And why in Dubrovnik? Because alongside with the Australians and the English the Croatians also belong to the international top and it was their National Championship there. But do not go so far ahead. The antecedents make the story interesting.

In the world two significant organizations deal with radio controlled competitive sailing. One of them is NAVIGA, which oversees all boat modeling, the other is the ISAF and even within that the ISAF-RSD (Radio Sailing Division) which naturally only deals with the sailing part. In the past a firm iron curtain divided theses two organizations, but many countries has slowly crossed to the ISAF and the present-day NAVIGA is getting further from sailboat racing, in my opinion. Both associations muster up similar classes. From these the smallest is the IOM and its counterpart the E or Einmeter.

In Hungary competing is according to the rules of NAVIGA, and since I am engaged with the thing (a year), more matters has been bothering me. This year a competition, which was organized on the venue of next year’s NAVIGA World Championship, .... Here the referee even watching from three meters above our viewing angle was unable to decide what was happening at the raum buoy it was that far away. This is where we started to think with the Transylvanian Ferencz Gyula, that we should visit the Croatians, even only for the length of their championship. Romania was once an ISAF member, but then it stayed within the frames of NAVIGA. So the competition was novelty for both of us.

Word followed word and after some exchange of letters it turned out that, we can participate, if our boat fits the IOM specifications. In this regard, I had an easier job, because my boat was originally an IOM, I only had to manage the weight difference. Gyula had to make a new kiel for his beautiful self-built wooden boat.

We met in Pest and hit the road towards Dubrovnik. I was last there as a child and I really longed to see the city again. I was not disappointed. To top it all our hotel for a relatively bearable price was my best ever accommodation in Croatia. Around the club no parking space whatsoever, by the time we get in it turns out that we shouldn’t have hurried so much as in spite of what is in the inscription the measuring is not until three but from three o’clock. Surely this getting behind with two hours as well as we have to wait for the English whom are arriving by plane. The style is slightly Mediterranean. They make us pay the entry fee, which we have transferred already, as they cannot find the transfer. Surely next day we get it back, but this is so Mediterranean too.

There are 39 contestants and not just anybody. In the history of the IOM there has been six world championships. This was won twice by the Australian Craig Smith and twice by the English Graham Bantock. Once won Trevor Binks and once Martin Roberts, whom not a long while ago has also won the world championship of the M class as well. Well, from these gentleman the only one missing was Craig Smith, but instead of him there was the freshest English champion and 6th from the last world championship. Not to mention the Croatians, whose first two sailors were here, who were eighth and ninth on the previous World Championship, whom since did not get any worse. Besides many dinghy-sailing youngsters has measured themselves in radio-controlled sailing. One of the biggest names amongst them was the Olympic Laser sailor Mate Arapov. 

Although at home after only one year, I won the National Championship of the E class, and I did well on an international level under the aegis of NAVIGA, here I did not arrive with the greatest expectations. I was not disappointed.

The competition was organized in the HMS system. This means that after the qualifying race the people has been divided into three groups, according to the position gained in the qualifiers. Afterwards the races started with group C from where the first four went up to group B. After the B races finished the best four went up to group A and the worst four down to group C. Like this, everybody gained points from their highest group. In this system, they held 15 races in mild or even milder wind.

In spite of the mild wind, – this was not favorable for my boat – I nearly got into group A from the qualifiers in the end it was only a matter of one position. This was the moment when I was nearest to the badly wanted top. In the remaining part of the competition, I was trying to work my way up from group C, which was relatively easy and after I was trying not to get back there, which was not that easy anymore. In two cases, I could have arrived with the top of group B to the cruise buoy, but only on left tack this way, when I was able to get into the queue, the good place was gone.

It is an up and down course with a deflector buoy and a centrally set start and finish line, where the start was placed the nearest possible to the control base, this way everybody had a perfect view of the line. Practically the wind blew from the same direction throughout the competition. Its strength raged from zero to even up until one and a half. In the brakes between races, the organizers tried to optimize the course to the oscillations, usually not without success. The whole competition resembled more the sailing competitions I was used to, more than the previous NAVIGA competitions. It was clearly visible that this class is working according to the rules of the International Sailing Association and it does not cause it disadvantages.

The Saturday race was colored with a little happening. At the bottom of the pontoon of the port’s jetty, someone spotted a good-sized octopus. They did not hassle much and the capable chop-chop took it out from the water. The most capable hoicked it out to the land and in some minutes disemboweled the unfortunate mollusk. He threw its heart – which was surprisingly big - and the other chitterlings to the water, while he took the body to the restaurant working on site of the club. Alongside the exotic nature of this, it crossed my mind, how would it seem, if near a Hungarian restaurant, a pig would wander and a random passerby would disembowel it and take it to the restaurant. Probably I would by a tiny bit more amused.

Finally, to my great disappointment the mildest wind was left for Sunday. I was in an even in a bit grater agony and I had to abandon for good my hope of getting into group A. This way I finished in 27th place, which could not be called a superb result altough, I could not have competed in a stronger field in Europe this year. In the end, I was even capable of a good start. So to say it was beneficial to make the acquaintance with the IOM fleet and to face the difference between the ISAF-RSD and the NAVIGA. Beside it became clear that the Romanian and Hungarian champion is miles away from the top of the class. Off course there is no point moaning because as Graham Bantock said the solution is practice, practice, practice...

On the way home, we thoroughly shopped on the “tangerine fields” after the Bosnian border from the seedless Croatian tangerine that could be purchased for a fraction of the Hungarian price. Dubrovnik is beautiful but a motorway would do it good from Split. Sure, we cannot ask for everything as a few years ago we could not even get to Zadar on a motorway.