Winter Championship 19th Feb 2011 wint11 place sail_no helm club r1 r2 r3 pts 1 2134 Nick Craig FPSC 1 1 (2) 2 2 2124 Tony Woods Glossop (3) 3 1 4 3 2118 Terry Curtis UTSC 2 (8) 3 5 4 IRL 10 Tim Goodbody RIYC (17) 2 7 9 5 2123 Andy Turner OSSC 4 (6) 5 9 6 2125 Neil Goodhead SSSC 5 4 (8) 9 7 2142 Ian Harris BCYC (11) 5 4 9 8 2141 Simon Davis UTSC 6h (7) 6 12 9 2015 Chris Arnell CSC 7 (10) 10 17 10 2130 Derycke Lovegrove BSC 8 9 (16) 17 11 2092 Sam Blocksedge SSSC 10 (11) 9 19 12 2101 Julian Burnham UTSC 9 12 (16) 21 13 240 Ben Steele Glossop (13) 13 11 24 14 2031 Dave Cooper OSSC (15) 14 12 26 15 2088 Roland Gabsby UTSC 12 15 (16) 27 16 2065 Bob Austin MKSC 14 16 (17) 30 16 Brave OK sailors arrived at a rather Wet & Grey King George SC for the 2011 Winter Championships. Race 1 started in around 8-10 knots of breeze. Nick Craig made the best of the start to lead at the windward mark closely followed by Terry Curtis, Tony Woods & Ireland's Tim Goodbody. Craig maintained his lead with Curtis getting close at times, but not managing to Pass as the breeze died off. Woods came through to challenge for second, but ultimately finished third. Goodbody went off to feed the ducks on the far right of the third beat & never found a way back. Andy Turner, 2010 Winter Champ, came in 4th. 2 races were held back to back after lunch in a patchy 4-5 knots. Tony Woods lead race 2 at the windward mark, but was slowly reeled in by both Craig & Goodbody with Curtis swamped by the pack down the run. Neil Goodhead showed his light airs expertise to come in fourth after an average first beat. Woods made the third race his own from the start with Curtis in pursuit. Craig pulled his way through the fleet in the fast evaporating breeze finally overhauling Curtis at the bottom of the last reach with a shameless roll gybe to the mark, Ian Harris came in fourth. Thanks must go to the team at King George sailing club for hosting the event & making the most of the uninspiring conditions. Craig was a worthy winner with Tony Woods taking a well earned 2nd from Curtis, Tim Goodbody was 4th breaking a 4 way tie with Turner, Harris and Goodhead. Northern Championship, Glossop and District SC 19, 20th March north sailno helm R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 total position 2134 Nick Craig 2 1 1 1 1 1 5 1 2124 Tony Woods 1 2 2 2 4 3 10 2 2135 Neil Goodhead 5 4 3 3 7 17 22 3 2123 Andy Turner 6 3 6 5 5 4 23 4 2084 Keith Byers 4 6 5 6 3 7 24 5 2085 Gavin Waldron 3 9 4 11 6 6 28 6 2107 Daz Prior 9 5 9 8 11 5 36 7 2141 Simon Davis 17 17 17 4 2 2 42 8 2096 Chris Perry 12 7 8 7 9 17 43 9 2119 Martin Bower 8 8 10 9 10 9 44 10 2088 Roland Gadsby 7 12 12 12 8 8 47 11 240 Ben Steel 17 11 11 10 12 17 61 12 2058 Mary Reddyhoff 11 10 7 17 17 17 62 13 2031 Dave Cooper 10 13 13 13 14 17 63 14 2062 Brian Quayle 14 14 14 14 13 10 65 15 1886 Andy Stewart 13 15 15 15 15 17 73 16 ../gallery/north/north111.jpg OKs at Glossop 16 OKs turned out for the Northern Championships hosted up in the Pennine Hills by Glossop SC. The first three races on the Saturday were held in bright Spring sunshine and a reasonably consistent force 2. In the first race Tony Woods showed he meant business on his own water, sailing up the right hand side and consistently picking the shifts to open up a big lead, closely followed by Ben Steel, the only junior in the fleet. Nick Craig picked up well from a bad first beat, getting past Keith Byers (4th) and Gavin Waldron (3rd) but couldn't catch Tony. Ben was OCS. In the second race Nick Craig and Andy Turner arrived at the windward mark together and had a good tussle all the way round. Eventually Tony Woods arrived on the scene and managed an overlap on Andy at the last mark to finish 2nd to Nick's race win. In the third race there was no stopping Nick who sailed off into the distance with Tony finishing second and Neil Goodhead sailing very consistently to finish third and Gavin 4th. Mary Reddyhoff showed what can be done with a cut down sail to finish 7th in this race (juniors take note) Day 2 dawned cold, wet and windy with white horses scudding down the reservoir. By the time we started the wind had abated somewhat but the drizzle kept coming. Simon Davis had turned up with his new North sail and promptly showed us all how to do it, although he was eventually overhauled in Race 4 by Nick, Tony and Neil Goodhead showing a good turn of speed so early in the season. Further back Chris Perry, a recruit from the Laser fleet, Martin Bower and Roland Gadsby all showed excellent boat speed at times, but need to look for greater consistency and better starts. The last two races were held either side of lunch with Nick winning both, Dave Cooper and Gavin both testing the water temperature and Simon Davis surrendering a race win in Race 6 as Nick just got an overlap at the last mark. Many thanks to all those competitors who travelled a long way to attend the event, particularly Brian Quayle from the Isle of Man and Marry Reddyhoff from the south coast. Many thanks to Tony Woods for organising everything, including overnight accommodation, and to Glossop Sailing club for a great weekend. http://www.okdinghy.co.uk/php/okgall.html Dabchicks SC 2nd, 3rd April dab11 Sailno Helm R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 pts place 2134 Nick Craig 3 11 1 3 1 1 9 1 2118 Terry Curtis 5 1 3 11 3 5 17 2 2117 Alex Scoles 6 7 10 1 2 2 18 3 2120 Dan Ager 1 3 5 7 4 6 19 4 2124 Tony Woods 8 2 4 5 7 4 22 5 2101 Julian Burnham 2 4 12 15 6 3 27 6 2125 Neil Goodhead 4 5 11 2 14 10 32 7 2123 Andy Turner 7 6 8 9 5 dnf 35 8 2138 Robert Deaves 10 9 6 4 9 dnf 38 9 2119 Martin Bowers 16 8 2 12 12 dnf 50 10 2036 Paul Church 11 15 7 19 10 13 56 11 2107 Daz Prior 17 13 13 13 11 7 57 12 2130 Derek Lovegrove 13 17 17 6 13 9 58 13 2075 Paul Constable 9 16 18 17 8 8 58 14 2137 Simon Shaw 14 14 15 8 18 15 66 15 2096 Chris Perry 18 10 9 10 ocs dnf 68 16 2139 Robert Campbell Gray 15 12 14 16 17 11 68 17 202 Lee Child 12 19 16 14 16 12 70 18 2031 Dave Cooper dnc dnc dnc 18 15 14 89 19 1924 Tim Hurst 19 18 19 20 ocs 16 92 20 20 OKs Arrived at Dabchicks for the first world qualifier of 2011. The sun was shining and the wind around a force 2. The excited fleet left early from the shore in anticipation of a day's racing, only to wait around for the publicised start time. Race one saw Dan Ager leading at the first mark, having tacked out to the right to avoid the tide, he was closely followed by Julian Burnham and Tony Woods. Dan Ager held his lead to the finish with Julian Burnham taking second and Nick Craig pulling through to third. After learning a lesson in race 1, race 2 saw the whole fleet tacking on to port straight after the start in a race to the lay line, with the exception of Nick Craig who in trying to get a clear lane found himself gradually moving down the fleet! Terry Curtis lead the race with Tony Woods and Dan Ager snapping at his heels. This order remained with Julian taking 4th. Race 3 saw a similar situation, with the fleet heading out to the right. A tight pack of Martin Bower, Terry Curtis, Tony Woods and Nick Craig led down the first reach. After a few place changes, Nick Craig won, with Martin Bower showing good boat speed taking second, and Terry Curtis third. Terry Curtis and Dan Ager were top placed overnight on equal points, with Tony Woods third and Nick Craig 4th, after only recovering to 11th in race 2! Sunday saw less wind and a strong tide. After some delay race 4 started with Alex Scoles first round the top mark closely followed by Neil Goodhead and a close chasing pack of Tony, Dan, Nick and Robert Deaves. The wind died on the second reach with the race shortened, Alex Scoles won with Neil Goodhead second and Nick Craig 3rd. Another wait for the wind to fill in and settle, race 5 started and was lead from start to finish by Nick Craig with Alex Scoles close behind. Terry Curtis took third and Dan Ager 4th. Race 6 was similar to race 5 with an extra lap: Nick Craig lead from start to finish with Alex Scoles close behind, then a gap with Julian Burnham taking third and Tony Woods holding fourth from Terry Curtis. Nick Craig finished as clear winner, with Terry Curtis 2nd Alex Scoles 3rd and Dan Ager 4th. On the whole a lot of current flowing and light wind made this a slightly processional event, but with close racing and a strong fleet, it was a good starter for the Worlds in Largs later this year. Thanks to Dabchicks for hosting the event and for the race officer for making the most of the conditions. West Oxford SC 15th April wosc11 helm club r1 r2 r3 pts place nick craig frensham 1 1 1 2 1 andrew day wosc 3 8 2 5 2 richard burton wosc 2 4 4 6 3 anthony rich wosc 5 2 5 7 4 tom lonsdale wosc 4 13 3 7 5 derek lovegrove burghfeild 6 3 dns 9 6 bob austin milton keynes 7 5 dns 12 7 adrian holmes baltic warf 14 9 6 15 8 richard white ?? 9 6 dns 15 9 jp wiliams wosc 10 7 8 15 10 mary reddyhoff parkstone 11 10 7 17 11 andy holmes south staffs 8 11 dns 19 12 paul dean baltic warf 12 12 9 21 13 oliver burrows wosc 13 14 10 23 14 light and light was the weather forcast for the wosc open, however 9 visitors joined the 5 wosc boats for the challenging conditions. After a long pump out to the start line the wind filled in giving us a downwind start, nick craig was first to the mark after some ultimate gybing to get water on tony rich and richard burton by a hairs width. Nick duely took off leaving the rest of the fleet to fight it out, tony rich sailed round in second with tom lonsdale hot on his heels. Up the, what happened to be a perfect beat, richard burton made a huge gain from down the fleet to be right behind tom, with andrew day and deryk lovegrove just behind. The fleet split and while losses and gains where made throughout nick finished a convincing 1st richard nip and tuck 2nd and andrew day a well recovered 3rd. After a very tasty lunch Race 2 got underway in a dying wind. Richard was very keen in this race to get a good start, to good really and was given an individual recall for his trouble. Nick had the best start getting off to a good lead. by the second lap tony rich was hastling nick for the lead to tried to sail him off letting ebay bob through and into the lead, the only point in any of the races where nick has lost the lead mid race. This was short lived for bob as he was overtaken by nick then tony and deryk and richard. And the race finished in this order. Race three was the shortest of the three with a few giving up early to get to the bar. So the race was on for second place with 4 sailors all with a shout. The race got underway with nick taking the lead and 3 of the sailors right behind nick. After a boring first leg and miserable second leg the race got started on the third leg as the wind was coming from all directions the fleet, on the 3rd run of the race, spread out. With the people on the out sides picking up places this left nick still in first mr day second and tom and richard dueling for 3rd. After another 2 runs and some different wind shifts nick finished first with andrew day getting 2nd and tom following shortly behind. So after a rather light sunny day nick came out the winner with andrew day stealing second and richard burton securing 3rd Waldringfield Easter Egg 24th and 25th April egg11 SailNo HelmName R1 R2 R3 R4 Total Nett 2138 Robert Deaves 1 4 2 2 9 9 2120 Dan Ager 5 1 1 3 10 10 2142 Ian Harris 2 3 5 1 11 11 2122 Simon Cox 3 2 3 7.0 DNC 15 15 2136 Jon Fish 4 5 4 4 17 17 1966 Tim O'Leary 7.0 DNC 7.0 DNC 6 5 25 25 No report. Ian says he's saving his literary genius for the Cartoon Trophy! Spring Cup 29th April - 1st May spring11 1 NZL 522 Greg Wilcox 5,0 3 1 1 1 NZL 522 Greg Wilcox 5,0 3 1 1 2 GBR 2134 Nick Craig 5,0 2 1 2 3 GBR 2118 Terry Curtis 14,0 2 9 3 4 GER 717 Oliver Gronholz 16,0 4 3 9 5 GER 750 Ralf Tietje 22,0 5 10 7 6 POL 14 Pavel Pavlaczyk 25,0 15 6 4 7 GER 772 Andreas Pich 26,0 14 4 8 8 SWE 99 Hans Elkjaer 27,0 8 13 6 9 GER 760 Andreas Deubel 31,0 12 5 14 10 GBR 2117 Alex Scoles 33,0 6 7 20 11 POL 27 Jakub Kania 33,0 13 8 12 12 GER 762 Andre Hennings 34,0 9 15 10 13 GER 737 Thorsten Schmidt 40,0 10 14 16 14 GBR 2124 Tony Woods 43,0 18 20 5 15 GBR 2125 Neil Goodhead 51,0 20 16 15 16 POL 10 Radek Drozdzik 52,0 22 11 19 17 GBR 2123 Andy Turner 55,0 16 21 18 18 GER 688 Dirk Dame 56,0 17 22 17 19 GBR 1774 Richard Burton 60,0 7 28 25 20 GER 735 Dirk Gericke 61,0 21 12 28 21 POL 1 Tomasz Gaj 63,0 11 dsq 13 22 GBR 2130 Deryck Lovegrove 63,0 23 29 11 23 GBR 2101 Julian Burnham 63,0 24 18 21 24 GBR 2059 Peter Turner 67,0 28 17 22 25 BEL 220 Poelman Ronny 72,0 19 30 23 26 GBR 2119 Martin Bower 75,0 30 19 26 27 BEL 214 Paul Verrijdt 75,0 25 23 27 28 GBR 2068 Tom Lonsdale 80,0 26 24 30 29 GER 748 Karsten Kath 82,0 27 31 24 30 GBR 2129 Alan Atkin 87,0 29 26 32 31 GBR 2137 Simon Shaw 90,0 36 25 29 32 GER 651 Heinz Ridder 97,0 31 33 33 33 GBR 2060 Nick Frampton 99,0 34 34 31 34 GBR 2096 Chris Perry 105,0 dnc 27 dnf 35 USA 1010 Brad Johanson 106,0 35 32 dnf 36 GBR 2031 Dave Cooper 110,0 32 dnf dnc 37 NED 638 Robert Bancken 111,0 33 dnf dnc 38 GER 649 Wehmhorner 117,0 dnc dnc dnc Brightlingsea Open 7-8th May bright11 rank boat sail no club helm R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 total pts 1st Contraband OK 2118 Weymouth SC T Curtis 1 1 (3) 2 1 1 9 6 2nd Gert OK 2124 Glossop T Woods (8) 2 1 1 4 2 18 10 3rd OK 2117 Overy Staithe A Scoles 2 (6) 6 4 2 3 23 17 4th Turtlehead OK 2116 South Staffs E Bradburn 3 8 (9) 3 5 4 32 23 5th The Fugitive OK 2084 Morecambe & Heysham K Byers 5 3 (11) 7 3 6 35 24 6th OK 2123 Overy Staithe SC A Turner 4 5 5 5 (8) 5 32 24 7th OK 2134 Glossop C Perry 13 4 4 6 7 (dnf) 52 34 8th OK 224 Tollesbury P Church 6 14 8 (15) 6 8 57 42 9th OK 2139 Acton Water SC R Cambell-Grey 7 9 (14) 8 11 9 58 44 10th OK 2045 Overy Staithe SC W Turner 11 7 2 10 (ocs) dnf 66 48 11th Going For Broke OK 2135 South Staffs W Bradburn 9 10 (12) 9 12 11 63 51 12th OK 2100 Brightlingsea SC J Ball (ocs) 12 7 11 OCS 7 73 55 13th Windfall OK 2088 Upper Thames SC R Gadsby (16) 12 13 13 10 10 74 58 14th Idolatry OK 2137 Deben YC S Shaw 14 11 (15) 14 9 12 75 60 15th OK 200 Dabchicks L Child 10 13 (dnf) 12 13 13 79 61 16th Yole de Vivre OK 2104 Covenham SC P Pike 15 15 10 16 14 (dns) 88 70 17th OK 124 Dabchicks SC T Hurst 17 16 (dns) 17 15 14 97 79 inline_lt 45% ../global_pics/bright111.jpg Alex Scoles Still no report. Here's a picture of Alex. Largs Open Meeting 21st, 22nd May largs11 rank sail_no helm club R1 R2 R3 R4 total nett 1st 2134 Nick Craig Frensham Pond SC -1 1 1 1 4 3 2nd 2084 Keith Byers Morcambe & Heysham SC 2 3 -4 2 11 7 3rd 2085 Gavin Waldron South Staffs SC 4 2 -6 6 18 12 4th 2123 Andy Turner Overy Staithe/Adrleigh SC 5 4 -8 5 22 14 5th 2125 Neil Goodhead South Staffs SC 6 5 -7 4 22 15 6th 2124 Tony Woods Glossop SC 3 (11.0 DNC) 2 11.0 DNF 27 16 7th 2121 Tony Rich Oxford SC (11.0 DNF) 11.0 DNS 3 3 28 17 8th 2119 Martin Bower Blithfield SC 8 7 5 (11.0 DNF) 31 20 9th 2134 (Brown Deck) Richard Burton West Oxford SC 7 6 -9 7 29 20 10th 2062 Brian Quayle Isle Of Man (11.0 DNS) 11.0 DNC 10 11.0 DNF 43 32 inline_lt 45% ../gallery/largs11/largs111.jpg Race start at Largs Open 2011 As a warm up to the Worlds later in the year, Largs Sailing Club hosted an open meeting on 21st & 22nd May. The hardy visitors were greeted by the splendour of the Scottish summer. Saturday proved windy at Largs with an average breeze of around 25 knots and gusts well up into the mid 30's. Racing was confined to the more sheltered Largs Channel as a forecast of over 40 knots prevented the fleet heading North to the more exposed championship race area. The fleet was depleted due to the severity of the weather forecast however, 10 OKs braved the conditions and took to the water along with 6 RS200's. The Finn class who were due to attend decided it was all too much and didn't turn up! Nick Craig started as he meant to go on and led from the start and sailed off into the distance in the first race in a good breeze with Tony Woods & Keith Byers close behind. Woods broke his kicker on the run and could not get dead downwind in the rising wind, allowing Byers and Gavin Waldron to sail past. Byers gybed early on the run and in sailing by the lee allowed Waldron to edge past. The move paid for Byers as a strong gust hit both of them causing submarine impressions, but having gybed already Byers was left pointing in the right direction when control was regained. Woods also took advantage of the situation to reach in from the wing mark to regain third. inline_rt 45% ../gallery/largs11/largs114.jpg Gavin Waldron at Largs Open 2011 The second race started in a similar vein, minus Woods who went shore bound in search of spectra. Byers followed Craig in second with Waldron, Neil Goodhead and Andy Turner having a very close race for third place. By the end of the second beat Waldron had pulled away from Turner, however the crafty old man went high to meet a pressure front and surfed into third. Waldron learned from Byers in the first race and gybed before the pressure arrived. Turner struggled to control after a heavy weather gybe and went behind Waldron, who took second from Byers who lost ground unable to gybe when the pressure reached him. In a final blast Waldron capsized just after crossing the finish in a gust that claimed a number of casualties who were still on the run. Woods arrived back out after mending his kicker just in time to see the AP flag hoisted. After food & entertainment in the clubhouse the more hardy in the fleet took to their tents for the night. The sensible went to nice warm B & B's. Sunday morning dawned with a drop in the wind and a hint of sunshine. Nick lead from the start but was closely chased by Tony Rich. Woods overhauled him to take 2nd with Byers 4th and Martin Bower taking a well deserved 5th after getting the tricky shifts at the windward mark right. Race 4 was led by Woods at the first mark with Craig, Goodhead, Rich and Byers and Bower all very close behind. Woods fluffed his gybe at the wing mark and broke his tiller extention saving a swim. Bower also took a swim at the gybe. At the top of the second beat the wind rose to its strongest of the day, in excess of 35knots, leading to a very hairy run. Craig showed his class by massively extending his lead, with Byers also revelling in the strong wind pulling through to second, with Rich third. After a pause to allow a large ship with its tugboats through the race area the wind started to build as forecast and the racing was cancelled for the day allowing the fleet to pack the boats up early ready for the journey home. Overy Staithe SC 4th & 5th June os11 rank helm Race 1 2 3 4 pts with 1 discard 1st Robert Deaves 1 2 1 1 3 2nd Andy Turner 3 1 dsq 2 6 3rd Pete Turner 5 3 2 3 8 4th Neil Goodhead 4 4 3 4 11 5th Dave Cooper 6 5 4 5 14 6th Alex Scoles 2 dns dns dns 24 7th Paul Pike 8 6 dns dns 26 8th Simon Shaw 7 dns dns dns 31 9th= Richard White dnf dns dns dns 36 9th= Bob Austin dnf dns dns dns 36 9th= Teddy Arrowsmith dnf dns dns dns 36 inline_lt 45% ../gallery/os11/os111.jpg Robert Deaves, event winner 11 OK sailors turned up on the Friday evening for the 40th anniversary of the first OK Open Meeting at Overy Staithe (won that year (1971) by Dave Cooper). Although the weather was sunny there was a cold north easterly wind and a rough sea with 2 metre waves outside the bar. Alex Scoles had a good lead in race 1 at the windward mark, followed by Pete Turner, Robert Deaves and Neil Goodhead. Robert gradually eroded Alex's lead. Pete surrendered third place with a capsize on the run and Andy Turner managed to pass Neil. At the finish Robert just pipped Alex to win with Andy third and Neil 4th. Three boats decided conditions were too rough and sensibly returned to the shore, unfortunately missing the flat water race that was to follow. The fleet then headed in over the bar, with the safety boat busy extracting Teddy Arrowsmith's boat, and Teddy, from the surf on the bar and Alex Scoles standing by so that he missed race 2. The wind was up to a five as race 2 got under way with Andy Turner making a good start and leading at the windward mark. He then proceeded to keep Robert Deaves behind him through a succession of planning reaches and fetches with Pete Turner not far behind. Neill was again fourth. inline_rt 45% ../gallery/os11/os112.jpg Start, race 3 The fleet what somewhat depleted on day 2, with the wind still up at force 5. Robert Deaves and Pete Turner made the best starts to race 3 and had a good tussle round the first lap. Andy Turner gradually caught up and overtook Pete, only to hit a mark, and whilst rather untidily doing his 360 somehow got the wrong side of the buoy he had hit and "unwound" himself, and so was not given a finishing gun. Neil was therefore promoted to third and Dave Cooper to 4th. Dave had fixed his slipping halliard for race 4 which Pete Turner led at the windward mark, chased by Robert and Andy for the first lap with some exhilarating planes and reasonably executed gybes and the three boats never more than a boat length apart. On the last lap Pete was passed, first by Robert and subsequently Andy just before the last beat to the finish. Parkstone Yacht Club 11th & 12th June park Rank SailNo Boat HelmName Club R1 R2 R3 Total Nett 1st 2134 Team Gill Nick Craig Frensham Pond SC 2 1 1 4 4 2nd 2118 Contraband Terry Curtis UBC/WSC 1 2 2 5 5 3rd 2142 Knud Ian Harris Bristol Corinthian SC 3 3 3 9 9 4th 2101 Another Brick Julian Burnham RYA 4 4 4 12 12 5th 2130 Deryck Lovegrove Burghfield SC 5 5 6 16 16 6th 2121 Anthony Rich West Oxfordshire SC 6 8 5 19 19 7th 2135 Going for Broke W. Bradburn South Staffs SC 7 7 7 21 21 8th 2140 Ghrelin Simon Hoult RYA 8 6 9.0 DNF 23 23 Southern Area Championships at Weymouth SC 2nd and 3rd July wey11 Place Sail No Name Helm Club Race_1 Race_2 Race_3 Race_4 Race_5 Race_6 Nt Pts 1 2134 Team Gill Nick Craig Frensham Pond 1 (2 1 1 1 2 6 2 2118 Gbr 2118 Terry Curtis Weymouth SC / Upper Thames SC 2 1 5 2 2 (6 12 3 2124 Ok Tony Woods Glossop SC 5 (9 2 4 4 1 16 4 2142 Knud Ian Harris Bristol Corinthian YC 4 7 (8 7 3 4 25 5 2084 The Fugitive Keith Byers Morecambe And Heysham YC (10 6 6 3 9 9 33 6 2096 Chris Perry Glossop SC 9 5 (18/DNC) 8 5 7 34 7 2119 Knok Knok Martin Bower Blithfield 6 10 (12 9 7 3 35 8 2129 Boingboing Alan Atkin Burghfield SC (17/OCS) 12 7 6 8 8 41 9 2141 Simon Davis Upper Thames SC 3 4 3 (18/DNC) 18/DNC 18/DNC 46 10 2101 Julian Burnham RYA 7 3 4 (18/DNC) 18/DNC 18/DNC 50 11 21 Richard Burton West Oxfordshire SC 8 8 9 12 (13 13 50 12 2121 Anthony Rich West Oxfordshire SC (18/DNC) 18/DNC 18/DNC 5 6 5 52 13 2130 Midnight Express Deryck Lovegrove Burghfield SC 11 (15 10 13 10 10 54 14 2060 Foreign Affair Tony Elgar Weymouth SC (17/OCS) 11 13 10 11 11 56 15 1990 Damselfly Oliver Burrows West Oxfordshire SC 13 (14 11 11 12 12 59 16 2088 Windfall Roland Gadsby Upper Thames SC 12 13 14 (18/DNC) 18/DNC 18/DNC 75 17 1740 tom wells 14 16 (18/DNC) 14 14 18/DNC 76 The OK Southern Area Championships were superbly hosted by Weymouth Sailing Club during the weekend of 2/3 July. The event was the last competitive outing before the fleet heads up to Largs, Scotland for the UK National Championships, and World Championships during the last two weeks of July. The wind gods didn't really provide the conditions for tuning up for a World Championships but thanks to some excellent race management the quality of the racing was just what was required. Throughout the 6 race series the racing was nip and tuck all the way. Nick Craig was never far from the lead and used this event as his final warm up for a World Championships that he features as one of the favourites. Craig is well known for his exploits in many classes and usually plays the field like a school leaver on a long weekend in Magaluf, but this year has concentrated on training and racing the OK at events in the UK and Europe. He won 4 out of the 6 races and secured top spot thanks to his excellent race tactics and aggressive style when required. Terry Curtis took second place on his home waters. Curtis ranked number 4 in the world given the right conditions also looks set to challenge for a podium finish in the 'big one' at the end of July. His legendary boat speed paid dividends on the few occasions he got it wrong on the first beat, and he won race 2 under pressure from Craig all the way. Tony Woods took third place overall taking a win in the important medal race, thanks to a hiking style that Craig and Curtis can only dream of. Further down the field Ian Harris, Keith Byers, Chris Perry, Alan Atkin and Martin Bower all led races at some point, and went home with more than a few would have, could have, should have, stories. The two junior sailors Oliver Burrows and Tim Wells made a great attempt to mix it with the rest of the fleet and the sight of Olly luffing the National Champion Curtis on the reach was one that will remain in the memory for some time. The UK fleet now look forward to taking on the very best OK sailors that Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Norway, and USA have to offer. It's going to be a great event.
Bring it on. National Championships 2011 18-22nd July: results after 2 days nats11 Rank Tally Nat SailNo HelmName Club R1 R2 R3 Total Nett 1st 29 GBR 2134 Nick Craig Frensham 1 2 2 5 5 2nd 40 NZL 522 Greg Wilcox 2 4 3 9 9 3rd 36 SWE 100 Thomas Hansson-Mild 6 3 1 10 10 4th 39 POL 19 Bartek Rakocy 5 5 5 15 15 5th 37 GER 693 Martin Von Zimmerman 4 8 4 16 16 6th 38 DEN 1388 Stepan Myraif Hellerup 12 6 6 24 24 7th 23 GBR 2118 Terry Curtis Weymouth 9 7 8 24 24 8th 2 NZL 542 Alistair Deaves Wakatere 15 10 7 32 32 9th 11 DEN 1340 Christian Olesen Hvidovre 10 14 9 33 33 10th 26 GBR 2124 Tony Woods Glossop 7 18 12 37 37 11th 28 GBR 21 Richard Burton W Oxford 16 12 11 39 39 12th 8 AUS 750 Peter Robinson Drummoyne 11 13 16 40 40 13th 10 DEN 1335 Mogens Johansen Solrod Strand 19 11 13 43 43 14th 1 SWE 1100 Hans Elkjaer Varberg 21 15 10 46 46 15th 5 AUS 729 Andre Blasse Black Rock 3 1 43.0 DNC 47 47 16th 7 AUS 739 Mark Roberts Adelaide 18 17 15 50 50 17th 18 GBR 2084 Keith Byers Morecambe 13 21 19 53 53 18th 19 GBR 2085 Gavin Waldron South Staffs 20 19 14 53 53 19th 25 GBR 2123 Andy Turner Overy Staithe 24 16 18 58 58 20th 14 GBR 2125 Neil Goodhead South Staffs 22 20 17 59 59 21st 6 AUS 732 Tim Davies 14 9 43.0 DNC 66 66 22nd 35 GBR 2068 Tom Lonsdale 25 29 20 74 74 23rd 24 GBR 2119 Martin Bower Blithfield 23 30 22 75 75 24th 9 DEN 1265 Malte Pederson Royal Danish 28 23 24 75 75 25th 4 AUS 724 Glenn Yates Wangi ASC 26 28 23 77 77 26th 41 GBR 2107 Darren Prior Morecambe 33 26 21 80 80 27th 34 GBR 2139 Robert Campbell-Gray Overy Staithe 29 27 25 81 81 28th 31 GBR 2137 Simon Shaw Deben 30 25 27 82 82 29th 21 GBR 2096 Chris Perry Glossop 17 24 43.0 DNC 84 84 30th 42 GBR 2031 Dave Cooper Overy Staithe 31 31 26 88 88 31st 32 GBR 2141 Simon Davis Upper Thames 27 22 43.0 DNC 92 92 32nd 33 GBR 2142 Ian Harris Bristol Corinthian 8 43.0 DNC 43.0 DNC 94 94 33rd 15 GBR 2062 Brian Quayle Manx 32 32 33 97 97 34th 30 GBR 2135 Bill Bradburn South Staffs 35 33 30 98 98 35th 27 GBR 2129 Alan Atkin Burghfield 34 36 29 99 99 36th 22 GBR 2104 Paul Pike Covenham 38 34 28 100 100 37th 3 AUS 692 Bill Tyler Drummoyne 36 35 31 102 102 38th 20 GBR 2088 Richard Gadsby Upper Thames 37 37 32 106 106 39th GBR 2118 L.Blue Oliver Burrows W Oxford 40 38 34 112 112 40th 13 GBR 2012 Teddy Arrowsmith Brancaster 41 43.0 DNF 35 119 119 41st 16 GBR 2065 Bob Austin Milton Keynes 39 43.0 DNC 43.0 DNC 125 125 42nd 17 GBR 2067 Matthew Bates South Staffs 42 43.0 DNF 43.0 DNC 128 128 inline_rt 45% ../docs/nats2b.jpg The 2011 International OK Dinghy National Championships got under way today in Largs, Scotland with great conditions for the 42 competitors to enjoy. The UK boys were joined by 16 foreign sailors here early to warm up for next week's World Championship. A north westerly breeze of around 10 knots meant that the Race management Team could set a full championship course in the race area to the north of Great Cumbrae Island. Race 1 - kicked off after a short postponement to give the competitors time to reach the starting area and the breeze built steadily through the race peaking at around 15 knots. First out of the trap was Ian Harris (UK), closely followed by Nick Craig, Kiwi Greg Wilcox and Aussie Andre Blasse. Craig (UK) took the lead showing great downwind speed and used his experience to hold the rest of the fleet at bay to take the bullet. Wilcox (NZ) maintained second from Blasse (AUS) with Martin Von Zimmerman (GER) sailing consistently to finish fourth. Shortly after the last boats finished Race 1 the wind backed a little and the course was reset quickly. Harris (UK) has shown sparks of brilliance over the last few years but this was the first time he had led a quality fleet. When asked what the experience was like he commented "I had an amazing start after spotting a sag in the line and went for it. It's a great feeling to be leading four OK World Champions at the first mark". Race 2 - started without delay. The breeze stayed consistent although there were plenty of minor shifts around that meant the sailors had to keep their heads out the boat if they were to maximise their chances of getting to the front. They also had to watch for the occasional gust which resulted in a few sailors taking an unexpected dip in the Firth of Clyde. Blasse (AUS) took the gun from Craig (UK) sailing consistently. Former World Champion Thomas Hansson-Mild (SWE) improving on his sixth place in race one finishing third with Wilcox (NZ) fourth and young Bartek Rakocy (POL) in fifth. Race 3 - started immediately after the fleet returned to the starting area as the wind was now well established and was a solid force 4. The conditions provided the sailors with great tactical sailing and the downwind experts had some good waves to exercise the fine art of catching the surf to maximum effect. Those observing enjoyed the spectacle of 42 OKs snaking their way down the run while trying to stay on the waves. The race was dominated by Hanson-Mild (SWE). After nailing the start he then stretched his lead on every leg to take the win in convincing style. Craig (UK) had to fight his way through to finished in second after an unusually mediocre start with Wilcox (NZ) again in the mix in third and Von Zimmerman (GER) fourth. Rakocy (POL) is only 19 years of age and established himself as a real prospect when winning the European Championships last year in Medemblik. Scoring three fifth places today, he will surely be in the mix for next week's World title. inline_rt 45% ../docs/nats2a.jpg Waiting for the breeze on day 2 Youth and Junior Champs at Upper Thames SC 20th August yjc11 Place Helm Category Sail No. Club R1 R2 R3 Gross Pts 1 Richard Burton Youth 2141 WOSC 2 1 -6 9 3 2 Sam Blocksidge Junior 2125 SSSC 3 -4 1 8 4 3 Pete Mitchell 2134 1 3 -3 7 4 4 Adrian Walker Junior 2126 SSSC -4 2 2 8 4 5 Olly Burrows Cadet 2094 WOSC 5 -7 5 17 10 6 Piers Cadet 2101 OSC 7 -9 4 20 11 Smith 7 James Hobern Cadet 1983 UTSC 6 5 -7 18 11 8 Matthew Bates Junior 2067 SSSC 8 6 -9 23 14 9 James Fraser Cadet 208 UTSC -9 8 8 25 16 inline_lt 50% ../gallery/yjc11/yjc111.jpg Richard Burton So as we arrived we were greeted by little wind (and for some of us, no boat!). All 9 competitors rigged, registered and prepared for what was a good day of close racing. The wind built slightly with some patchy gusts and the fleet began to launch ready for the 11:30 start. Race 1 got underway on the first gun, with first time ok sailor, Pete Mitchell taking a considerable lead by the windward mark round the dog leg of the river. Pete had stayed right, with Richard 'Rick' Burton in tow, and Sam 'half pint' Blocksidge and Adrian 'Luigi' Walker playing cat and mouse. Pete remained untouched throughout the race with Rich second, Sam third who managed to shake Adrian (4th) off, leaving Ollie Burrows 5th but 1st Cadet. So after the lunch break the 9 strong fleet launched in rain and little wind for the second race of the day with the course staying the same. Burt took the lead from the start followed by Luigi for the whole race with Mitchell third and Half Pint fourth. Places remained for the majority of the race with Luigi getting Rick worried downwind and Mitchell approaching quickly. Places for the race however stayed the same with James Hobern getting a credible 5th (or 1st cadet). inline_lt 50% ../gallery/yjc11/yjc112.jpg YJC fleet For the third race, the rain had stopped and the wind was shifting considerably making it difficult to set a course. The race officer managed to do so and changed the course and the first mark was in the other direction meaning a start was possible. So going into the final race, it was all to be played for with Burt being challenged for the win of the event by Adrian and Pete. With Ollie Burrows and James Hobern competing to win the under 16 category. It was yet another clean start with most the fleet starting at the starboard end and Adrian and Piers taking their chances at the port end. The starboard end turned out to pay off as the wind shifted in favour and was slightly stronger nearer the windward bank. So half pint rounded first but places soon changed as the fleet went upstream with Matt 'Harry' Bates taking the lead momentarily until the rest of the fleet took advantage of the windshift and the bank. There was plenty of shouting going on as Adrian emerged with a fair lead until wind and tactics let him down and Half Pint rounded first with Mitchell second but hitting the mark and Luigi third. The downwind leg saw Luigi catch Half Pint and going for the overtake but being unsuccessful. With three short legs remaining, Half Pint took the win leaving Luigi second and Mitchell third with Burt down the pan. Piers finished fourth and Ollie Burrows fifth. So the win overall goes to world youth champion Rick on his last year in the youth category. He was unexpected to sail quickly given the fact it was light winds, the boat may well have been left on auto-pilot from Simon Davis? The next three places were decided on countback leaving Second to Half Pint with the best possible result for him after the first 2 races. Pete third, and Luigi fourth. Fifth and first Cadet goes to Ollie Burrows. There was some very close and competitive racing with just one point separating first from fourth. Well done to all competitors and thanks must got to Upper Thames Sailing Club for hosting a wonderful event and making the most of the conditions. Also thanks to people who kindly loaned their boats to the up and coming OK fleet! However annoyance to Rich as the junior rep and winner as he didn't get wet and an unmentionable mistake was made! Upper Thames SC 21st August ut11 position helm club 1st Simon Davis UTSC 2nd Julian Burnham RYA 3rd Richard Burton WOSC 4th Neil Goodhead South Staffs 5th Oliver Burrows WOSC 6th Piers Smith Oxford 7th Roy Burnham UTSC 8th James Hobern UTSC 9th Richard Pausey UTSC 10th Derek Berry UTSC 11th James Fraser UTSC 12th Jenny Portsmouth UTSC 13th Matthew Bates South Staffs 14th Martin Elliott UTSC 15th Roger Cooper UTSC 16th David Finlayson UTSC 17th Chris Ridley UTSC a windless day inspired a huge fleet of 17 ok sailors to the river thames at bourne end. after some sleep woke up with a hang over the fleet were ready and raring to go at 11.30. the first start was on the clubs transit. and as a gust filled in it was richard burton who was fastest off the line gaining a large lead as the gust vanished and the stream of the river took over. richard lead round the first mark with, it appeared, neil and james hobern just behind. but from a wormhole in space simon 'the timelord' davis arrived to imediately overtake richard. these positions held until richard found some weed to get stuck loosing out to neil and james. simon almost made the same mistake and neil caught up but couldn't pass. so simon finished first neil second richard picked up his heels to finish 3rd with james with a well deserved 4th. the second race was another simon ghosts the fleet and disapears. with a large fleet chasing for 2nd including neil, richard, roy burnham, oli burrows (a junior) julian burnam ( not a junior), peirs smith (another junior). the race was short lived for richard though as he pushed the limit on how close can you get to the bank and snapped his centreboard. it was jules and neil who broke out the pack with oli not far behind. jules claimed to be catching simon as the race was finished after 32 minutes. simon taking the bullet jules 2nd and neil 3rd and oli a great 4th. a mention must go to mike edwards who turned up in a topper with 2 extra crew???? i think hes loosing it after burts large fail in a borrowed boat. simon offered up his boat. the od moved up river to a straight and a fantastic sausage course. with the wind building with simon watched nervously from the bank. the race started with homer nailing the start and taking an early lead with jules and burt just behind. as jules passed homer upwind and held on downwind. on the next beat richard passed neil leaving in a strop and trying to recover as oli picked some ground almost overtaking our illustrious leader. so the battle was on for the lead jules with an unusual advantage upwind and burt with an uncharcteristic advantage downwind. after a bit yo yo racing the last lap came around. and with a river cruiser passing richard picked up some wind and wavlets to draw level with jules and as jules luffed richard ducked and gybed. bad decision it turned out as that ment he had further to sail jules took the gun by half a boat length. meaning overall dr. who finished first jules 2nd and burt 3rd. a big thanks to the club for organising a great event both days and to the race officer for some good decisions and martin elliot for getting it all together Ardleigh SC 17th Sept ard11 place sail_no helm (club) R1 R2 R3 points 1 2138 Robert Deaves (Waldringfield) 1 2 1 2 2 2142 Ian Harris (Bristol Corinthian) 6 1 2 3 3 2123 Andy Turner (Overy Staithe) 5 3 3 6 4 2059 Pete Turner (Overy Staithe) 3 5 dns 8 5 2075 Paul Constable (Ardleigh) 4 4 8 8 6 2107 Dave Bourne (Upriver) 2 7 7 9 7 2100 John Ball (Ardleigh) 9 6 6 12 8 200 Lee Child (Dabchicks) 8 9 5 13 9 2137 Simon Shaw (Deben) 10 8 9 17 10 224 Paul Church (Ardleigh) dnf dns 4 19 11 1748 Mark Earley (Havering) 11 10 11 21 12 2045 Will Turner (Overy Staithe) 7 dnf dns 22 13 1907 Rhys Lankester (Bristol Corinthian) dnf dns 10 25 14 2136 Simon Cox (Waldringfield) dnf dnf dnf 30 inline_rt 45% ../gallery/ard11/ard111.jpg OKs at Ardleigh SC It was a windy westerly and sunny as 14 OKs came to the start line for the Ardleigh OK Open. In Race 1 Ian Harris shot up the beat and into the lead at the first mark, closely followed by Paul Constable and Robert Deaves whilst the rest of the fleet tried to come to terms with the gusty conditions. Ian pulled out a reasonable lead only to capsize (twice) on the gybe mark to let Robert into the lead. Further back John Ball pulled up to a good position, as did Lee Child sailing his old Seamark Nunn boat extremely well. On the long run John Ball was attacked by Team Turner and all three got past. At the finish Robert held on to first with Dave Bourne second, sailing his first open meeting since 2004, and Pete Turner third. inline_lt 45% ../gallery/ard11/ard113.jpg OKs at Ardleigh SC After lunch race 2 was sailed in more wind. Unfortunately the wind veered after the start so everyone made the windward mark without tacking and the race became a procession, led by Ian Harris. Robert Deaves and Will Turner had a good battle for second, won by Robert, and Andy Turner was third. Race 3 saw Simon Cox leading at the windward mark, chased by Ian Harris, Andy Turner and Lee Child. On the second beat Andy picked up a good shift to take the lead and hold it for another lap until another giant shift saw Ian Harris take the lead with Robert right behind. Paul Church, fresh from busting his Proctor mast in race 1, closed right up but couldn't quite break into the top 3. At the finish Robert was first, Ian second and Andy third. Many thanks to the Race Team, particularly Steve Ede, for putting on another successful OK Open. Cartoon Trophy 18th September cart11 Rank SailNo HelmName R1 R2 Total Nett 1st 2138 Robert Deaves 1 1 2 2 2nd 2120 Dan Agar 4 2 6 6 3rd 522 Ian Harris 2 4 6 6 4th 2054 Luke Farthing 6 3 9 9 5th 2123 Andy Turner 3 6 9 9 6th 224 Paul Church 5 8 13 13 7th 2045 James Case 9 5 14 14 8th 2137 Simon Shaw 7 7 14 14 9th 1605 Simon Barber 8 9 17 17 10th 1917 Rhys Lankester 10 10 20 20 11th 1748 Mark Earley 11 11 22 22 12th 2136 Simon Cox 13.0 DNC 13.0 DNC 26 26 An excellent turn out at Waldringfield saw lots of new faces joining the regular culprits. It made for some close and exciting-ish racing at the Cartoon trophy. With the number of OKs increased by combining the excellent Ardeigh meeting with a truncated WSC Cartoon, racing took place on a flood tide and under patchy cloud. Race 1 started a drag race from the start line with Andy Turner showing some good pace, speedy Simon Shaw giving the eventual race winner Rob Deaves something to think about, and the others all falling behind. Essentially it was all down to how you took on the tide, with Turner opting to risk it over the shallows up the 1st beat. Simon Cox looked to have put himself in position A1 up against the windward bank and in breeze, but, it being a funny "laugh yer socks off" kind of day, Simon was left hung out to dry at the back of the fleet at the windward mark. Typically awesome shifts and interesting and slightly concerning gusts added to the entertainment, one such puff taking Harris by surprise from behind and nearly turning his world upside down for the 2nd day running, but he survived much to the amusement of Dan Agar in 4th spot. It was great to see Luke Farthing back in his OK and sailing really well. An added bonus too came in the form of the vintage Seamark Nunn OK restoration society with Simon Baker and Mark up with the pack early on and adding to the lunchtime banter. Also making an appearance after 20 years away from the Deben was Rhys Lancaster in his stunning Rowsell. Deaves took the win with Harris only just wrestling the 2nd place spot from Turner at the final mark with Dan Agar 4th. The traditional WSC long lunch followed. With a light breeze a course was set for some challenging racing as the tide reached its peak. With his best intentions at heart, the race officer kept the course tight and demanding. He duly sent the Larks off only for the wind to pick up, and, just as in Easters meeting, the 1st fleets were 1 lap around and through the start finish before the final fleet had set off. Deep joy. Chaos with Squibs Cadets Lasers and Wayferers racing a figure of 8 duly ensued. Big boats rule. Big boats with spinnakers even more so. Big boats with spinnakers and old people helming really do gain your attention. As with race 1, the start was all too critical. Deaves got it right and led all the way round. Luke Farthing again showed pace and good decision making and was only just pipped at the post by Agar who in doing so demoted Harris to Journalist. One of the dangers of joining a 2 day meeting halfway through became apparent as the race officer quite rightly sent everyone packing on a dying breeze. The last race was abandoned. NB Easter Agar also sneaked in to leave me the Journalist job at Easter. The 1st 3 were the same, Deaves, Agar Harris. The results, says Dan, were the same except that he scored more 1sts. Either way, the cartoon race 2 was almost identical to the fun and games of the Easter meeting. Inland Championships at Northampton SC 1st and 2nd October inlands11 place helm Sail_no R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 points 1 Nick Craig 2134 1 1 -2 1 1 4 2 Alex Scoles SWE100 4 2 (OCS) 2 2 10 3 Robert Deaves 2138 5 5 1 -9 4 15 4 Terry Curtis 2118 3 -6 5 5 3 16 5 Julian Bumham 2101 7 4 -9 6 5 22 6 Ed Bradbum 2116 2 7 (OCS) 7 9 25 7 Richard Burton 21 6 10 -12 3 10 29 8 Nei! Goodhead 2125 8 8 6 -10 8 29 9 Tony Woods 2124 10 3 4 14 (DNC) 30 10 Bill Bradbum 2135 12 -21 10 4 7 31 11 Andy Turner 2123 11 -16 3 15 6 33 12 Chris Perry 2096 9 9 8 16 (DNC) 35 13 Bob Bourne 2071 13 11 7 13 -15 42 14 Alan Atkin 2129 -14 14 13 8 14 44 15 Anthony Rich 2121 -21 19 14 11 12 49 16 Ben Sreel 2080 -23 12 16 12 16 56 17 Deryck Lovegrove 2130 15 15 -19 17 13 60 18 Tony Elgar 2060 17 17 17 -19 11 65 19 Bill Sylvester 1984 -18 18 11 18 18 65 20 Paul Pike 2104 16 20 18 -21 19 73 21 Roland Gadsby 2088 20 13 15 (DNC) DNC 76 22 Mary Reddyhoff 2058 19 22 20 22 (DNC) 83 23 Mark Earley 1748 22 23 23 -26 20 88 24 Dave Cooper 2031 (DNC) DNC DNC 20 17 93 25 Sam Thomson 1886 24 24 21 24 (DNC) 93 26 Colin Page 1927 25 -26 24 25 21 95 27 Chris Palucsis 1915 26 25 22 23 (DNC) 96 inline_lt 50% inlands11_nick.jpg Nick Craig: triple title holder In winning the 2011 OK Dinghy Inland Championships at Northampton Sailing Club over the weekend of 1st and 2nd October, Nick Craig has become the first person ever to hold the World, UK National and Inland titles. After the extreme winds and wintry weather for the past three years, the fleet of 27 boats arrived this year to a complete contrast and were greeted by a mirror like Pitsford Reservoir and soaring temperatures. It was a very hot, balmy weekend, and due to the conditions only five out of the scheduled six races could be sailed. Racing on Saturday finally started in 8-10 knots after an hour delay in temperatures approaching 30 degrees. In race one, Craig started well and for the only time during the weekend led round the first mark. He extended for a big win with Ed Bradburn finally claiming second from defending champion Terry Curtis. But that was about as easy as it got for Craig. Tony Woods found the best route in the second race and opened up a sizable lead with Craig some way back. However Craig nibbled away, working the boat hard both upwind and downwind and eventually caught up on the second beat along with Alex Scoles. Scoles took the lead down the run, but Craig worked himself into an overlap at the downwind mark to take a second race win. Scoles placed second with Woods in third. After a late lunch the fleet set out for a third race, though the wind had already started to fade. Starting in 3-4 knots a long port tack leg out of the start to the dam end of the reservoir opened the only crack in Craig's armour as he struggled to keep height with the fleet. Andy Turner rounded the top mark overlapped with Robert Deaves and the two opened up a nice gap from a very bunched up chasing pack. Deaves took the lead on the downwind and extended to win while Turner got caught by Craig but hung onto third. Ten minutes after coming ashore the wind switched off completely. Sunday started in much the same way as Saturday with no wind, high temperatures and lots of fluid intake. The wind filled in slightly earlier so the first race got away at 11.00 in 2-3 knots. This was the patchiest race of the weekend with boats pointing all angles to the top mark with first the left then the right and then the left looking good. Eventually Alex Scoles had had enough of tacking and took a long port tack to the shore, and popped out with a nice lead while those on the left were hung out to dry. Once again Craig worked away at Scoles' lead to pass him on the final downwind and take a third race win, which gave him the title with a race to spare. Unexpectedly the wind really picked up for the final race to a solid 15-16 knots, which combined with 28 degrees and hot sunshine was a perfect finale. Again Scoles banged in a corner and led until the final stages when Craig took control to win again. Deaves and Curtis had a battle for third, with Curtis securing third on the line on the final shift by less than a boatlength. inline_rt 50% inlands11_winners.jpg Winners: (left to right) Bill Bradburn, Nick Craig, Alex Scoles, Robert Deaves, Richard Burton So Craig takes the Inland Championship for the first time since 2002 to add to the National and World titles won in Largs earlier this year. In typical Craig fashion he had turned up with a new unrigged Aardspars mast and proceeded to try and rig it in his own dysfunctional way. This was partially successful, though he ended up sailing with no kicker for most of the weekend, no halyard and the mast foot was held on by nothing more than duct tape. However, the mast performed well and is hopefully early signs that the UK has finally produced a competitive and competitively priced mast. He was certainly seemed to have a speed and height edge over everyone else in most conditions, in combination with his Scolesbreaker hull and a Speed sail. Scoles used his own custom built hull with a New Zealand C-Tech mast and a second hand Quantum sail, while Deaves used a New Zealand Icebreaker with a C-Tech and a Quantum. Bill Bradburn narrowly beat Andy Turner to Veteran's trophy after a great final day, while Richard Burton took the youth prize again after picking up some good results during the weekend and placing seventh overall. After an exceptional weekend's sailing in tropical conditions, Craig summed it up nicely at the prizegiving when he said, "Who needs to go to Garda when you have Northampton Sailing Club?" Burghfield SC 8th Oct bur11 Rank Class SailNo Helm Club R1 R2 R3 Nett 1st OK 2141 Simon Davis Burghfield SC 1 -2 1 2 2nd OK 2130 Deryck Lovegrove Burghfield SC 3 1 (6 DNF) 4 3rd OK 21 Richard Burton West Oxfordshire SC 2 -3 2 4 4th OK 2129 Alan Atkin Burghfield SC -4 4 3 7 5th OK 1917 Rhys Lankester Bristol Corinthian YC -5 5 4 9 A grey day at Burghfield! But one full of surprises met the best of the OK class (in the vicinity of Theale) in the penultimate OK event this year. The first race was fully of chopping and changing, with Richard coming off the line in the lead. However Alan using his extensive ok and Burghfield lake knowledge appeared from the other side of the island in the lead and led the whole of the first lap with Richard chasing hard. Simon was fighting off Deryck with Rhys not far behind. Richard overtook Alan un the next beat with simon also pulling through. Richard pulled out a huge advantage only to be stopped by the weed which harassed everyone all day long. Simon took advantage of this popping out in the lead these positions held until Deryck pipped Alan to the finish. Race 2 was very simple Deryck came off the line at the starboard end and no one saw him again as he sailed a perfect bullet Simon came in second and Richard a distant 3rd. Race 3 was a tightly fought affair with Simon leading at the top with Richard and Deryck just behind. Richard closed the gap on Simon managing to get some luck (for once) in that Simon caught the weed as Richard pulled through. Deryck sailed in for some unknown reasons and Alan and Rhys stepped up to 3rd and 4th. Richard then managed to have the same problems as Simon on the next 2 beats somewhat slowing him down. Simon won with Richard 2nd, Alan 3rd and Rhys 4th. Simon took the event with Deryck a well-deserved 2nd and Richard 3rd. a great event and I forgot to mention some other class were wandering round the lake at the same time some sort of boat called a phantom I think!! But again a great event. South Staffs SC 16th Oct ss11 rank sail_no helm club r1 r2 r3 nett 1 2116 Ed Bradburn SSSC 1 1 -2 2 2 2125 Neil Goodhead SSSC -3 3 1 4 3 2135 Bill Bradburn SSSC -5 2 5 7 4 21 Richard Burton West Oxford 2 5 -18 DNF 7 5 2108 Will Croxford SSSC -6 4 3 7 6 2084 Keith Byers Morecambe & Heysham 4 -6 4 8 7 2127 Andy Holmes SSSC -11 7 6 13 8 2 Chris Cook SSSC 9 -10 7 16 9 2117 Adrian Walker SSSC 7 -16 9 16 10 2130 Deryck Lovegrove Burghfield 8 8 -18 DNF 16 11 2031 Dave Cooper Overy Staithe 10 -11 8 18 12 2128 Andy Stewart SSSC -12 9 11 20 13 2092 John Blocksidge SSSC -13 12 10 22 14 2012 Teddy Arrowsmith Overy Staithe 14 -15 12 26 15 2067 Matt Bates SSSC -15 13 13 26 16 1927 Colin Page Calshot 16 -18 DNF 14 30 17 1886 Sam Thomson SSSC 17 14 -18 DNF 31 inline_rt 50% ../gallery/ss11/ss118.jpg Pre-start at South Staffs Seventeen boats met to compete for the Calf Heath Trophy at South Staffs on the 16th October. A notable feature of this fleet was that nearly half of them were Juniors - very hard on the older fleet members who had to compete with some very sharp opposition. The day began with very little wind which increased a little to allow some of the lighter fleet members to sit on the sides of their boats - at the height of the excitement, one or two had actually used the toestraps in earnest. There was even talk of almost planing (but not for long). The event turned out to be a classic pond competition - with the odd windshift changing postions only for them to change back again soon after. South Staffs members tried to convince the visitors that this never happened at their club - I don't think anyone was fooled. The first race saw a group break away, made up of Ed Bradburn, Richard Burton, Neil Goodhead, Keith Byers and Will Croxford who picked their way the best up the very erratic first beat. This pattern remained for a while with the lead changing hands a couple of times when it appeared that someone had made a clear break only to be reeled in again. The pecking order gradually settled to give Ed the lead from Richard and Neil with Will and Keith competing for fourth. This stayed to the finish, with Bill Bradburn managing to sail over Will to take fifth on the last leg. After lunch, the second of two back to back races began with Bill chasing his son Ed to the third mark followed by Richard and Neil. This arrangement stood for a while until Richard slipped behind Neil who was coming up hard to challenge for second in a slightly increasing breeze. Ed had a few moments when he realised his dad had got some shifts right and had caught him up a bit and Neil, as is his way, was prepared to come through at any time. Eventually, Ed stayed comfortably ahead while Bill pushed Neil out to the right at the finish to prevent him getting second. The third race was a shifty as ever and saw Keith Byers take a stronger patch of breeze out on the left and arrive at the windward mark in the lead with Ed and Neil next. Neil managed to break away from them to lead from Ed leaving Keith, Bill and Will racing for the next places. Neil won with a comfortable cushion followed by Ed. Will slid through Keith and Bill on a run and was not threatened after with Keith making sure of the fourth place. In the end Ed took the big trophy, Neil was second and Bill third. Richard Burton was fourth and took the prize for the best U21 helm, Will Croxford was fifth and won the Dave Danbury trophy for the best South Staffs helm aged 20 or under. In 9th place was Adrian Walker who won the Vintage boat trophy and Teddy Arrowsmith won the prize for the best placed U17 helm. Other notable achievements were Andy Stewart managing ninth in the second race, his grin could be seen from a passing satellite apparently; Chris Cook rounding the second mark in the last race in fourth place and holding seventh at the end; and John Blocksidge managing a very creditable 10th in the last race ahead of Andy (still getting over being so fast in the race before). The fleet retired to tea and cakes as usual and special thanks must go to Paul Goodhead and race team for tackling the conditions so well and providing some excellent competition and the galley team lead by Suzanne Edwards and Carol Danbury. Bill Bradburn