Please select your home edition
Edition
Musto 2023 Hikers LEADERBOARD

OK National Championships at Herne Bay Sailing Club - Preview

by Rodney Tidd 16 Sep 2017 09:29 BST 21-24 September 2017
One beautiful aspect of the International OK Dinghy © Ela Miller

The International OK Dinghy British Class Association are proud to have been able to secure Herne Bay Sailing Club as their venue for the forthcoming National Championships. The championships were in doubt earlier in the season due to late permission being granted to hold the local air show resulting in a late change of dates. Thanks are due to association chairman Deryck Lovegrove and the Herne Bay Sailing Club committee for rearranging the championships in short time. It is unfortunate that the class 60th anniversary celebrations could not be held in conjunction with this event, as originally planned, as this surely would have been a truly marvellous occasion.

The event will be held over four consecutive days with two races planned each day. Registration and any necessary measurement matters will be taken care of during the morning of the 21st with racing planned to commence in the early afternoon. Reports of previous championships held at Herne Bay have indicated that we can look forward to good water, good courses, an experienced race team, an extremely hospitable club and an area boasting enough nearby amenities and attractions to keep other family members well entertained.

The championships are the central point of the North Sails Super Series as they are the 'Must Do' event for qualification to win the main series prize of a new mainsail offered by our kind sponsors, North Sails.

At the time of going to print there are a number of leading contenders ready to lift the main prize and get their hands on the coveted numeral 1 for their sail. First mention must go to Terry Curtis who has previously held the title three times in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Terry has had a very successful season having won the Asymmetric section of the International Canoe nationals as well as the Osprey Nationals and a very creditable, for such a substantial character, second place in the recently held Europe nationals held at Highcliffe.

Other hopefuls include the recently-married Dave Bourne, fresh from his win in the North Super Series at Sunderland; Luke Gower who, in his new Ovington hull, performed very creditably in the OK European championships held in Denmark during August; and Richard 'Burt' Burton who will surely perform well if the conditions decide to roughen up a little.

In addition to the national title this event is the final part of the 'Triangle Trophy' presented this year by Ken Carroll. This event started in Medemblik with less than tropical temperatures, moved on to Lac du Der where the temperatures rocketed to over thirty degrees and concludes here in Herne Bay where we hope not to need the hot water bottles again.

Andy 'Rover' Rushworth currently leads the series from Rodney Tidd by a substantial margin and it will take a most unfortunate of happenings to Rushworth for Tidd to prevail. Of course predictions that have been taken for granted this past year have surprised us a few times and Tidd 'may yet have a trump card to play'.

The OK class is, if nothing else, highly experienced and there will be hot competition for both the Veterans and the Masters prizes. For the first time in many years Mary Reddyhoff has competition in the Ladies fleet with Karen Robertson making the long journey south from Loch Earn.

Late entries for the event are still open with full details on www.okdinghy.co.uk

"Come and join the party!"

Related Articles

OK Dinghy class at Kieler Woche Overall
Niklas Edler retains the title after strongest winds of the week on the final day Niklas Edler, from Sweden has won the 2025 Kieler Wiche for OK Dinghies after the final two races on Sunday, which brought the strongest winds of the week. Posted today at 3:34 pm
OK Dinghy Open at Overy Staithe
Two days of contrasting weather challenged the sailors Two days of contrasting weather challenged the eight OK sailors competing for the Overy Staithe SC annual open meeting, which was first held in 1971. Posted on 29 Jun
OK Dinghy class at Kieler Woche Day 3
Niklas Edler extends OK Dinghy lead at Kieler Woche with one day to go. Niklas Eder, from Sweden, extended his lead at Kieler Woche after two more races on Saturday in again, quite windy and shifty offshore winds. Posted on 28 Jun
OK Dinghy class at Kieler Woche Day 2
Niklas Edler maintains narrow lead after four races Sweden's Niklas Edler has maintained his lead in the 49 strong OK Dinghy fleet at Kieler Woche on Friday with a 2,1 in fairly breezy conditions and holds a 2-point lead over Canada's Ben Flower who scored 1,2. Posted on 27 Jun
2025 International Classes Regatta preview
The ICR has earned a stellar reputation as an outstanding lead-up regatta for competitors The Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club (RFBYC) is proud to announce that the 2025 International Classes Regatta (ICR)—the Club's premier annual dinghy event—will take place on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 November 2025. Posted on 27 Jun
OK Dinghy class at Kieler Woche Day 1
Niklas Edler leads the fleet after two races On the first day of Kieler Woche for the OK Dinghy class, Sweden's Niklas Edler began his defence for the OK Dinghy with a solid 2, 1 on the day that started with light winds and which increased through the second race. Posted on 26 Jun
OK Scottish Championship at East Lothian
Attracting sailors from the far corners of the UK On the weekend of 7th & 8th of June, East Lothian YC based out of the beautiful harbour of North Berwick hosted the OK Scottish Championship. The event was also part of the Grand Slam OK circuit and attracted sailors from the far corners of the UK. Posted on 11 Jun
OK class in Daffodil Regatta at Ullswater
Fleets of 12 for part 1 of the Border Trophy A dozen OKs turned up at Ullswater for the annual Daffodil Regatta, this year sponsored by Magic Marine and also being run as part of the SailRacer Summer challenge. It was especially encouraging to see several new faces join the fleet. Posted on 28 Apr
OK Border Trophy Preview
The first half takes place at Ullswater YC's Daffodil Regatta next weekend This coming weekend sees the first half of the OK Border Trophy being sailed at the Ullswater YC Daffodil Regatta. The Border Trophy started in 2023 as an initiative to help grow the fleet in the North of England and Scotland. Posted on 21 Apr
Roger Blasse remains OK Dinghy World No. 1
As an epic season is set to begin Australia's double world champion, Roger Blasse, maintains his lead at the top of the OK Dinghy World Ranking list for April 2025. In November 2024 he became the first Australian to reach No.1 in the 20 years since the list was started. Posted on 18 Apr