IOM Worlds at Datchet Radio Sailing – May 15th-23rd 2026

03/11/2025
IOM, International Events

If you have not already heard, Datchet Radio Sailing (DRS) is hosting the IOM Worlds next year. The team thought it would be a great idea to share in some of the planning and organisation of the event so far.

The Plans

Organising an event of this nature for 84 international competitors requires careful planning.

Every time a country runs the world’s (DRS team included) they start from scratch with little available information other than people experiences. One of our objectives is to deliver a roadmap to the next organising committee to save time and allow them to focus on plan refinement and delivery from day one.

The first stage was to write a detailed description of the timeline of activities from now through to the wrap up of the event. With detailed knowledge of the last 2 IOM Europeans and the worlds in Australia (documented on an independent web site, we were able to capture everything that was necessary to provide confidence we could run a successful event delivering the best racing ever.

The next step was to develop a timeline on a spreadsheet with all activities listed so we minimise the chance of anything being forgotten. Along-side this we have an extensive ongoing list of decisions that need to be taken, a procurement list that details everything down to the amount of paper we need, a list of risks and mitigations and of course a budget. The team are busy working on the details, site layout, equipment inspection processes, racing processes and much more.

The organisation

For an event of this nature, money is extremely tight so maintaining a rigorous procurement process and budget is the domain of the Datchet Radio Sailing (DRS) World’s team. The team is made up as follows:

Phil Holiday – Chair and club representative
Richard Jones – Treasurer and Scoring
Jim La Roche – Volunteers
Nigel Barrow – Planning and promotion
Hugh McAdoo – Equipment Inspection and planning

Of course this event is ultimately run by the MYA and their guiding team is as follows

Derek Priestley – President and ARO
Darin Ballington – MYA Vice Chair
Phil Holiday – Club Representative
Peter Baldwin – Principal Race Officer
Wayne Stobbs – ARO
Austin Guerrier – Website
James Hadden – International Officer
Nigel Barrow – Racing Officer
Jen Hand – Secretary to MYA Council

Event on-line presentation

The Australian’s at the last world’s set a high bar in the delivery of live streaming services, and despite the Aussie time zone being 180 degrees out of phase with Europe, the racing was viewed over 100,000 times. 48 hours of livestream was delivered over the world’s week.

We cannot hope to replicate the camara work and commentary team but we want to get close and this will be determined by our success in acquiring sponsorship in a country where money is tight and competition for sponsorship money in sailing is at an all time high.

We have potential suppliers to deliver a fantastic service. At a minimum we are looking at daily interviews, selected footage of the racing and a daily report. At the high end we could have 2 cameras capturing the action along with a mini camera cat, all livestreamed via YouTube with commentary. If you know anyone who might be interested in sponsoring the event however small an amount, put them in touch with the DRS team. Thanks to the MYA for recognising that this is one of the best ways of promoting the sport and for starting the sponsorship ball rolling with sufficient funds for us to reach our minimum goal.

Volunteering

An event of this nature is only successful because of the volunteers who put their name forward to help either for a day or the full week. There are many roles to fill with a few listed below.

Heat marshal
First aide
Equipment inspection
Scoring
Boat drivers and crew
Meet & Greet
Parking
Afternoon/evening bar staff
Site maintenance

Many have put their names forward but we need more so if you want to come and see the best in the world racing their craft and get a close view of all the boats on shore, why not sign up to help the team.

Website

Austin Guerrier has done a brilliant job designing and setting up the World’s web site which you can view here https://www.iomworlds2026.com

Promotion

There is a communications plan in place for the event

We have 3 target audiences:

The event’s competitors via the World’s website – Information for competitors
The MYA community via the MYA website – What are the council and worlds team doing and how can you get involved and how can you see the best in the world racing
The global sailing community through articles in Yachts and Yachting and linking social media communities to those articles – These will be generic articles on radio sailing attempting to broaden our RS communities globally.

The first monthly article can be found here – https://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/291348/IOM-Worlds-2026-at-Datchet-Build-Up