Saturday:Under usual racing conditions, the Gladstone Radio Controlled Yacht Club sails in medium SE breezes that run nicely down the shoreline… however…. it seems whenever there is a major event, the ‘strange wind curse’ strikes & yet again the sailors had to deal with tricky offshore variable NW winds at the Gladstone Marina. The Gladstone Club had set up an excellent racing venue, however, PRO Ray Hobbs had to delay racing for half an hour to set a course with the winds shifting up to 180 degrees. Racing got underway at 10:30. The decision was to run an upwind/downwind gate course with 3 nice long legs allowing for boats to find their rightful positions, rather than short, unforgiving courses. It looked like it was going to be a battle of the ‘Coasts’ with Michael Grieve from the Sunshine Coast versus Lindsay Walker, Mark Paterson, Roger Taylor and Malcolm Kampe from the Gold Coast all jumping out to good results early with local Grant Cooper not far from the mix. It didn’t take long though for Michael Grieve to consistently place top 3 and open up a nice lead from the others. Local knowledge accounted for nothing with the wind flicking & dropping out at the most frustrating of times. Day one saw Michel Grieve leading from a close bunch consisting of Lindsay Walker, Mark Paterson & Malcolm Kampe. Sunday:The ‘strange wind curse’ struck again the sailors this time having to deal with tricky offshore 0-5kt SW - NW winds at the Gladstone Marina. All sailors were relaxed but the conditions and close racing soon saw some frustrations rise to the to which was understandable. Michael Grieve took up where he left off yesterday posting bullets & top 3 finishes, sometimes from impossible positions back in the fleet. Mackay’s Col Cameron & Bundy’s Glen Foley seemed to relish the conditions (Pond Sailing Specialists - it felt like home) and were the big movers on day 2 while local hope Grant Cooper and the coasts Roger Taylor faded like jeans in the sun. Lindsay Walker & Mal Kampe caught some bad luck late in the day but the horses had already bolted by then. Mark Paterson was the big mover with 3 bullets, 2 x 2nds, and a 3rd within the last 7 races but it wasn’t enough to catch a consistent Michael Grieve who was crowned CQ IOM Champion for 2010 by 7 points. Thanks once again to PRO Ray Hobbs, Scorer David Black & the members of the GRCYC who ran a brilliant event and thanks to all the competitors who remained as ‘sportsman like’ as possible in trying conditions. We hope to see you back in the near future (with better wind!) 1 Michael Grieve Club Kawana RY 23.0 2 Mark Paterson Paradise RYC 30.0 3 Malcolm Kampe Paradise RYC 39.6 4 Lindsay Walker Paradise RYC 49.3 5 Glenn Foley Bundaberg RYC 50.0 6 Col Cameron Mackay MM 57.0 7 Grant Cooper Gladstone RCYC 61.0 8 Roger Taylor Paradise RYC 68.0 9 Peter Morris Sunshine Coast RY 81.0 10 David Laurie Gladstone RCYC 82.0 11 Ross Allen Club Kawana RY 120.0 12 John Preston Paradise RYC 130.0 13 Liz Datsun Gladstone RCYC 141.0 14 Mark Hardy Gladstone RCYC  141.0 15 Tony Fannin Paradise RYC 143.0 16 Laurie Donohoe Gladstone RCYC 152.0 17 Ben Hobbs Gladstone RCYC 163.0 18 Frank Arrowsmith Paradise RYC 170.0 19 Ian Rhodes Mackay MM 171.0 20 Les Hunter Bundaberg RYC 173.0 21 Jeffrey Paul Gladstone RCYC 179.0 22 Tony Flynn Gladstone RCYC 229.0