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KZ&RV Hollandia

Netherlands, Spring Cup 2015

KZ&RV Hollandia, Medemblik

1 - 3 May

Reports from Robert Deaves

Day 1: Charlie Cumbley wins three in a row on first day at the OK Dinghy Spring Cup

Charlie Cumbley (GBR) made the first day of his first ever international OK Dinghy regatta look easy as he took three straight wins on the opening day of the OK Dinghy Spring Cup in Medemblik, in The Netherlands. Sailed in a shifty 8-14 knots onshore breeze the 45 sailors from eight countries enjoyed a great day's sailing, if a little on the cold side.

All three races got away first time, though race 1 featured five OCS as the bunch at the pin pushed too hard. Cumbley started in the middle of the line and played the shifts well to the first mark to lead round in the first two races. He was pushed hard by both Jim Hunt and Nick Craig. It was slightly more open in the final race as Jørgen Lindhardtsen (DEN), led at the top. However Cumbley rounded sixth and was soon taking places offwind to round the downwind mark in the lead, which he held to the finish. Craig gained a lot on the final beat on the left to ensure Cumbley only won by the narrowest of margins – a couple of boatlengths.

Cumbley said it was anything but easy. It was absolutely not easy. I came here with no expectations or any idea of the pecking order. I did't know who was slow or quick. So it was nice to be up there and that's the the best I have sailed for a good while. Maybe because I was relishing the new challenge. Because I had no expectation I just tacked on the shifts and sailed my own race. Luckily I had a bit of pace downwind so that got me out of trouble.

Racing continues until Sunday. Light winds are forecast for Saturday and very strong winds for Sunday, so the fleet should see a little bit of everything.

Charlie Cumbley
Charlie Cumbley

Results after 3 races

  1. GBR 2173 Charlie Cumbley 3
  2. GBR 1 Jim Hunt 13
  3. NZL 544 Greg Wilcox 14
  4. DEN 1442 Rene Johannsen15
  5. GBR 2150 Nick Craig 18
  6. GBR 2175 David Carroll 27
  7. GBR 2045 Tony Woods 30
  8. GBR 2042 Richard Burton35
  9. DEN 1 Bo Reker Andersen 38
  10. GER 772 Oliver Gronholz 39
Bo Petersen
Bo Petersen

Day 2: Three races and three winners on day 2

Charlie Cumbley has moved into a seven point lead at the OK Dinghy Spring Cup in Medemblik after three more races were sailed on Saturday. It was always going to be the lightest day and the fleet woke to a mirror like IJsselmeer with most forecasts showing very little wind. However, by 11.30 a light breeze was developing and the fleet was sent out for three very tricky races in a shifty and variable breeze that left many scratching their heads in frustration.

Nick Craig
Nick Craig

Rene Johannsen (DEN) dominated the first race to lead at the top mark and hold onto it throughout despite a strong challenge from Nick Craig (GBR). With the wind slightly increasing, Frank Strelow (GER) smacked the left hand corner in race 2, to lead at the top mark from Jim Hunt (GBR). Hunt took the lead offwind and held onto it until the finish, favouring the left side, which largely proved to be profitable all day. The final race was perhaps the trickiest with Cumbley emerging from the middle to lead round from the left and extend to win his fourth race of the series. A major left hand shift on the second upwind produced a lot of changes, with Bo Petersen (DEN) the biggest beneficiary moving from the 20s up to fifth.

Andreas Pich and Tom Lonsdale
Pich & Lonsdale

The most consistent sailor today was Greg Wilcox (NZL) with three third places, to stay in third overall. He said, It was champagne sailing compared to what we were expecting. But it was very tricky. You think you are on winner and then you lose and then when it looks ordinary you have gained.

However, Hunt, had the best of the day with a 4, 1, 2. The defending champion from last year described it as a very tricky day, It was a very difficult day because there wasn't really enough pressure to do anything downwind. Upwind, you only needed to get bounced once and that was enough to lose a lot. There were increases in pressure but they were very hard to see coming. A lot of people were taking the pressure drop as a shift and having to tack back across later and losing twice. It helped today if you were in the right place at the right time to make the gains.

The fleet downwind
The fleet downwind

The OK Dinghy Spring Cup concludes Sunday with two more races and some very strong winds forecast. It should be a great finale to what has been a tough event.

Results after 6 races

  1. GBR 2173 Charlie Cumbley 6
  2. GBR 1 Jim Hunt 13
  3. NZL 544 Greg Wilcox 16
  4. DEN 1431 Bo Petersen 21
  5. DEN 1442 Rene Johannsen 22
  6. GBR 2150 Nick Craig 24
  7. GBR 2151 Jon Fish 45
  8. DEN 1420 Jørgen Lindhardtsen 47
  9. GBR 2177 Alex Scoles 48
  10. GBR 2045 Tony Woods 58
Martin von Zimmermann
Martin von Zimmermann

Charlie Cumbley wins OK Dinghy Spring Cup

Charlie Cumbley (GBR) has won the OK Dinghy Spring Cup in Medemblik for The Rüdiger Prinz Trophy at the first attempt after a win in race 7 sealed the event for him. Jim Hunt (GBR) finished second with Greg Wilcox (NZL) just maintaining third after a late charge from Rene Johannsen (DEN).

Windward Mark
Windward Mark

The forecast strong winds seemed to blow themselves out overnight leaving a choppy sea and 14-18 knots, which gradually reduced during the day. It was a grey day though with rain coming through later. Wilcox made the best of the first race to lead round the first triangle. Then Cumbley came through on the second beat to lead to the finish for his fifth race win and the overall win with a race to spare.

The wind moderated slightly for the final race with reduced visibility and grey skies. This seemed to suit Hunt, who rounded the top mark in the lead. Cumbley briefly took the lead downwind, but on the second beat Hunt favoured the middle while the rest took the right. Hunt crossed back with a nice lead again and led to the finish.

Top 6: Rene Johannsen, Bo Petersen, Greg Wilcox, Charlie Cumbley, Nick Craig, Jim Hunt
Top 6

With Cumbley and Hunt a clear first and second, Wilcox took third by a very narrow margin after Johannsen and Bo Petersen (DEN) closed the gap with some consistent sailing.

It was a very tough weekend, sailed in some testing and tricky conditions across all wind ranges. Charlie Cumbley was the deserved winner of the Rüdiger Prinz Trophy. This is the first year that this trophy has been presented. It was created in memory of long time OK Dinghy sailor Rüdiger Prinz who died earlier this year. It is a half model OK Dinghy in orange, the colour of his boat. The Spring Cup was one of his favourite events, so his friends decided it would be a fitting tribute to his memory. A collection was also taken in the Brakeboer pub last night, where € 300 was raised to be given to his family's chosen charity.

Spring Cup 2015 - Results
NoSailnoNameScores12345678
1GBR 2173Charlie Cumbley10,011162113
2GBR 1Jim Hunt18,024741241
3NZL 544Greg Wilcox27,073433356
4DEN 1442Renesarabia Johannsen28,0483111624
5DEN 1431Bo Petersen30,0ocs2554572
6GBR 2150Nick Craig37,031322ocs485
7DEN 1420Jørgen Lindhardtsen57,0ocs561117837
8GBR 2177Alex Scoles76,061024146121216
9GBR 2151Jon Fish81,0ocs9881010630
10GER 693Martin v. Zimmermann87,014162879131315
11GBR 2145Tony Woods89,0107132312161417
12GBR 2175David Kenneth Carroll90,0512102013281713
13GBR 2042Richard Burton100,02069253519912
14GER 772Oliver Gronholz,106,09151518ocs22198
15DEN 1Bo Reker Andersen109,01611111323261619
16GBR 2171Simon Cox113,019232016572623
17GER 778Sönke Behrens120,0831dns277211511
18GBR 2172Dave Bourne123,01717272616301010
19GBR 2154Simon Cowood127,01318123915143421
20GBR 2156Robert Deaves128,02219211019232414
21DEN 1397Henrik Kofoed Larsen129,0122514302929119
22GER 775Jörg Rademacher132,0152819218202129
23GBR 2147Tom Lonsdale142,02522dns2420112020
24FRA 1823de Kervénoaël Guillaume149,02321251930152818
25GER 777Andreas Pich154,0182929918243027
26GER 791Frank Strelow155,011302222ocs93328
27DEN 22Ask Askholm156,0ocs14183127182226
28GER 790Thorsten Schmidt162,02724172922321825
29DEN 1430René Bruun170,03333301514172932
30DEN 142Malte Pedersen180,02820312826382522
31GER 77Ralf Mackmann186,0212626122133dnsdns
32SWE 99Hans Elkjær189,02432233728352324
33GBR 2139Kenneth Carroll209,03236163631dnf2731
34GBR 2141Simon Davis237,0dns273338243731dns
35GER 665Peter Stephan237,0263432353627dnfdns
36BEL 214Paul Verrijdt238,0303934173239dnsdns
37NED 663Stephan Veldman255,0343538332543dnsdns
38GBR 2130Deryck Lovegrove255,03140364539443233
39GBR 66Martin Bower257,0293735403336dnsdns
40GBR 2129Alan Atkin260,0364337343825dnsdns
41GER 678Heinz Ridder268,0dns38394140413534
42GBR 2170Bob Bourne288,037dnsdns423434dnsdns
43GER 793Karsten Kath292,03541dns433742dnsdns
44GER 737Christian Heinze298,0dnsdnsdns32ocs31dnsdns
45NED 638Robert Bancken311,038dnsdns464145dnsdns
46DEN 112Svend Jakobsen314,0ocs42dns44ocs40dncdns