Nineteen teams from around the world will gather at the Eastern Yacht Club this Saturday June 11th to kick off the 2011 IOD World Championship. Racing will commence on Sunday June 12th and conclude on Friday June 17th, with the awarding of the Bjarne Aas Trophy to the 2011 IOD World Champion under the tent on the lawn of the Eastern Yacht Club.
The IOD World Championship is the second of two regattas being presented at the Eastern Yacht Club as part of the Jubilee Celebration commemorating the 75th anniversary of the International One Design Class.
Among the competing teams are three teams from the Marblehead IOD fleet. EYC members Norm Cressy and Bruce Dyson (1998 IOD World Champion) lead the first team from Marblehead. EYC member Bill Widnall (a 9-time IOD World Champion) will join the Cressy/Dyson team in the field. The final Marblehead team is led by the Corinthian Yacht Club's past Commodore Tim Dittrich. All of these teams competed in a 30-race qualifiying series throughout the summer of 2010 to earn the right to represent Marblehead in this event.
The remainder of the championship field is star-studded. Defending Champion Elliott Wislar, from Long Island Sound will bring his team to Marblehead, hoping to retain a grip on the Aas Trophy. Three-time Champion Penny Simmons from Bermuda, two-time Champions Charlie Van Voorhis and John Burnham (both from Fishers Island) and Urban Ristorp (representing Sweden) have all proven that they have what it takes to win this event.
Other competitors include
David Rockefeller (Northeast Harbor)
John Henry (Northeast Harbor)
Solomon Krevans (Northeast Harbor)
David Poor (Nantucket)
Bob Constable/Peter Grevalt (Nantucket)
Mark Pearce (San Francisco, CA)
Paul Manning (San Francisco)
Espen Ake (Norway)
Martin Rygh (Norway)
Asbjorn Johnson (Norway)
Jennifer Miller (Long Island Sound)
The IOD World Championship has a unique format for a one-design world championship, a format that embodies the deepest founding principles of the class. In an effort to have the fairest possible test of sailing skills between teams, the regatta will be sailed using a change boat format -- each competitor will sail each race in a different boat. The boats themselves have been tuned equally, and will carry identical sails. And to make sure that no competing IOD owner gains any special advantage, owners are not permitted to sail their personal boat during the championship.
We have all the ingredients on hand - a great yacht club, a great sailing venue, carefully prepared boats and a group of competitors that represents the best that each IOD fleet can offer. The IOD World Championship should be a great event.
Racing is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday - Tuesday; Thursday and Friday June 12 - 17th. Wednesday June 15th is a designated spare race day. Spectators are welcome, or you can check back here for results and news briefs. You can even follow the regatta on twitter (twitter ID is iodworlds2011). Please make this championship a part of your summer!
