Summary

The 23. Zenta Trophy for IOM class took place in Okrug Gornji, Čiovo, due to strong winds in Split. Despite challenging conditions, the regatta saw ten competitive races with notable leadership changes. Majority of IOM sailboats were sailing with "B rigs" which means they were experiencing stronger winds. This regatta highlighted the skill and resilience of IOM sailors under difficult conditions.

Yesterday we had a successful final day of the 23rd Zenta Trophy for the IOM class that lasted from 10th to 11th of February 2024. This time, all of our RC sailing activities and “onshore fun” as well were done at a relocated site in the campground in Okrug Gornji on the island of Čiovo at the location of Camping Rožac – Trogir (tasty meals were a big part of it, oh yes, well done to our chefs in the summer kitchen!). This drastic move to switch away from the traditional sailing location in Split was made due to the unfavorable forecast of very strong, even stormy south winds in the Split area.
Even at this location, there was an abundance of wind, although in some races it was not easy to decide whether to sail with full sails or under “first reef”.
In any case, lots of very attractive and uncertain races were sailed, in which there were significant changes in leadership, and this IOM regatta can certainly be ranked as one of the hardest for sailing in the last few seasons of the IOM class.

IOM sailing

The first day of sailing was marked by strong southern wind (local “jugo”) and switching of Rigs A and Rigs B. There were lots of wind shifts and some rain too at moments. Full 10 races were sailed in total on the first day. On the second day, the wind remained strong and the whole day was sailed under B Rig conditions that enjoyed the same southern wind, mid-range strength for those rigs. Full 8 races were sailed. Members of the Sailing club Zenta Vedran Vesanović and Miljenko Bezić prepared a meal and lovely Vedrana even made some cakes for all the participants of this IOM event! Our co-founder Zvonko decided this time to be part of the judging system and he did not sail as he helped on that side of the organization. Special praise also needs to be given to Tomislav Bezić who sailed with a pretty badly injured leg which was in the early recovery phase and he also finished in excellent third place winning the bronze medal with his Stardust Neptune K2 IOM sailboat. Second place was awarded to Mirko Ukas (K2 IOM sailboat) who was even leading after the first day. The golden medal in the end went to Ante Kovačević who sailed with his orange VISS prototype, testing its sailing capabilities in stronger winds finally as well. Two Croatian younger IOM sailing hopes Tonko Puljiz and Buno Marević also participated in the event fighting the battle for the upcoming IOM 2024 World Championship in Australia, and Bruno managed to get a better position in the end.

A total of 14 IOM sailors from Croatia and one from Montenegro participated in the regatta, with the final results as follows:

Zenta 2024 IOM regatta final results

After all of this, we are eager to check how will 2024 Rogoznica IOM regatta go in March soon, it is going to be a great event with lots of IOM sailors for sure. The competitor’s list is already full with 60 participants as the interest for this event was getting stronger year by year and we can expect some great RC sailing action on the venue of the ex IOM World Championship. If you want to try and be part of this event in Rogoznica, you can maybe try to register and be on the waiting list, so there are some slim chances you will advance up if somebody drops out from the list of participants.

The photo gallery can be found on this link: Regate.com.hr Facebook – photo gallery