British OK Team Making Preparations for Quiberon
by Rodney Tidd 17 Jul 2016 16:17 BST
25-29 July 2016
The 2016 OK Dinghy World Championship will be held in Quiberon, a peninsula located in southern Brittany, on the Atlantic coast of France between the 25th and 29th July. The Quiberon peninsula juts out into the sea for 14 km and is just 22 metres wide at its narrowest point.
Its rugged coastline, sandy beaches, fishing villages and rich cultural history, has made the west side Quiberon peninsula a very popular sailing and tourist destination. The sailing area is well protected from the open waters of the Atlantic ocean and can deliver perfect sailing conditions. The east side is known as the Cote Sauvage and, as its' name suggests, can be wild and savage.
The hosting club is La Société des Régates de Saint Pierre Quiberon (SRSP) having a base with direct access to the beach and launching area. It has hosted many prestigious regattas and championships in the past. Indeed the OK fleet visited the nearby area back in 2013 when the European championships were held in Carnac, which is a little further north but on the same stretch of water.
112 competitors have entered with two countries, Great Britain (26) and Germany (22) accounting for over 45% of the entries. Other sizeable entries have been received from France, Denmark, Sweden and Australia.
Likely frontrunners from the UK will include Charlie Cumbley, Jim Hunt, Richard Burton, Simon Cowood who have all featured prominently in recent worlds and European events and a currently very competitive Dave Bourne. They will face strong competition from former world champions Andre Budzien (GER) and Greg Wilcox (NZL) with current world ranking number 1 Bo Petersen (DEN) being considered a major contender.
Other GBR entries include Mary Reddyhoff and Brenda Hoult, who will be contending for the ladies prize, former class builder, Andy Rushworth, who is putting the finishing touches to his 67th OK dinghy makes a welcome return to international competition.
Two father and son combinations Andy and Will Turner and Bob and Dave Bourne both with combined ages of 100+ would surely take any prize offered in this category. Ed Crighton will be hoping to be well placed in the Junior section.
So good luck to all the UK entrants and on our return we can look forward to a competitive Nationals In Pwllheli. Those wanting to compete should enter on the class website dates are 20th to the 23rd August.