OK Winter Champs 2008, Ardleigh Sailing Club

9 February

by Daniel Ager

24 Oks turned up at Ardleigh Sailing Club on the 9th February to take part in the next round of the Winter Cup and the Winter Championships. Very welcome sunshine but uncharacteristically light winds were a feature of the day.

The first race held in 10kts of breeze was lead by the newly sylph like John Ball for the first round, closely followed by Dan Ager. Those two pulled away from the rest of the fleet. Ball let Ager through on the beat of the second round, who went on to win quite comfortably. The rest of the fleet caught up to Ball, with Nick Craig coming through to second and Homer Goodhead third.

The second race started with the wind decreasing. Craig was first to the windward mark and sailed on with little difficulty to win. Tony Woods a little way behind but retained a comfortable second place. The third position was taken by junior Jake Cracknell, who battled round with and had the better of Jon Fish in 4th, Robert Deaves in 5th and Ball in 6th.

The wind held for the duration of the final race which was thankfully was shortened just as the wind was about to disappear completely. Will Turner decided that his own boat wasn’t fast enough for his liking and swapped boats with his father. He might have been right as he got a second place. Craig winning after coming through following an average first beat. Woods getting third from the consistent Ball in 4th and Ager in 5th.

Craig won the event for the second year running from a competitive fleet of the usual names, new comers to the class and some good juniors.

1. Nick Craig Frensham Pond SC 2pts
2. Tony Woods Etherow SC 5pts
3. Dan Ager Waldringfield SC 6pts
4. Will Turner Ardleigh SC 8pts
5. Jon Fish Waldringfield SC 8pts
6. John Ball Ardleigh SC 9pts

Great Britain, Upper Thames

Upper Thames Sailing Club

21 – 22 June

22 OK’s made the trip to Upper Thames Sailing Club on the weekend of 21-22 June. The overnight rain held off for most of the day but the weather was overcast with the wind ranging from force 1 to 3, although the direction meant that much of the race area was in a wind shadow.

Jim Howden worked his way through the fleet on the left bank to lead at the first mark followed by Julian Burnham and junior Alex Hobern. Terry Curtis worked his way back from choosing the less favoured right hand bank, but he could not catch Howden who led all the way round, with Curtis 2nd and Hobern 3rd.

The second race was a close race between Curtis, Burnham and Mike Edwards, with all three taking turns in 1st place and Alan Atkin leading the chasing pack. Edwards took the race with Curtis 2nd and Burnham 3rd.

Overnight the weather changed and Sunday brought sunshine and a fresh breeze blowing straight down the river, topping out at 30 knots on the club anemometer. Mike Edwards took an early lead but allowed Curtis to overtake when rounding the home mark in the wrong direction. The first 3 developed a good lead from the chasing pack but Edwards gave up his 2nd as he failed to unwind following his earlier mark rounding error, giving 2nd to Julian Burnham and Gavin Waldron 3rd.

Mike Edwards led the 4th Race from start to finish, closely chased by Neil Goodhead. The leading pair pulled away from the rest of the field with Terry Curtis in 3rd. By now the strong and gusty wind had taken its toll and the fleet was depleted for the final race after lunch. Big shift at the start made for a very close first beat with Edwards, Curtis Burnham and Waldron all very close. Curtis pulled away with Edwards and Burnham chasing. Daz Prior overtook Waldron and Garth Thompson and Mick Haigh were also pushing hard. Edwards caught up with Curtis just before the finish, with Curtis vigorously protecting his lead. This also allowed Burnham to close the gap, but in the end ran out of time, with Curtis holding his lead from Edwards, Burnham and Waldron.

1. Terry Curtis – GBR 2118 – Upper Thames
2. Julian Burnham – GBR 2101 – Upper Thames
3. Gavin Waldron – GBR 2085 – South Staffs
4. Daz Prior – GBR 2107 – South Windermere
5. Mick Haig – GBR 2086 – Upper Thames

Hunstanton

28/29 June

18 OK’s, including 1 Kiwi, travelled to North Norfolk for their last open meeting before the Worlds kick off in Warnemunde next weekend.

The prevailing F3/4 + sunshine conditions helped it on its way to being a great fun event – the quality of opposition and good courses didn’t hurt either…

HunstantonSailing club were great hosts, laying on good courses, despite a few starting headaches with a big tide under the fleet. They also kindly hosted a hog-roast and party which made Saturday evening very enjoyable.

Nick Craig won the event, showing moments of brilliance and great pace to win 4 of the six races… but due to a few factors it was a close run thing most of the races, partly helped by some mixed start line tactics / fortune.

Downhill flyer Terry Curtis won races 4 and 6 by grinding away and taking the lead on the last reach of both races, to take a second place overall. Terry had a thoroughly ‘good day’ in Sunday’s slightly fresher and wavier conditions.

Third overall was Jon Fish, who recovered from an upwind swim in Race 1 (boat maintenance is not his thing…) to score thirds in almost all the other races. With Nick having issues, Fish looked to have race 4 in the bag only for Terry to serenely blast past him.

Evergreen
Andy Turner and Dave Rose were forth and fifth respectively, both showing great upwind pace and tenacity, frequently rounding the windward mark in the first few places.

Having
returned to the class after an absence for a couple of years, former champ Rose seems to be getting his new ship into the groove, going worrryingly fast uphill.

Token Kiwi Alistair Deaves consistently mixed it in the top 6, but didn’t quite have the pace in the borrowed boat to make a challenge for the top placings. Alex Scoles and Dan Ager both had top 5 finishes on day one, with Alex leading Race 2 for quite a while, but shamefully decided that boat bimbling was better than racing on day two.

All in all, a great weekend with the whole fleet enjoying the conditions, close racing and a good warm-up for the forthcoming worlds… .

Youth & Junior Championships, South Staffs Sailing Club

18th October

Report by Mike Edwards

Well what a day!!

On Saturday the 18th October the first OK Dinghy Youth & Junior Championships for a few years was hosted by South Staffs SC.  To say the day was a success would not do it justice!

Eighteen sailors were warmly greeted by the club, with bacon rolls on offer to prepare them for the day ahead. The wind varied between 10-18 knots all day, with some pretty hefty gusts at times that kept the rescue crew busy.

Race 1 – Got underway well and with a shifty first beat it was Richard Burton from West Oxford who led at the windward mark, closely followed by Chris Tooley from South Windermere and South Staffs hot shots Chris White, Will Croxford and Adam Parry. By the third mark the South Staffs lads had hit the front with Parry taking command from White and Croxford. Sarah Davies was the first of the four girls and well up in 7th place. Parry then went on to produce a master class in boat handling and ability to pull out a huge lead on the rest, who were all sailing well and impressing the excited senior OK sailors on the bank. By the end, it was Parry who took the gun with ease. Behind, there was a great ding dong for 2nd with Ed Dutton taking it after recovering from an awful start. White took 3rd from Croxford, Burton and Tooley. Seonaid Fleming overtook Sarah Davies to win the ladies battle, finishing in very credible 9th and 10th places.

Race 2 – After a superb South Staffs lunch, race 2 got underway first time with many of the fleet bang on the line and motoring. The best of these was Davies who popped out to lead. Parry reached the windward mark first but then capsized right on it. This caused some chaos and it was Dutton that rounded first from Croxford. These two then pulled out a nice gap on White and Parry. With the wind increasing slightly and some damaging gusts coming down the pond there were a number of capsizes throughout the race, but it was great to see all but two complete the race. Croxford then worked his way past Dutton to lead with Parry hot on their tails. At the start of the penultimate lap Parry caught a big lift to catch Croxford, but Croxford was not going to give this one up easily. At the finish Croxford had established a comfortable lead to take the gun from Parry, Dutton and Burton.

Race 3 – All was to play for and with the wind increasing it was Parry who led at the first mark. By the second mark Parry and Croxford had created a small gap. Parry then stamped his authority on the Championship by pulling away from Croxford. However, much to the excitement of the spectators, Croxford started to reel Parry in, with Burton chasing in third. Behind there was another battle developing between White, Dutton, Tooley and Mark Fleming enjoying the breeze. At the final mark Parry rounded first with Croxford on his transom! Croxford tacked followed by Parry covering, but Parry dropped his mainsheet loosing a few valuable seconds. All the way to the finish it was nip and tuck, who was going to win? Croxford managed to find a little more pressure to take the gun and the Championship by two boat lengths from Parry. Wow, what a finish! White came home 3rd from Tooley, Dutton and Sarah Davies well up in 6th.

At the prize giving Will collected both the youth and junior trophies as he is still only 17 years old. Seonaid Fleming won the ladies prize finishing 9th overall and Sarah Davies in 10th respectively.

The fleet came ashore to enjoy one of South Staffs legendary free teas and then gathered around the television. The second race was filmed by the Class Chairman with Nick Craig providing the commentary. They were graciously driven around the reservoir by Homer Goodhead who tried his hardest to send the Chairman overboard, but failed. Nick then took the fixated crowd through the footage offering tips and praise along the way. Nick was clearly impressed by the standard of sailing he had witnessed, so the future is bright!

The club then laid on a terrific barbecue and skittles night, with those who were old enough partying into the night.

Thanks must go all the South Staffs volunteers who worked so hard to make the day a success. Especially Bill Bradburn for all his efforts in organizing the Championships. Purple Sails, Pinnell & Bax and the person or persons for the very generous donation for their support.

South Staffs Sailing Club

19th October
Report by Mike Edwards

On Sunday the 19th October the OK fleet gathered at South Staffs SC for the annual OK Open meeting. The Vintage Boat Championships was also run as part of the event. Many had been at the club the previous day to watch or take part in the Youth & Junior Championships and woke to thick heads following the previous evening’s fun & games.

When all were counted, there was a superb entry of 29 boats. The wind was very shifty all day and varied between 10-22 knots, which tested all the competitors.

Race 1

Started first time somehow, as the line was very port biased. Nick Craig managed to tack onto port quickly and led up the first beat. Some had been left behind at the crash sight at the port end. Craig led at the first mark from Keith Dutton and Terry Curtis recovering well after a poor start. These three then went on to pull out a gap from super veteran Alan Atkin and juniors Chris White and Ed Bradburn.

As the race progressed, Curtis constantly challenged Craig for the lead, with Dutton still in contention. Behind, Mike Edwards was working his way through the fleet after being left for dead at the start. At the final mark Craig was in control and covered Curtis to take the win, with Dutton in 3rd. Edwards just had enough on the final upwind leg to snatch 4th from Bradburn, White and Atkin.

The first vintage boat to finish was Keith Macauley in 11th place, from Richard Burton in 17th.

Race 2

After lunch race 2 got underway and it was Curtis who led at the windward mark, followed by Alex Scoles and Craig. Sailing was tight with Curtis and Craig swapping places at the front. Scoles could not quite keep up and eventually he was caught by Edwards, with Julian Burnham flying off wind in fifth. At the finish it was again Craig who had assumed command over Curtis, to finish in that order. Edwards enjoyed a comfortable 3rd in the end from Scoles and Burnham 5th.

The honors in the vintage boat race, this time went to Burton from Macauley.

Race 3

Craig was looking for his third win of the day, but it was Curtis and Edwards who led up the first beat. Craig was not far behind, but did himself no favors by sailing for the wrong mark. Curtis and Edwards rounded in front and immediately developed a decent gap from Bradburn and Neil Goodhead. Craig rounded in the top ten. Curtis and Edwards extended the gap on the rest, with Edwards never quite getting close enough to challenge. Craig had worked his way to third and behind there was a good tussle between Goodhead, Burnham, Bradburn, White and Scoles. Curtis took the gun from Edwards close in 2nd. Craig had closed a little on the front two in third, with Goodhead winning the tussle for 4th from Bradburn.

Burton secured the Vintage Boat Championships with 13th overall, from Macauley who finished in 16th place.

The fleet came ashore to enjoy one of South Staffs legendary free teas. There were plenty of great prizes to give out courtesy of Purple Sails, Pinnell & Bax and a mystery donation. Commodore Mike Owen started by presenting the Vintage Boat trophy to Richard Burton. The best turned out Vintage Boat prize was awarded to Keith Macauley. Carol Danbury then presented the beautifully carved wooden OK trophy, which is a replica of her late husband’s beloved OK. This is awarded to the first South Staffs junior, which was Ed Bradburn and followed a very touching speech from Carol. The prize giving came to a finally with Nick Craig graciously thanking the competitors and South Staffs SC for a great weekend’s sailing and hospitality.