Ok National Championship at Weymouth Sailing Club

What an incredible nationals! A week everyone will remember with drama both on and off the water.

Day 1 was dominated by none other then Charlie Cumbley. He was revelling in the 15-18 knots, leaving the rest of the fleet to fight it out. Lee Childs, Jon Fish and Dave Bourne ended the day on level points with Jack Arnell only a point adrift after a stunning race 2. A wonderfully organised curry and quiz was the evenings entertainment with a few tired bodies making it an early night.

Day 2 seemed much the same as day 1: apart from a brief shower the sun came out to play and Charlie seemed to be romping off again until it became apparent he had jumped the gun on race 3, picking up an OCS. Could this effect the overall result? Fish won race 3 to pull ahead of Lee, who was now in 3rd and Richard Burton (a.k.a Burt) jumped up to 4th ahead of Dave. There was an unfortunate casualty for the day as Jack damaged some cartilage in his knee and had to sit out and watch for the rest of the event.

Day 3 was the morning after the night before. After a stupendous class dinner at local Italian restaurant Enzo's a few sailors went for a few post dinner drinks and needless to say didn't look so pretty in the morning but... Where was Dave? After a brief postponement the fleet launched in 6 knots of breeze and managed 1 race before the wind died. However the PRO kept the fleet out for an extra half an hour, which was an excellent call as the wind filled back in and race 6 was sailed. Charlie somehow managed to keep the previous night's kebab down and won both races with the battle for 2nd hotting up. Lee and Fish were tied on equal points with Burt only 4 points adrift.

Day 4 seemed like a much more stable breeze and with some slightly more perky sailors the fleet started race 7 in around 10 knots of breeze. Terry Curtis made his first appearance at the front leading Charlie and Nick Craig (who had decided to join in for the day). Nick worked his way into the lead with Charlie taking his first defeat of the week. It became apparent that the Championship was still not secure for Charlie as Lee was still in the game but all Charlie had to do was finish race 8 in the top 10. This however looked unlikely after the first beat: with Lee leading and Charlie buried in the mid teens it looked like Lee might win. Charlie couldn't make enough places and Lee was pulling away until the final beat. With fresh breeze from the left Andy Rushworth (a.k.a Rover) screamed up the beat to take the gun from way back in the fleet leaving Lee 2nd on the line. Charlie, having already used his discard, had to get into the top 10. Taking the same shift as Rover, Charlie catapulted his way into the top ten and his first OK National Championship. Lee finished 2nd overall and Burt had done enough to overtake Fish for 3rd place.

Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, nobody went home empty handed! Everyone got a bottle of Hook Norton Brewery's beer, and in addition, the top 15 placed sailors chose prizes from North Sails and Pinnell & Bax. Many thanks to the sponsors!

This had to be one of my favourite ever OK Nationals with an excellent venue right in the town, a good range of conditions and a superb race officer who made all the right calls.

Next the fleet is off to Morecombe on the 12th and 13th of September: see you there!

Overall Results: