British OK Grand Tour Round 5 at Dabchicks Sailing Club

Round 5 of the inaugural British OK Grand Tour took place over the weekend of 11/12 July at Dabchicks SC. The competitive fleet of 17 boats was greeted with wall-to-wall sunshine and a good, if shifty breeze.

Race 1 - After a shifty first beat, Keith Byers rounded first with a nice lead, only for the chasing pack to grind him down by the leeward mark. By the end of the second beat, Dave Rose, Trevor Childs and Keith Byers, rounded together, and by the end of the long run to the leeward mark Byers had half a boat length on Lee Childs. With only a short reach to the finish, Byers held on for a win from Lee Childs, 2nd and Dave Rose, 3rd.

Race 2 - With the wind up and down and shifting the race officer was fully tested. The fleet got underway with very close racing and places changing on every leg. At the front of the fleet a slimmed down and sylph like Richard Burton, showing great speed, took the win from home sailors Lee and Trevor Childs.

Race 3 - Sailing now in a force 4 and the seas chopping up, keeping the boats powering through the chop was a must. Lee Childs, heading the fleet on home waters, always seemed comfortable, with the remainder of the fleet fiercely contesting the remaining places. Lee Childs 1st, Richard Burton 2nd & Trevor Childs 3rd.

Sunday dawned overcast with an increasing breeze. Thankfully the forecast rain didn't arrive until after boats were packed away.

Race 4 - The first of Sundays races got underway in a steady force 4 with a very choppy ebb tide. Richard Burton had a storming beat, rounding the first buoy by a country mile. Going the same way on the second beat, Richard's lead was down to only a few boat lengths from a pressing Dave Bourne. Rounding the windward mark a third time, Richard with Dave on his transom, hit the mark due to the strong tide. This allowed Dave to get through for a win, with Richard in 2nd place and Lee 3rd.

Race 5 - With the wind ever increasing Jon Fish, only sailing for the one day, was showing his love for high winds being always at the front, however all leading 6 boats were very close. Everybody by now was feeling the strain with some fantastic reaching on the waves Lee Childs 1st, Richard Burton 2nd & Jon Fish 3rd.

Race 6 - The wind was now blowing a top force 5, gusting 6, some decided enough was enough. The chop got bigger and, with the travellers right out, battle commenced! With a long hard beat, blistering reaches, Richard capsizing on the jibe mark and one final scary run - Lee Childs won with Dave Bourne 2nd and Jon Fish 3rd.

Overall, home club sailor Lee demonstrated the best consistency at the front of the fleet to take the event from Richard and Keith. A fantastic event, thanks to Dabchicks for hosting the OK's once again.

The British Grand Tour is now led overall by Richard Burton but with three more events still to come along with the prospect of another bumper National Championship in Weymouth (27-30 August) there will be some changes to the rankings - see www.okdinghy.co.uk/results/2015-gt-series.htm.

The next event of the OK calendar is the World Championships in Puck, Poland. The Brits will be sending a strong fleet in an attempt to regain the title. British hopes lay with Charlie Cumbley who has already won the prestigious Medemblik Spring Cup and Kiel Week events. Jim Hunt has been pushing Charlie very hard and has the experience of being an OK World Champion already. One thing is for sure - with 110 boats already entered for the Worlds we're in for a great event. There's never been a better time to get involved with the OK class. Further details of the Worlds can be found on the OKDIA website www.okdia.org.

Overall Results: