OK River Champs Report
Mary Reddyhoff – The end of May bank holiday saw the annual Bourne End Week Regatta host the OK River Championship at Upper Thames Sailing Club. A total of ten OK sailors took to the Thames for some testing winds and strong currents – especially on day one.
Saturday saw some very light winds from the east, which prompted an up stream start for all races. The light winds and strong current made it very interesting when the wind dropped off, many of the OK and Merlin fleet found the progress they had made, undone by the drop in wind, with most helms favouring the Bucks bank when this happened. However, this did mean a few found the shallows very quickly and in some cases, incurred some heavy damage to their rudder, which sadly meant it was the end of their weekend.
Thankfully this was only the case for day one, as the second and third day brought some more consistent wind and stronger gusts coming from the south. With an angled club line start and four OKs set for the final two days racing.
There were a total of six races throughout the weekend, with two different winners and only two participants felt the wrath of the on the water judge’s yellow flag on the first day.
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Congratulations to Simon Davis who again won the River championship and Bourne End Week, Chris Burrell who finished second and Edward Crichton third. David Phillips won the Windfall Cup having dominated the Saturday races, while Phil Benton again scooped the Yeatman Trophy.
The whole event was fantastically laid on by UTSC as it always is, with some lovely food and entertainment put on in the evenings for all to enjoy, with the cocktail party on the Sunday evening…. where one too many G&Ts may have been drunk, which resulted in a few sore heads come Monday morning!!
This is a great event for all to come and enjoy, so make sure to earmark the date for 2025.
