International OK Dinghy National Championship at Pwllheli Sailing Club

International OK UK Nationals podium (l-r) Jim Hunt (3rd), Chartie Cumbley (1st), Richard Burton (2nd) © OK class

Saturday the 20th August, the U.K. OK fleet battled through the wind and rain to Pwllheli Sailing Club for the National Championship.

A glance over the sailing club wall left only the deluded interested in rigging. The fleet huddled in the bar to listen to Richard "Burt" Burton trying to convince himself and anyone listening that we should be sailing. It didn't work and racing was abandoned for the day. A quick reschedule got the AGM dealt with and some measurement checks sorted. Still too windy to put a mast up though.The evening's entertainment of curry and quiz night revealed some intellectual inadequacies that alcohol couldn't fix.

Sunday dawned fresh and less frightening, but still difficult conditions. The fleet launched into the sheltered bay, but soon passed the marina entrance into a solid 20knot breeze, substantial waves and steady sideways rain. Ready or not, the first race (race 3) was on.

Going fast proved to be the right choice up the first beat. Burt powered in from the left side and rounded ahead of Cumbley, with Bourne, Arnell and Hunt, slightly detached in pursuit. Cumbley cruised round Burt downwind and then used his newly acquired tonnage to sail to a comfortable win. Bourne, Arnell and Hunt traded places during the race, but finished in that order.

Race 4 and a fading patchy breeze made for a difficult first beat. Waldron hit hard right, stopped at the beach for an ice cream and cruised round the first mark with a comfortable lead over Burt. Curtis, Turner, Bourne and Hunt rounded in bunch some 50m adrift. Waldron stayed hard right down the first reach and lead Burt off to the wrong gybe mark. The reshuffle left Waldron out of touch and Hunt leading. Burt quickly regained second and set about eating into Hunt's lead. Under pressure at the end of the run, Hunt decided to shorten the race and headed for the finish. Burt carried on and found himself gifted a lead for the last beat. Hunt rallied and closed the distance, but not enough to trouble Burt. Behind Cumbley had recovered efficiently to third with Bourne and Curtis following.

The breeze returned for the rescheduled race 1,with Burt and Cumbley blasting off the port end and disappearing to have their own race. Turner joined in briefly at the first mark, but was soon back fighting with the pack. Cumbley once again had the legs on Burt. Turner put some dents in the left hand corner, to come home third. Bourne and Hunt exchanged insults and advice on the fastest course upwind. Low and fast proved to be the right choice, with Bourne prevailing. Hunt remained stoic under a barrage of ungentlemanly abuse from Bourne at the finish.

An excellent indoor barbecue and a presentation from Jon Hammond on the merits of a nice van, rounded off a long hard day.

Day 3, race 5 (race 2 was left to wait for next year). Still breezy, still raining. The sound signals for a postponement were just audible above the rattling flags and vocal displeasure from Burt.

After a timely delay the breeze dropped to a sensible level and the fleet launched into more of the same.

Burt, with a point to prove, put the hammer down and headed at pace for the left side of the first beat. Leading at the first mark he never looked challenged and took a comfortable win. Cumbley cruised round for an easy second place. Hunt and Bourne continued the debate on how to sail upwind. "Cutting the breeze in two" prevailed and Hunt in third, waited near the finish to applaud Bourne through in 4th. Bourne remained ungentlemanly, Turner inscrutable in 5th.

The breeze became lighter and more variable for the start of race 5. Bigger gains could be found from the edges of the course. Woods introduced himself to the port end boat, shook hands with all aboard, detached himself, span the "wheel of justice" and set off for the loneliest race. Cumbley and Burt rounded the first mark in that order, with Cumbley extending to a secure distance. Hunt sailed through Burt, who had shifted into displacement mode and elected to discuss the merits of light air sailing with anyone within earshot - the whole fleet. Arnell used some smart sailing and good pace to pass Burt and began to close in on Hunt. Burt went off into the left hand corner to talk to his boat. The boat listened and he found more pressure and a favourable shift to pull back past Arnell. Hunt scrambled across from the middle, with just enough to put a final cover tack onto Burt into the finish.

A superb meal provided by the club and a celebration of Keith Byers 60th Birthday, left everyone in good form and ready for the deciding battle between Cumbley and Burt.

Day 4. The sun shone, the breeze was gone. Optimistically the race officer requested our presence for the last two races. Even more optimistically he began a start sequence and kept going to the start. Curtis performed a sublime port tack start and drifted into a narrow lead. Woods would later claim he had good breeze and a comfortable lead in the right hand corner. Burt looked low in the water and vulnerable, Cumbley content to stay between him and the windward mark. With the fleet slowing, apart from Woods (who claimed to be on the first reach) the race was abandoned. With little prospect of breeze arriving before the 2-00pm cut off, the race officer sent the fleet back to the beach. The breeze waited until just after 2 to appear, so no further racing was possible.

Cumbley was the deserved winner and retains his National Championship, but Burt had pushed him close and is showing form and potential that should see him win a title in the near future. Hunt had done just enough take 3rd, from a magnanimous Bourne.

Pwhlleli Sailing Club, laid on a great event in their new facility. Plenty of space, easy launching, two days of hard racing, great food and sunshine to finish.

Overall Results:
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