International OK Open at Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club

OKs at Bristol © Chris Appleton

OKs at Bristol © Chris Appleton

"You're 3rd, you're doing the report"

The irony of getting onto a podium for possibly the first time is that, instead of someone else writing heart - warming comments about your plucky rise from mediocrity to stardom, you feel obliged not to mention yourself at all. Anyway, I'm dead happy and feeling all puffed up like a little pigeon. Enough said...

Let's start with a mention of Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club, situated just outside the town of Cheddar in Somerset and downwind of the impressive Cheddar Gorge and some other large hills, regardless of the wind direction. Incidentally, it doesn't have any yachts but it's warm and friendly. Outside it was freezing.

Visitors driving to the club for the first time should beware of Satnavs. My fellow travellers were telling tales of detours through muddy farmyards and Mexican standoffs with tractors on single track roads on their way to the club.

When you arrive at the club, prepare to have your boat washed before launching. A sensible precaution although nobody thinks to wash the sailors before they launch – and judging from the state of the OK fleet's wetsuits, these probably pose a greater risk to the environment.

The OK's shared the course with Lasers, Solos and Byte C2's which made for an interesting mix of age-groups and cultures. Fortunately, from my perspective, the atmosphere was pretty good-natured and sailors in different fleets tended to give each other plenty of space.

The first race was away cleanly thanks in part to a generous length of line and a northerly breeze so shifty that the favoured end changed every few seconds. Richard Burton led around the first mark, closely followed by Chris Arnell, Ian Harris and Ben Steel. Arnell took the lead for a couple of laps before letting Burton through on the final lap. At the finish the top 5 were Burton, Arnell, Harris, Steel and Keith Byers. Mark Billowes, from the home club, sailed a great race to finish in 6th.

A short delay followed while the Race Officer reset the course after a large windshift. The sun was beginning to shine and, although there were some pretty sharp gusts at times, the breeze was generally lighter with some fairly large holes to be avoided. Once again, Burton led around the first mark. On this occasion he managed to get well clear of the chasing pack and cruised to a comfortable race win, followed by Ian Harris, Ben Steel, Dave Bourne and Gavin Waldron. Arnell retired to fix a broken mainsheet fitting and to ring all his friends to tell them about his 2nd place in race 1.

Race 3 traditionally follows Race 2 and once again a clean start. Although there were huge gains and losses to be made on the beats the same boats tended to arrive at the windward mark first. Ben Steel and Richard Burton seemed to be consistently fast and once again rounded in front, with Dave Bourne well placed. Ben managed to ease away in front and was never seriously challenged, while behind him a tussle between Dave Bourne, Keith Byers, Andy Rushworth and Chris Arnell ensued. Richard Burton finally proved he could make mistakes by dropping down to 6th while the top 5 was made up of Steel, Arnell, Bourne, Byers and Rushworth.

The race team, galley staff and all the BCYC members did a great job and made us all feel welcome. It was very cold on the water so a tough day for the volunteers. We had a prize-giving where I was given a lovely glass thing. The winning Laser sailor made a speech, thanking the club, his mum and some other people. Then we went home.

Overall Results: (three races, 1 discard)

1. Richard Burton (West Oxford Sailing Club)
2. Ben Steel (Glossop SC)
3. Chris Arnell (Christchurch Sailing Club)
4. Ian Harris (Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club)
5. Dave Bourne (Erith Yacht Club)
6. Keith Byers (Morecombe and Heysham Yacht Club)
7. Andy Rushworth (Christchurch Sailing Club)
8. Gavin Waldron (Morecombe and Heysham Yacht Club)
9. Jon Hammond (SCSC)
10. 10th Mark Billowes (Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club)
11. Andy Holmes (South Staffs)
12. Alan Robinson (Severn SC)
13. Deryck Lovegrove (Burghfield)
14. Rhys Lankester (Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club)
15. Mary Reddyhoff (Parkstone YC)
16. Paul Dutton (Shropshire SC)