OK Dinghy North Sails Super Series at Weymouth Dinghy Regatta

Always one of the most enjoyable events in the OK racing calendar, this years Weymouth OK Open took place over the weekend of 8/9 July as part of Weymouth Dinghy Regatta. This event was the second in the 'North Sails Super Series' and attracted 16 enthusiastic OK sailors who converged on Castle Cove, who hosted the event for the second consecutive year.

Following an 11 am briefing Saturday racing was due to start at 1pm however the start was delayed to allow the sea breeze to fill in. The race officer decided to set the course inside the harbour as the sea area outside was mirror like in appearance. All classes used the same committee boat but difference courses. The OK's and the Phantoms were on the same course and start. Unfortunately at times mark rounding did become rather congested!

Race 1 - Sailing started in a gentle force 2 with Tony Woods and Chris Arnell making the early running. Andy Rushworth took a flyer out to the right on the second beat and this took him into the lead - however this race was ultimately void due to the shorten course flag being flown from a boat that was not part of the course.

Race 2 - in very shifty and light conditions, Tony Wood rounded first with the remainder of the fleet close behind. On the light run the fleet closed up on the leaders. On the long beat the fleet split with most choosing the left side apart from Keith Byers and Andy Rushworth who opted for a hard right gaining a lift and almost catching Woods. Results 1st Tony Woods, 2nd Keith Byers, 3rd Luke Gower.

Race 3 - close racing in the continuing light & shifty conditions meant that places changed all the time. Luke Gower, in his new Ovington boat, rounded first retaining this position. Chris Arnell made huge gains on the run and at the finish it was Luke 1st, Dave Bourne 2nd & Chris 3rd.

After a lively social evening the night before, Sunday dawned to even less breeze and the racing was delayed in the hope that the promised breeze would materialise. An hours' postponement put pressure on the race committee to get the event completed before the cut off at 15.00.

Race 4 - the fleet got underway and split with those opting for the left side gaining more pressure. Deryck Lovegrove and Ian Hopwood rounded the first mark together maintaining this lead until they were swallowed up by the rest of the fleet on the long run down the harbour. The long beat back to the finish saw Chris Arnell take the win with Keith Byers in 2nd and the charging Luke Gower in 3rd place.

Race 5 - Once again Luke Gower made the most of the beat rounding first, with the fleet all bunched behind. With the fleet splitting up the beat, no-one was sure which side was most favourable and eventually Luke Gower took the win, closely followed by Dave Bourne and relative new comer to the fleet, Anthony Osman, in 3rd.

Race 6 - the delayed start to racing meant that most of the fleet decided to miss race 6 in order to pack up and travel home. With the wind still patchy Chris Arnell won in fine style, from Weymouth Sailing Club's Gavin Poulloin, and Mary Reddyhoff taking 3rd place.

Overall Results: