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INTERNATIONAL ONE METRES AT THE AUSTRALIAN WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL 2019 The International One Metre or IOM, is probably the most numerous and hotly contested Radio Sailing Class in the world. Usually constructed in fibreglass (the rules do not allow exotic materials), the class is sailed in Tasmania with the Risdon Brook Radio Yacht Club (RBRYC) and at the Lauderdale Canal the fleet is growing. There are State, National and World championships for the keen racers. The class is strictly controlled in design, sails and rigs and material used for the hull, spars and fins. The rules allow for amateur construction and the trend has been to purchase a professionally built fibreglass hull and fins and do the rest yourself. The rules allow for construction in wood. Several Tasmanians have wanted to build their boat from scratch and a wooden hull is ideal for this purpose. The challenge is to get the boat down to or even under the minimum rigged weight of 4 kilos. Professional IOM builder, Mirage Radio Yachts has designed the Corby and Idiom boats and also has built some for local enthusiasts. The wooden boats are very popular in the UK and hold their own Nationals separate from the glass boats. Are they competitive? Well, yes they are. We are awaiting a top skipper to take on the glass boats to see the wooden boats gain more popularity. Tasmania is well placed here with our superior boat building timbers readily available, in particular King Billy Pine which is very high in its strength for weight ratio. At this year's AWBF we will have 9 or ten boats on display. They will be in the Atrium at the Henry Jones Art Hotel alongside the display of the famous Four Foot Two's with a THEN and NOW theme. This shoes how the sport of small boat sailing has developed since the 1890's when the boats were "chased" by their skipper in a dinghy. Now, of course, with radio control, the IOM's are controlled from the shore by their skippers. The skill of tuning the boats has not altered and the sport allows new competitors to the sport to build their ability to get the most from their boats by sail and rig tuning as well as tactics, rules knowledge and boat speed. For further information please contact Stuart Harris at: stuart.harris50@bigpond.com
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