After no racing was possible on the first day due very strong east wind and big swell in front of the start beach, three races were sailed on the next in a very shifty east to south-easterly at 18 knots dropping to 12 knots at the end.

On the final day, four races were managed, again with 17 knots dropping to 12 knots and very big swell from the south.

Petetin took all seven race wins with Pierre Arrighi taking six second places. The battle below was tighter with Laurent Petetin just squeezing into third ahead of Jean-Louis Petetin for an SN Bandol top four.

14–18 September

By Henri Bérenger

Timothée Petetin, from the Société Nautique de Bandol, has won the 2020 Mediterranean OK Dinghy Championship in Bandol, from Julien Dejugnat and Pascal Tetard.

The event in Bandol was supposed to be the final event in the 2020 Euro League and the inaugural OKDIA Autumn Trophy, but the resurgence in COVID-19 in France, and travel restrictions across Europe, caused all the visiting sailors to pull out and the Autumn Trophy to be cancelled. However the club went ahead with the Mediterranean Championship, with 17 boats from all over France taking part.

Laurent Hay, from La Rochelle, dominated the opening day with three bullets, but then injury forced him to retire from the event, which left the top wide open.
Petetin then took three race wins to lead the series, and set up a final day that promised to be open and windy.

From 11 am the race committee set up a course in the bay where an easterly wind blew an average of 15 knots with gusts of 18 knots; enough to offer competitors of this physically demanding championship, a windy and highly contested final day.
At the top of the standings at the end of Friday Petetin had to work hard to protect his lead from Julien Dejugnat, Pascal Tetard and Gilles Bérenger.

Tetard, who is new to the class, took two race wins to move up to a podium position, but a further win for Petetin put the championship beyond doubt.

In the final race, Patrick Debaere, from Lacanau and the National President of the class, led from start to finish, which did not move him within reach the podium, but given his performances during this championship, confirmed a great series for him.

After Petetin, Julien Dejugnat and Pascal Tetard completed the podium. Also in the top five were Gilles Bérenger, a newcomer to the class, and a particularly consistent Jean Louis Petetin over all three days.

It was a very successful championship thanks to particularly good weather conditions and much appreciated by all competitors, but also a great credit of the volunteer team of the Société Nautique de Bandol.

COVID did not prevent the event but surely mitigated its magnitude. Once again the ‘Bandolais spot’ lived up to its claims: wind, sun, hot water and a friendly atmosphere.

The class plans to be back in 2021, when hopefully the inaugural Autumn Trophy will finally be held.

Article with Photos

DNF, DNC, OCS etc: 18

DNF, DNC, OCS etc: 26

DNF, DNC, OCS etc: 27

Photos on flickr

The Mediterranean OK Dinghy revival

In 2013 a very old OK Dinghy was rescued from the bottom of a garden in the South of France and after lots of cleaning, repairing and painting, was restored to racing condition. It was the beginning of a revival in OK Dinghy sailing on the Mediterranean coast of France.

The old OK Dinghy had been built by, and was in the garden of, the former top French OK Dinghy sailor, Daniel Dahon, later a Finn and Star coach to some of France’s top sailors. The boat was renovated by Henri Berenger of the Société Nautique de Sanary, which is located about half way between Toulon and Marseille. Another OK Dinghy appeared soon after and there were now two boats sailing at Sanary. By 2017 this number had grown to around 15 OK Dinghies sailing in the area, now mainly based at Bandol because of public works in Sanary harbour.

As is often the case with a revival, enthusiasm and competitiveness grows fast and many of the old boats were soon replaced with newer and better equipment. The fleet now consists of mainly new boats with carbon masts, and enjoys some very competitive and close racing.

Such was the growth of the fleet that in May 2017 they decided to run the a Mediterranean Championship at the Société Nautique de Bandol from 5-7 May.

A pleasant 12-15 knot easterly on the opening day enabled all 16 sailors, young and old, to enjoy some great racing just off the island of Bendor, where the 1969 OK Dinghy World Championship was held. Julien Dejugnat led after the first day from Alain Renoux and Jean Louis Petetin.

The wind had switched to the west for Saturday’s racing with Dejugnat sailing well again in his new Synergy Marine boat to maintain the lead from Renoux, while Tim Petetin moved up to third place overall.

Unfortunately the final day was abandoned with a strong mistral keeping everyone on shore, so Dejugnat won the 2017 OK Dinghy Mediterranean Championship.

The OK Dinghy Mediterranean revival continues…