Farrar/Team Zallee Wins 5th World Championship · Defending Champions Burnham/Team Norwegian Wood takes 3rd · Maxwell/Team Ginch takes 11th
The 2024 IOD World Championships were held in Hankø, Norway from Sunday, June 15th through Friday, June 21st. FIYC sent three teams into the fray and they returned with another World Championship trophy, plus Third and Eleventh. A strong performance by what many consider to be the most formidable fleet of IOD sailors in the world. This reputation may be due to the fact that of the last nine IOD World Championships, Fishers Island has won EIGHT of the them.
TEAM FIYC. L-to-R: Henry Maxwell, Will McKay, Chris Field, Will Cox, Wes Maxwell, Mike McNamara, Isabelle Farrar, Jonathan Farrar, Graham Siener, Kevin Gillman, John Burnham, Beth Scholle, Bob Hunte, Jennifer Parsons, Oliver Parsons. Photo: Rachel Balaban
Below is a short overview of each team and their regatta achievements, followed by an excellent recap of the Worlds regatta written by IOD World Class Association President (and FIYC member) Greg Mancusi-Ungaro and a gallery of photos.
Team Zallee (2024 World Champions)
- Jonathan Farrar (Skipper), Isabelle Farrar, Mike McNamara, Kevin Gillman, and Graham Siener
- 1st Place Overall, with 30 points. Only competitor with multiple 1st place finishes.
- This is their fifth World Championship title as a team in 8 appearances.
Team Norwegian Wood (Defending World Champions)
- John Burnham (Skipper), Beth Scholle, Jennifer Parsons, Oliver Parson, and Bob Hunte
- 3rd Place Overall, with 35 points. Tied with 2nd Place but on wrong side of tie-breaker.
- Only had Top-10 finishes—including their throwout!
Team Ginch
- Wes Maxell (Skipper), Henry Maxwell, Chris Field, Will Cox, and Will McKay
- 11th Place overall, with 86 points, including a bullet in the 4th race, which also saw Team Zallee and Team Norwood finishing directly behind—a 1-2-3 Fishers Island finish!
Congratulations to 2024 IOD World Champions Jonathan, Isabelle, Mike, Kevin, and Grahamon a regatta well-sailed. Same to John, Beth, Jennifer, Oliver, Bob, Wes, Henry, Chris, Will, and Will. These are wins for our teams, for our club, but especially our fleet, who push each other to be the best every Saturday, and at regattas all over the world. Great job, everyone!
2024 IOD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
REGATTA RECAP
by Greg Mancusi-Ungaro
Four of the five former IOD World Champions who were competing at the 2024 Worlds claimed the top four positions as the regatta came to a close today in Hankø, Norway.
First overall was Jonathan Farrar, and his team – Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar, Michael McNamara, Kevin Gillman, and Graham Siener. Off the podium when racing began on Friday, team Fishers Island #1 were surely delighted when the sixth race was completed and the regatta discard was awarded – they were holding a big score. Still, they had plenty of work to do to achieve their goal. Their final day 5-1-5, the best line posted by any team on Friday, propelled them to the top of the standings. Farrar engraves his name on the Aas trophy for the fifth time.
Runner-up was past champion Tom Fremont-Smith. His Northeast Harbor Fleet team (Tommy Fremont-Smith, Will Welles, Rob Van Alen, and Ned Herington) fought hard, but in the end it was not enough to stay ahead of the surging Farrar.
Rounding out the championship podium was Defending Champion John Burnham, also from Fishers Island. Narrowly in first place at the start of the final day, John’s team (Beth Scholle, Jennifer Parsons, Oliver Parsons, and Bob Hunte) and their consistent sailing were one of the great stories of the regatta. They discarded a 9th place finish, the smallest excluded score in the event.
Only three teams can stand on the podium, but special mention must be made of the event’s fourth place finisher — Bill Widnall from Marblehead. Fifty-seven years ago, in 1967, in this same Hanko sailing area, Bill won the first of his ten World Championships, the most of any skipper in the class. Widnall started the week off the pace, but his team (Charlie Richter, Hanna Vincent, Alex Free, Matt Linblad, and Ann Widnall Vawter) quickly found the gears needed to sail their way up the standings…Bill’s efforts did not go unnoticed. He was presented with the Priscilla Kehm Prize, which recognizes outstanding performance at the Championship.
Finally, all credit must be given to all of the sailors from Fishers Island. Three teams from Fishers competed at the 2024 Championship, and two of them made it to podium. Remarkably, eight of the last nine times the International Class has gathered for the World Championship, the team that claimed the Aas trophy hailed from the Fishers Island Yacht Club. Well done, Fishers!
Congratulations to all who competed. and congratulations to the team of Norwegian and Swedish organizers who worked tirelessly to make the 2024 Championship a spectacular event.
