Dean & Reddyhoff OK Worlds at Parkstone Yacht Club overall

by Robert Deaves 3 Aug 2004 13:10 BST 25-30 July 2004

Jim Hunt wins the OK worlds by a massive 32 point margin © David Harding / www.sailingscenes.com

With a massive 32 point margin, Jim Hunt from Great Britain won the Dean & Reddyhoff OK Dinghy World Championships in Poole Bay sailed from 25 to 30 July from Parkstone Yacht Club with a maximum fleet size of 81 OKs. In winning the event, Jim Hunt has become the first ever British sailor to lift the title in its 40 year history, and has done so in one of the deepest fields of talent ever present at a World Championship.

Leading from race one, Hunt only once fell outside the top 5 and on the way to victory calmed placed consistently in front of the defending World Champion Nitin Mongia (IND), the winner of the previous week’s National Championship, Nick Craig (GBR), double world champion Karsten Hitz (GER), current European Champion Bart Bomans (BEL) and former world champions Greg Wilcox (NZL) and Jørgen Lindhartdsen (DEN).

Two races were sailed on Sunday and Monday in probably the most stable conditions of the week, with Hunt, Bomans, Hitz and Craig taking a win each. A solid westerly wind made for some great sailing conditions, but it was obvious from early on that this was going to be a high scoring regatta with Bomans scoring OCS in race 3, Hitz picking up a 51st in race 4 and the other challengers all adding a high score to their results.

For the next two days, the haze prevented any sea breeze building and all races were abandoned, although the fleet was at sea for 5 hours on Wednesday waiting for the wind to build.

On Thursday the race officer was determined to get three races in and kept the fleet afloat for some ten hours. Craig won the first race of the day in light winds to close the gap on Hunt who started badly and played catch-up to finish fifth. Hunt then led the next race by a large margin to take a second win and stretch his lead. In a very patchy and variable wind, Andrew Rushworth (GBR) went on to win the final race of the day with Hunt failing to recover from a large wind shift on the first beat to finish 28th. A 6th place for Craig moved him up to second overall.

The final day proved somewhat of a challenge for some. Race 8 was started in very light winds and saw several changes of pressure and wind direction. On the first reach the wind died completely and the sea breeze started to build turning it into a beat and at the bottom on the second reach – now a run – the windward mark was moved 100° seawards. Those who figured out what was happening made great gains moving from the 70s up to the top 20. Those who got it wrong, or were just plain unlucky, fell from the top 10 to the back. At the finish Rudiger Prinz (GER) led his fellow German Ralf Machmann across the finish. The ever consistent Hunt came third.

Anxious to complete the series of 10 races, the race officer started race 9 soon after but then postponed it at the last minute. By the time it was restarted the race officer was running out of time so it was no surprise that this was the final race. Again characterised by large shifts, Joe Porebski led all the way to win by a large margin and take the massive race trophy home to New Zealand. Craig and Hunt rounded off a successful week with a 2nd and 3rd.

Two fourth places on the final day lifted the 2003 World Champion, Nitin Mongia into third place, while a relatively poor 13th and 19th, dropped pre-event favourite Bart Bomans out of the medals. With seven nations in the top 10 and six different races winners over nine races, the 2004 OK Worlds was perhaps one of the toughest in recent years, but the one with also the clearest winner. One of the UK’s top dinghy sailors, Jim Hunt, kept his head and his consistency to become a worthy world champion.

Overall Results:

Pos	Nat	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Pts
1	GBR	2109	Jim Hunt	South Staffs SC	1	3	4	5	5	1	28	3	3	25
2	GBR	2110	Nick Craig	Frensham Pond SC	16	12	3	1	1	20	6	16	2	57
3	IND	1	Nitin Mongia	OKDA India,Naval SC	4	10	14	35	8	5	20	4	4	69
4	BEL	44	Bart Bomans	KLYC	6	1	82o	2	3	9	19	13	19	72
5	NZL	509	Joe Porebski	Worser Bay BC	29	8	7	70	11	7	18	6	1	87
6	DEN	1280	Joergen Lindhardtsen	Hvidovre Sejlklub Suset	7	13	2	8	51	8	8	54	5	102
7	GER	727	Karsten Hitz	Segeberger Segel Club	11	4	1	51	21	43	4	18	14	116
8	SWE	2746	Thomas Hansson-Mild	Umea Segelsallskap	2	7	15	22	2	29	25	15	28	116
9	NZL	519	Steven McDowell	Worser Bay BC	18	22	24	14	4	25	2	49	8	117
10	NZL	517	Paul Rhodes	Worser Bay BC	3	28	21	39	7	10	9	30	9	117
11	NZL	501	Matt Stechmann	Worser Bay BC	15	5	8	6	28	48	3	82o	7	120
12	GBR	2106	David Carroll	Felixstowe Ferry SC	20	27	32	11	10	2	29	19	16	134
13	NZL	522	Greg Wilcox	Worser Bay BC	43	26	9	10	17	14	22	25	11	134
14	NZL	521	Mark Perrow	Wakaere BC	5	20	5	40	13	6	33	50	20	142
15	GBR	2113	Andrew Rushworth	Christchurch SC	17	11	29	23	35	82o	1	29	6	151
16	NZL	511	Ben Morrison	Wakatere BC	12	24	6	15	46	82o	13	28	13	157
17	GER	693	Martin von Zimmerman	SCOe	48	15	30	24	12	30	10	21	17	159
18	GBR	2101	Terry Curtis	Upper Thames SC	13	82o	41	13	9	17	36	17	25	171
19	NZL	490	Craig Pryce	Napier SC	21	39	38	20	66	3	11	41	12	185
20	NZL	504	Adrian Mannering	Napier SC	9	6	25	37	38	49	42	23	15	195
21	GBR	2081	Robert Deaves	Dabchicks SC	10	23	16	36	15	11	58	33	64	202
22	NZL	520	Russell Wood	PCSC	38	2	22	32	19	23	5	62	82o	203
23	DEN	1324	Jesper Petersen	Solroed Strand Sejlklub	14	18	82o	19	43	31	21	40	26	212
24	SWE	99	Hans Elkjaer	Varverges segelsallskap	25	44	37	21	47	27	38	9	18	219
25	GBR	2085	Gavin Waldron	South Staffs SC	24	42	17	42	53	12	39	10	37	223
26	GER	717	Oliver Gronholt	Segeberger Segel Club	53	14	12	18	44	36	32	64	23	232
27	NZL	484	Michael Inwood	Wakatere BC	59	32	11	16	30	45	7	46	51	238
28	GER	672	Gunter Arndt	Flensborg YC	27	82o	19	9	34	16	15	42	82o	244
29	GER	711	Rudiger Prinz	Segelclub Stevertalsperre SCST	71	45	40	34	20	15	31	1	59	245
30	GER	690	Soenke Behrens	SCOe	23	30	43	33	29	47	30	22	36	246
31	DEN	1323	Bo Teglers	Hvidovre Sejlklub Suset	39	56	34	7	56	19	34	45	21	255
32	POL	14	Pawel Pawlaczyk	JKW	8	9	33	52	14	39	82d	69	31	255
33	AUS	711	Nick Gray	South Lake Macquarie A. SC	33	53	50	30	24	33	27	36	22	255
34	GER	624	Thomas Glas	Segeberger Segel C E.V.	37	21	36	31	26	57	40	43	24	258
35	GBR	2108	Neil Goodhead	South Staffs SC	74	60	26	46	6	35	14	27	50	264
36	GBR	2082	John Ball		41	47	13	53	54	26	23	52	10	265
37	GER	725	Christian Hartmann	Verein Seglerhaus Ati Wannsee	51	16	69	4	32	56	50	37	33	279
38	SWE	2750	Jonas Lindahl		28	54	18	57	23	4	43	65	58	285
39	GER	723	Ralf Mackmann	Segel Club Haltern	61	71	23	27	16	46	53	2	63	291
40	GBR	2045	Will Turner	Ardleigh SC	30	36	27	3	55	82r	82n	35	27	295
41	GBR	2008	Geoff Woollen	Frensham Pond SC	70	82r	64	17	36	22	26	8	53	296
42	AUS	610	Peter Burton	South Lake Macquarie A. SC	31	40	20	71	39	51	45	38	40	304
43	IND	2054	D.Panneer Selvam	Ayn Mumbai	75	82o	54	38	57	32	17	11	43	327
44	GER	632	Fabian Gronholz	Segeberger Segel C	66	29	10	60	49	64	12	48	61	333
45	GER	665	Peter Stephan	Segelclub Stevertal E.V.	42	17	82o	82d	22	55	51	20	44	333
46	GBR	2067	Jonathan Fish	Waldringfield SC	19	43	57	49	63	59	44	32	30	333
47	GBR	2105	Alex Scoles		69	72	47	29	58	52	24	5	56	340
48	GBR	2071	David Bourne	Blue Circle SC	26	58	39	59	33	60	35	61	34	344
49	POL	5	Krzysztof Dabkowski	Mos 2 Warszaua	68	41	63	61	18	18	67	12	70	348
50	GBR	2059	Peter Turner	Ardleigh SC	62	38	45	41	61	54	52	14	46	351
51	GBR	2107	Mike Edwards	South Staffs SC	52	69	53	25	64	42	54	39	29	358
52	POL	22	Mateusz Wojewski	LKS Charzykowy	54	50	48	72	27	40	56	26	57	358
53	GBR	2100	Daniel Ager		32	35	55	67	42	41	63	56	42	366
54	AUS	708	Christopher Visick	Black Rock YC	22	34	46	68	68	74	41	71	35	385
55	GBR	2007	Anthony Rich		67	33	44	48	31	38	73	55	82r	389
56	GER	699	Juliane Hofmann	Sachsischer Wassersportuerein	78	70	72	63	25	53	48	7	52	390
57	GER	539	Carsten Sass	Luebecker YC	47	48	28	79	45	24	68	68	65	393
58	POL	61	Janusz Stobinski	AZS Posnan	35	49	52	76	65	34	62	58	45	400
59	GER	645	Arne Lindemann	PSCW	80	74	35	56	40	68	16	82d	41	410
60	DEN	1335	Mogens Johansen	Solroed Strand Sejlklub	56	46	49	54	67	50	49	51	55	410
61	GBR	2049	Ian Harris	Bristol Corinthian SC	72	63	56	73	79	21	57	24	47	413
62	GER	726	Jorg Sylvester	Segeberger Segel Club	44	55	61	45	70	37	64	47	62	415
63	SWE	2759	Per-Arne Olsson	SS Kaparen	34	51	42	55	77	82o	82n	34	54	429
64	GBR	2112	John Paul Williams	West Oxfordshire SC	40	37	60	66	75	67	66	57	39	432
65	GER	659	Falk Hagemann	Sachsischer Wassersportverein	64	65	75	26	48	69	70	31	60	433
66	DEN	1212	Jan Larsen	Hvidovre Sejlklub Suset	55	64	59	69	59	58	37	53	48	433
67	GBR	2083	Andy Turner	Ardleigh SC	36	19	71	12	74	82o	60	82r	82n	436
68	DEN	1246	Frank Visler	Solroed Strand Seljlkub	50	61	82d	58	60	65	47	59	38	438
69	BEL	214	Paul Verrijdt	KLYCK Antwerpen	49	68	65	62	37	61	59	44	68	445
70	GBR	1774	Tony Thresher	West Oxfordshire SC	45	31	31	43	52	82o	82n	82n	82n	448
71	GBR	2087	Julian Burnham		77	75	67	65	62	28	61	60	32	450
72	AUS	692	Bill Tyler	Sydney Amateur SC	46	57	66	47	71	70	55	67	49	457
73	GBR	2102	Andrew Day		57	73	51	74	69	13	71	73	67	474
74	GER	694	Gunnar Specht	Posdamer Segler-Club ""Wiking""	63	59	70	50	41	72	65	74	66	486
75	AUS	715	Tom Pearce	Black Rock YC	76	66	62	28	80	63	46	82n	82n	503
76	AUS	694	Richard Furneaux	Black Rock YC	73	25	74	44	76	73	82r	82n	82n	529
77	GBR	2053	Alan Atkin	Burghfield SC	65	67	82o	64	50	44	82r	82n	82n	536
78	POL	80	Jarostaw Kuczynski	Bractwo Wodne-Kunice	60	52	73	77	73	71	72	63	82o	541
79	GER	695	Dirk Gericke	SGEB	58	82n	68	78	72	62	69	70	71	548
80	POL	58	Darek Kras	Mos 2 Warszaua	79	62	58	75	82o	66	74	66	69	549
81	BEL	604	Mark Geboes	KLYC	81	76	76	80	78	82o	82n	72	72	617