Rise Of The Ok etc

According to their forum, they get owned by Lasers on the reach. I presume that's in fast-displacement and planing conditions.  I'd have thought in lighter stuff they should be alright - decent sail area and rocker.

I have a soft spot for OKs, but I do wonder whether as a class they have become overly fixated with PY much like our resident iGRF?

Its clear that many of those frequenting the OK forum just haven't understood how PY works even when its been explained to them by Bas Edmonds and like our own broken record they keep harping on about being shafted by the system, when in fact they just aren't using the system as meant at their home clubs.

I also wonder whether they are being sailed at venues where they have a fair chance? Now looking at where they are sailed, you can probably rule this question out, as they seem to present a good mix of sea and inland venues, however are these venues in isolation very good venues for the main classes sailed at them? As the OK isn't a huge fleet I'd say its unlikely that they are the dominant class at any club and I wonder if by some stroke of really bad luck there is a class on the sea venues that hits them hard and will always do so, and inland there is a different class predominantly sailed which also hurts them? If by some equally good stroke of luck you found an inland club without the particular predominant class that normally whoops them, then would they rise to the top?
One other point on sailing locations, is that OKs do seem to get sailed at venues where the overall fleet quality is pretty good. This I suspect has a huge effect. I have sailed at clubs where there are a good 20-30 teams all capable of being in the top 20 at a nationals, while at other clubs the whole standard is significantly lower with only 2 or 3 teams capable of attaining the same standard. If the OKs are all in the former you will get a different resulting PY than if they were all in the latter.

I think the OK guys would do well to have the talks with their club sailing secretarys or whoever it is who sets their PYs, but they also need to consider whether they want to race the boat they love, or whether they want to go on a pot hunt. I suspect most actually want to carry on sailing the boat they love and for that the development plan is the key and not the PY guff.

Y'know, you guys could start another thread if this one's not to your liking.

It might require a bit of imagination mind.

Just sayin'

Originally posted by craiggo I have a soft spot for OKs, but I do wonder whether as a class they have become overly fixated with PY much like our resident iGRF?

Edited by kneewrecker - 08 Oct 14 at 9:17am

Forgive me, i may be wrong, but i thought the Streaker always had a similar PY to the solo?  Lets not forget the streaker weighs in at 48kg  and the solo 70kg which will have a bearing on performance