Finally, after being so close on so many occasions, GRCYC's Commodore Aaron Farrar has finally broken through for his maiden State of Queensland IOM Championship victory at Paradise Yacht Club on the Gold Coast.
Not only is this Aaron's first State title and testimony to his hard work, dedication and persistence, but also a welcome first for the Gladstone Radio Controlled Yacht Club, with Grant Cooper, only just missing out with his Cockatoo-2 'Short Black', finishing second all the way back in 2007
Farrar's victory over his close rival Greg Torpy (Wynnum/Manly) was always going to be intense and hard-fought. Not only did Farrar have to deal with the close attention he receives from the current CQ IOM Champion, but a host of previous Queensland State and sectional title winners such as Rod Molkentin, Andrew Wilson, Peter Kampe and Doug Allen were all in the mix.
Farrar started the better of the two favourites, posting some very good scores in the first 4 races, including back to back wins in races two and three, while Torpy struggled with some double-digit scores in the same races, placing him on the back foot early. From there the two skippers traded places in the top three in A-fleet and were never far away from each other, however, an uncharacteristic 13th in one race saw Farrar halve his lead, giving Torpy a 'sniff' by the end of day one. Andrew Wilson and Doug Allen continued their Brisbane/Sunshine Coast rivalry with the two sporadically finding top-three finishes, keeping them in the hunt.
Day two started as day one had finished, with Torpy and Farrar at the front of the fleet in the early races, however, a 9th by Farrar effectively wiped the slate clean from Torpy's early Day one indiscretions and set the championship up to be a nail biter. The pressure seemed to start weighing heavy on Farrar, posting still reasonable positions, but each race allowed Torpy to chip away and close the gap. Race 14 however, was going to be pivotal in the championship. Torpy ran into trouble and posted a 14th, meaning he needed to have the championship reach 18 races so that he may drop this score and stay in running. While he took another 2 points from Farrar's lead in the next race, the pressure was white-hot.
Aaron, who at times, self confesses to letting the pressure 'get to him' was calm and in the zone, and when he really needed it, finally broke through for his first win in nine races, while Greg could only manage a 7th in the same race. Even though the championship had one final little twist to play out with Farrar' dropping to 9th in the second to last race, Torpy's second 7th in two races realistically ended his push for the lead, and Aaron's consistency allowed the 9th to be the third of his dropped races, further strengthening his position. Barring a total disaster in the final race, Aaron simply had to finish near Greg to claim the championship, however, instead of taking things easy, lead around the course in the final race to emphatically stake his win.
Back in third and fourth Andrew Wilson and Doug Allen were trading blows to see who would fill the final position on the podium. It looked like Andrews consistency had given him the edge, however in the final race, a third from Allen and an 11th from Andrew saw the Scorers double and triple check the numbers as the two had finished tied on 67 points and which eventually saw Wilson claim the 3rd place, only be split by a countback.
Thank you to all the officials and volunteers for the Paradise Radio Yacht Club for hosting such an exciting State Titles and finally, congratulations once again to Aaron Farrar, Queensland IOM Champion for 2021.
