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Leading up to the event the long range forecast was for light conditions, easterly winds on day one, a 'funky' easterley/north-north westerly on day two before steadying into a southerly flow for the remaining two days. This forecast ended up being spot on and a nightmare for race organisers and sailors alike. 

Two courses were used for the event, the northern course (2) for the easterly & north-westerly and the southern club course (1) for the southerly wind. The late addition of course two proved to be a success ensuring that sailing could be completed on the first two days without having to sail to marks in the distance if sailed on course one.

The field looked pretty good with the six Australian's who sailed the last world championship in Croatia in the mix as well as a number of other potential championship winners. NSW sailor Paul Jones was championship favourite having had the upper hand over Sean Wallis over the last twelve months in all the regional AUS events as well as being first Australian in Croatia however, that gap has always been close between the two and the event was set to see an exciting clash. 

Others keen to dislodge the pair from the top included local Glenn Dawson who, leading up to the event, showed he was more than capable of completing the task with some good wins in club races against Wallis however the question would be how well he moved on the big dance floor. Add Queenslander, Greg Torpy. 'Torps' has shown that he can mix it at the top and was definitely in the running for a title win if he could overcome his 'E fleet blues' given his little sailing since the worlds. South Australian Alex 'The Kid' Scapens has spent the last twelve months or so sailing his new V11 which unfortunately didn't arrive in time for the previous championship in Adelaide but using a borrowed boat there he showed some potential. Good results in the SA events has shown that he was another strong contender for the title.

Racing started on time on day one with a light easterly around 5 knots but with some big shifts and plenty of holes to see boats becalmed at times. The fleets were decided and the seeding races sailed with wins to Jones, Torpy & Scapens while Wallis & Dawson collected seconds. It was a great start to the event! 

The light and shifty conditions, continual course re-setting, general recalls caused numerous delays throughout the day which saw just four races completed. Wallis had sailed consistently with 2, 2, 2, 1 to hold a two point lead ahead of Scapens (1, 7, 1, 11) and Jones (1, 12, 4, 2). 

Day two saw the 'funky' forecast with winds swirling and moving from easterly to north-westerly and spinning around the clock and in the end by around 4pm racing was abandoned with only two races completed. Wallis had scored a further 1 & 3 for the day to extend his lead over Scapens (3, 8) and Jones (5 , 2) at the mid way mark of the event. NSW sailor Ben Taylor picked up a race win and local Adam Viney had also remained consistent. With Dawson, the trio were fighting it out for fourth place and put some pressure on the leading trio to possibly sneak in for a podium position in the remaining days.

Day three and it was over to course one for the south-south easterly at around 5-10kts and we were setup for a great day of racing albeit with a breeze still more shifty than normally expected from this direction. This made for some exciting close racing. It was 'moving day' with pressure on Wallis to defend his lead while Scapens and Jones were hungry for the title. 'The Kid' kicked off the day with a win and sailed his best day yet scoring (1, 2, 1, 3, 5, 1, 2) to close the gap on the lead while Jones scored (7, 1, 10, 2, 1, 2, 3). After Wallis could only manage one win for the day and added (2, 5, 4, 1, 3, 3, 6) to his card there was a two point overnight buffer going into the final day.  Taylor, Adam Viney & Dawson also remained close on points with some consistent sailing while Lindsay Walker claimed a race win to move up the ladder.

The final day saw another day of the southerly, 5-10 kts and it was going to be a cracker. The three had stretched their overall lead far enough that the only thing to change was which order they would be taking on the podium. Scapens struggled in the first two races posting his worst results for the championship and with Jones snapping two quick wins it turned into a two horse race between Jones & Wallis. The third race of the day saw Wallis bounce back with a win and Jones who was deep at the last rounding mark managed the unbelievable slipping past five boats on the leg to the finish picking up a 3rd, and in doing so kept his championship chances alive with one race remaining.

Jones needed to win the final race with Wallis finishing worst than third. It was definitely a race to watch with both starting close to each other. With both mid-fleet up the first upwind the chance for Jones to secure another title was slipping away. With Scapens & Edgar Vitte rounding the top mark first with a nice gap on the rest of the fleet it was all but over. At the same time Viney, Dawson & Taylor had their own race to decide positions fourth through sixth. In the end the race leaders could not be caught, Wallis finished third which was enough to secure the title for the third time in succession.

RO Bruce Robins and his team of volunteers were able to complete fifty one heats in the four days being a total of seventeen races in what were 'trying' conditions and are thanked for their support. Presentations were held at the Lakers Tavern.

2023 IOM Australian Champion - Sean Wallis (WA) 
2nd - Paul Jones (NSW)
3rd - Alex Scapens (SA)
Master - Peter Buchanan (WA)
Grand Master - Brian Knuckey (WA)

Video - https://www.facebook.com/100014023759223/videos/203052832326928/

There is also a range of photos and other video on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/iomsdownunder