	7	1	1	1	7	2	1	1	12	3	2	24
2	BritPOP!	139	Peter Stollery	Guildford MYC	14	3	2	9	8	2	18	8	2	6	11	5	5	61
3	Proteus	112	Craig Richards	Datchet Radio Sailing	4	5	10	12	6	9	9	1	13	4	16	1	6	67
4	Venti	155	Mark Golison	AMYA	2	2	4	18	11	21	27	4	6	3	8	7	8	73
5	BritPOP!	63	Peter Baldwin	Birkenhead RS&PC	1	9	18	2	9	11	6	23	4	8	1	19	11	80
6	FourKilo	186	Chris Harris	Windrush RYC	1	6	9	10	23	15	5	6	5	19	42	11	1	88
7	BritPOP!	134	Tim Hand	Lincoln Radio Sailing Club	6	8	3	3	7	3	12	7	10	11	20	25	36	90
8	SV	67	Derek Priestley [V]	Fleetwood MY&PBC	2	20	1	5	10	8	11	13	18	20	3	4	20	95
9	Pop!	26	Josh King	Windrush RYC	3	1	6	8	3	17	3	9	15	23	19	14	25	98
10	Kantun 2	6	Austin Guerrier	Datchet Radio Sailing	4	16	8	4	20	27	1	11	8	14	14	18	16	114
11	Venti	50	Tony Guerrier	Three Rivers RYC	5	10	16	11	22	6	10	14	16	10	13	16	17	127
12	BritPOP!	75	Tony Edwards [V]	Poole RYC	3	11	20	30	26	31	15	16	3	16	6	8	7	131
13	BritPOP!	168	Martin Roberts	Birkenhead RS&PC	8	27	42	32	4	20	25	21	7	2	9	9	3	135
14	AKZIOM	95	Graham Bantock [V]	Chelmsford RYC	6	17	17	14	18	12	8	20	27	5	2	20	33	139
15	Proteus	54	Nigel Barrow	Datchet Radio Sailing	8	15	16.7	31	34	24	26	10	12	17	7	12	4	151.7
16	Venti	84	John Brierley [V]	Birkenhead RS&PC	12	25	19	15	13	5	4	18	19	26	28	35	9	165
17	Venti	93	Rob Dyer	Eastleigh & District MBC	5	12	5	6	19	32	33	15	17	22	22	59	15	170
18	Venti	46	Mick Chamberlain [V]	Lincoln Radio Sailing Club	7	22	32	26	31	33	20	26	9	13	5	2	10	171
19	BritPOP!	35	Paul Plested [R]	Birkenhead RS&PC	9	28	14	16	12	16	2	3	21	31	32	21	31	173
20	BritPOP!	19	Mark Dennis [V]	Chelmsford RYC	10	35	42	22	17	23	14	5	22	9	24	17	12	175
21	BritPOP!	127	Andrea Roberts	Birkenhead RS&PC	14	7	22	21	2	18	17	24	34	28	29	21.5	42	203.5
22	BritPOP!	94	Simon Clarke	Windrush RYC	3	14	11	13	15	19	32	40	24	21	25	34	29	206
23	BritPOP!	187	Dave Cockerill [V]	Emsworth Radio Sailing	10	30	26	33	16	14	22	12	23	35	18	23	13	207
24	BritPOP!	91	Martyn Aspinall [R]	Rotherham MYC	2	19	42	27	30	7	13	17	14	24	21	37	47	211
25	BritPOP!	181	Greg King	Windrush RYC	8	13	12	23	38	45	42	29	28	18	15	10	25	219
26	Alioth	161	John Sharman	Fleetwood MY&PBC	16	32	30	35	14	10	21	35	30	12	4	24	40	228
27	Venti	55	Nigel Brown	Gosport MYBC	21	37	45	7	5	13	16	22	29	29	33	27	35	237
28	Venti	64	Robert McIntosh	Birkenhead RS&PC	18	43	59	46	57	26	28	19	11	7	10	13	19	240
29	BritPOP!	97	Robert Wilson	Lincoln Radio Sailing Club	6	21	31	20	27	25	30	36	25	15	23	28	30	250
30	BritPOP!	74	Chris Elliott	Lincoln Radio Sailing Club	11	34	15	17	24	22	31	28	42	52	17	22	38	259
31	Alioth	62	Gordon Allison	Ayr Bay Radio Yacht Club	5	18	13	19	28	36	25	32	36	44	43	42	39	293
32	Venti	30	Roger Crates [R]	Bridlington MBS	11	25	42	36	37	47	50	33	26	37	47	6	25	325
33	Buzz 3	145	Colin McGinnis	Tayside RSC	9	26	27	25	21	29	23	38	46	39	51	43	50	326
34	BritPOP!	101	Simon Thomson [R]	Greenock MY&PBC	9	33	25	34	39	54	43	50	54	30	30	15	21	329
35	Alioth	71	Simon Fairman	Manor Park Radio Sailing Club	21	29	28	25	33	28	34	34	31	32	36	44	56	331
36	BritPOP!	32	Simon Richardson	Manor Park Radio Sailing Club	15	43	21	29	25	38	42	42	35	34	31	36	34	340
37	BritPOP!	18	Mike Drew [V]	Fleetwood MY&PBC	15	47	42	47	29	4	19	31	39	47	45	53	28	346
38	BritPOP!	154	Roy Stevens [V]	Scarborough MYC	11	43	29	28	36	42	46	30	32	36	44	29	32	348
39	Venti	39	Michael Cooper [VR]	Lincoln Radio Sailing Club	4	23	34	37	45	44	52	48	48	33	26	31	26	351
40	BritPOP!	98	Oliver Stollery [J]	Guildford MYC	7	40	43	42	46	50	39	44	33	27	27	26	27	355
41	Alioth 4	56	David Lapes [R]	Three Rivers RYC	14	48	59	44	40	40	37	25	20	38	37	59	14	357
42	BritPOP!	58	Neil Davies	South Lakes Model Club	19	50	25	38	49	48	44	47	47	48	48	30	18	412
43	BritPOP!	73	Jim La Roche [V]	Datchet Radio Sailing	7	36	44	42	44	30	36	37	44	50	52	50	46	416
44	Vision	81	Gary Parkin [R]	Scarborough MYC	16	44	33	42	32	37	47	45	42	42	42	48	52	422
45	BritPOP!	129	Malcolm Stewart	Emsworth Radio Sailing	21	46	49	48	41	51	48	43	45	25	34	32	41	424
46	Venti	24	Graham Lewis [R]	Chelmsford RYC	12	31	42	50	42	39	40	54	52	45	40	39	44	424
47	Fantasia V	17	Peter Guest [V]	Fleetwood MY&PBC	12	38	50	39	52	46	55	46	56	51	35	33	25	427
48	BritPOP!	49	Tracey Ballington	Lincoln Radio Sailing Club	13	54	47	45	47	35	35	27	37	49	50	49	51	434
49	Kantun	33	Anthony Marshall	Eastbourne & District MYC	10	39	59	55	50	43	38	59	38	46	49	46	43	457
50	BritPOP!	87	Kevin Evison [R]	Lincoln Radio Sailing Club	15	59	42	49	43	53	49	39	50	56	38	40	49	467
51	V11.5	45	Paul Middleton [R]	Fleetwood MY&PBC	13	45	42	59	48	55	45	55	49	42	53	47	45	484
52	BritPOP!	38	Mark Rose	Fleetwood MY&PBC	21	59	59	43	35	34	29	42	59	59	59	59	59	499
53	BritPOP!	166	Ted Johnston [R]	Paisley MYC	21	56	52	59	59	59	59	52	40	43	39	52	37	510
54	Venti	59	Simon Parker	Lincoln Radio Sailing Club	13	52	48	53	51	52	53	56	43	40	54	54	53	512
55	Alioth	86	Richard Le Mare [R]	Gosport MYBC	17	53	59	56	56	49	59	51	51	53	46	45	48	525
56	Viss	89	Richard Jutsum [R]	Lincoln Radio Sailing Club	21	55	46	52	54	42	54	53	55	55	55	56	54	541
57	V9	66	Noah Mcintosh [JR]	Birkenhead RS&PC	17	51	51	54	55	57	56	49	59	54	56	51	55	549
58	Viper	12	John Berry [V]	Etherow Model Boat Club	21	49	59	51	53	56	51	57	53	57	57	55	59	560