OK Dinghy World Championship in Warnemünde

OK Dinghy World Championship in Warnemünde - Day 4

by Robert Deaves 13 Jul 2018 19:13 BST 10-14 July 2018

Fredrik Lööf on day 4 of the OK Dinghy World Championship © Robert Deaves

Fredrik Lööf moved to the top of the OK Dinghy World Championship in Warnemünde, Germany after two more races were sailed on Friday in near perfect conditions. He took a first and a second to lead the fleet by two points with just two more races to sail on Saturday. Jan Kurfeld and Andre Budzien are locked together in second and third, but with only 12 points between first and eighth, the world title is still wide open.

The two races on Friday means the opening series is completed, so for Saturday the fleet will be split into gold and silver groups. There were 141 entries for the championship, but with only 126 boats taking part, the gold fleet is expected to be the larger of the two fleets.

After Thursday was lost because of no wind, Friday produced the conditions that everyone loves to come to Warnemünde to experience: westerly winds, big seas and challenging racing.

Yellow fleet was dominated by Lars Johan Brodtkorb and Charlie Cumbley. Richard Burton was fastest out of the blocks in Race 5, holding a nice lead at the top, but Brodtkorb was not far behind and was soon challenging the lead. It was a very tight finish with Bo Petersen closing fast, but Brodtkorb took the bullet from Petersen and Cumbley.

In the second race Cumbley found his own wind and sailed way for a huge win from Brodtkorb and Budzien.

Two sailors also dominated the blue fleet. Lööf found the front in the first race to win from Thomas Hansson-Mild and Kurfeld, but in the next race it was Jim Hunt finding the best shifts on the left to round ahead. Lööf and Kurfeld were having their own battle behind him, and held each other up, which let Hunt escape to win. A second for Lööf gave him the overall lead for the first time, while Kurfeld had to settle for third.

Thomas Hansson-Mild on day 4 of the OK Dinghy World Championship - photo © Robert Deaves

Brodtkorb didn't have the best day on Wedneday, but is now right back in the mix.

"I was struggling because I was really not ready for sailing, but today I felt better and I think that showed in the results because I felt much better on the course."

"I had really good starts near the pin end in both races and tried to play the shifts, They were quite big I thought, but they were quite long, so you didn't really have a choice to stay on the tack. In the second race Charlie had a little bit of leverage on me from the start, so he had the better path to the mark and it was all over from there so he just won it by miles."

"But the first one was really tight. I managed to take the lead near the gate but it was really tight so I didn't have a comfortably lead. On the last downwind I was third and then Budzien and Charlie started fighting on the last reach and I went to leeward of them and then up to the finish I tried to control both of them. Then from the right Bo Petersen comes out of nowhere and it was really tight. I crossed by half a boatlength and and on the finish line I was on the right side and crossed by maybe two boatlengths. It was really nothing."

"I was behind him but I was finishing on the favoured side because I had crossed him. It was so tight; I think maybe five boats finished in ten seconds. That one felt good. I really needed it to get back in to contention."

Speaking on the fleet and the competition. "It's great racing. The conditions were great, so we couldn't really ask for more. The fleet is really nice and I didn't really get this experience last year, but I kind of prefer this kind of racing, but the shifty part is also kind of fun. I am looking forward to tomorrow and the finals."

Former world champion, Hansson-Mild, also had a better day with a second and a fourth.

"It was a good day but not good enough unfortunately. I had a second and a fourth. In the first race I was up there leading, going well on the downwind as I usually do. I got a good gap but this was the first time I was in blue fleet, and I was still in the yellow mindset, so I started beating when there was still one reach to go. I lost both Lööf and Kurfeld, but on the last beat up to the finish, I got back to second."

In the second race, "I did an average start in the middle, worked my way up to fourth after fighting myself around the course. It was a hard struggle. There are many guys that are really, really good."

He commented on the high level and the health of the class, "I love competing in Warnemünde, with the big waves; they remind me of the days up in Umeå. And Warnemünde is always nice as a venue and with 140 boats with two fleets it's magnificent. The level in the class is just getting higher and higher, so for me I have to step up every year, and that's not easy."

Jonas Borjesson on day 4 of the OK Dinghy World Championship - photo © Robert Deaves

With just two races to go, former Olympic champion, Lööf, has a small but useful lead.

"We had nice races today. It was paradise sailing with 10-14 knots, small shifts, nothing major, On the downwind you just had to find a good track but once you got that it was easy, so a good day."

Speaking about the OK Dinghy fleet, "This is a really nice fleet with good competitors. The guys really know the boat and they are helping me out a bit, so I am getting around the course quite nicely. So I'm very happy."

He indicated he would like to carry on sailing the OK Dinghy. "I want to sail in a class where you don't need to train too much but still need to keep fit, and I enjoy this kind of sailing, like the Star and the Finn, but the OK is a lighter and easier boat to sail, but in a way is more technical so your body movements are really important, so I really enjoy it."

While the top three have a slight points advantage, the title is still wide open, at least down to eighth place. One mistake by anyone is likely to prove costly at the end of Saturday's racing. Within that group there are far too many world, European and national titles to possibly count, as well as some Olympic medals, so when they all meet together for the first time in the gold fleet on Saturday, it is going to be a fascinating conclusion to another great OK Dinghy world championship.

Racing is scheduled to start on Saturday at the earlier time of 11.00.

Charlie Cumbley on day 4 of the OK Dinghy World Championship - photo © Robert Deaves

Results after day 4:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	SWE 69	Fredrik LOOF	ksss	1	-3	2	1	1	2	7
2	GER 18	Jan KURFELD	YCW 61	2	1	1	2	-3	3	9
3	GER 71	Andrè BUDZIEN	SYC	1	2	1	2	-4	3	9
4	GBR 6	Charlie CUMBLEY	Warsash SC	-5	4	2	1	3	1	11
5	NOR 428	Lars Johan BRODTKORB	HORT	3	1	6	-11	1	2	13
6	DEN 1507	Bo PETERSEN	Hellerup Sejlklub	2	3	3	3	2	-4	13
7	SWE 100	Thomas HANSSON-MILD	SS Kaparen	3	2	-8	4	2	4	15
8	GBR 11	Jim HUNT	South Staffs sailing Club	6	5	3	UFD	4	1	19
9	GER 77	Sönke BEHRENS	SCOE	4	7	8	5	5	-11	29
10	NZL 582	Greg WILCOX	BERND.eV	8	5	-9	6	7	5	31
11	POL 1	Tomasz GAJ	05-090	5	9	4	6	8	-11	32
12	GER 803	Martin V ZIMMERMANN	SCOE	8	8	-11	4	6	7	33
13	SWE 797	Mats CAAP	Varbergs SS	7	7	5	7	8	-9	34
14	AUS 768	Mark JACKSON	Black Rock Yacht Club	6	6	6	-36	10	6	34
15	NZL 573	Luke GOWER	Datchet Water	4	-17	5	9	7	10	35
16	GBR 44	Chris TURNER	Lyme Regis SC	12	-72	10	3	6	7	38
17	GBR 69	Terry CURTIS	Castle Cove SC	-13	8	4	8	13	5	38
18	DEN 10	Jens LAUGE	Hellerup Sejlklub	-21	11	7	5	13	6	42
19	GER 792	Lars HAVERLAND	SYC	11	4	9	-25	12	13	49
20	GER 2	Gunter ARNDT	FYC	9	10	12	-18	9	12	52
21	SWE 139	Hans BÖRJESSON	Varbergs SS	19	12	7	7	-24	10	55
22	POL 14	Pawel PAWLACZYK	JKW P	10	13	15	13	11	-20	62
23	GBR 17	David BOURNE	rya	14	13	16	10	10	-18	63
24	GBR 2183	Richard BURTON	West Oxfordshire SC	9	6	-72	36	5	9	65
25	GBR 13	Alex SCOLES	Overy Staithe	17	12	-24	11	11	15	66
26	GER 5	Ralf TIETJE	SVG	15	11	10	10	-32	23	69
27	GER 3	Wolfgang HÖFENER	SVH	12	-72	12	12	15	20	71
28	DEN 1487	Henrik KOFOED	Hellerup Sejlklub	-24	16	24	15	12	8	75
29	DEN 1510	Jan Hempel SPARSØ	Middelfart Sejlklub	18	17	18	-19	14	8	75
30	AUS 719	Glenn WILLIAMS	Big River Sailing Club	23	15	14	-42	9	14	75
31	DEN 22	Ask ASKHOLM	Svendborg Sunds Sejlklub	15	9	-22	14	20	17	75
32	DEN 1477	Jørgen HOLM	Sejlklubben Ebeltoft Vig	19	14	-26	14	16	13	76
33	SWE 2846	Jonas BÖRJESSON	KSSS	18	-23	11	20	15	14	78
34	GBR 28	Anthony OSMAN	Parkstone yacht club	-41	30	14	12	16	12	84
35	AUS 754	Brent WILLIAMS	Adelaide Sailing Club	7	27	-32	19	23	18	94
36	DEN 12	Morten ANDERSEN	Middelfart Sejlklub	13	15	-28	22	27	17	94
37	POL 7	Marek BERNAT	KKSWO	25	-38	16	8	21	27	97
38	GER 7	Andreas PICH	LYC	-34	22	20	16	19	21	98
39	GBR 2179	Tony WOODS	Glossop S.C	25	18	17	13	-72	26	99
40	GER 823	Karsten KRAUS	WUW	-26	21	19	24	22	15	101
41	GER 775	Jörg RADEMACHER	SCST	16	14	27	27	19	-39	103
42	DEN 1431	Joe SCHUBERT	Horsens Sejlklub	31	10	-33	31	17	16	105
43	GER 11	Rainer POSPIECH	VSW	20	24	18	-26	20	24	106
44	GBR 2176	Keith BYERS	Morecambe Sailing Club	22	23	13	-45	25	33	116
45	DEN 1509	Peter WIBROE	Solrød Strans Sejl Klub	17	19	25	30	25	-41	116
46	NED 673	Stephan VELDMAN	WVA	-31	26	21	17	31	21	116
47	GER 75	Dirk DAME	SVM	22	21	-41	17	34	23	117
48	GER 225	Jan DISSEL	SGSP	28	28	17	-44	24	22	119
49	AUS 741	Steve WILSON	Black Rock Yacht Club	32	-35	15	29	14	30	120
50	GBR 95	Duncan ELLIS	Overy Staithe SC	20	-30	28	23	23	29	123
51	SWE 59	Lars EDWALL	LBS	11	20	13	9	-72	72	125
52	GER 789	Ingo BALLERSTEIN	SCOE	14	16	37	27	-43	31	125
53	GER 690	Carsten SASS	ZSK	33	20	25	26	22	-34	126
54	DEN 1407	Malte PEDERSEN	Royal Danish yacht club	24	-72	21	28	18	36	127
55	GER 81	Jan-Dietmar DELLAS	SLRV	10	19	-45	40	18	42	129
56	SWE 99	Hans ELKJAER	VaSS	16	26	23	-43	35	29	129
57	GER 715	Sven BEYE	SSC	23	25	19	-44	30	33	130
58	GER 12	Stefan RASSAU	DYC	27	31	-42	16	38	19	131
59	DEN 1433	Henrik KIMMER PETERSEN	AAHBB	27	22	31	-36	29	24	133
60	DEN 1442	Peter HEIDE	Svendborg Sunds Sejlklub	-72	18	37	28	26	25	134
61	GER 731	Thomas GLAS	SSC	26	27	23	31	-32	28	135
62	GER 9	Andreas DEUBEL	HSC	29	-40	30	21	26	35	141
63	SWE 2809	Tomas SKEPPMARK	KBS	28	30.8	27	29	-37	30	144.8
64	GBR 2188	Ian HOPWOOD	Nantwich	21	-72	33	42	17	32	145
65	FRA 1820	Dejugnat JULIEN	16002	43	-72	29	25	29	19	145
66	AUS 77	Shane SMITH	SYC	35	-38	30	21	33	28	147
67	GER 111	Rainer HAACKS	FSD	-36	35	20	30	33	34	152
68	POL 44	Przemyslaw DROZDZIK	PL	30	24	40	33	-45	27	154
69	AUS 735	Daen DORAZIO	Black Rock Yacht Club	39	29	-43	23	39	25	155
70	NZL 565	Simon PROBERT	Wakatere Boating Club	32	36	39	-41	27	26	160
71	GER 22	Dirk GERICKE	SGE	29	39	39	18	36	-47	161
72	DEN 1508	Thomas Olufsen MEYER	Haderslev Sejl-Club	36	-42	26	34	37	32	165
73	GBR 8	Tom LONSDALE	West Oxford SC	-46	45	22	32	30	39	168
74	GER 21	Holger KRASMANN	YCH	37	34	31	47	21	-72	170
75	POL 19	Grzegorz SALAMON	K2 Horn Krakow	-43	34	36	34	28	40	172
76	GER 809	Axel FISCHER	RCTT	37	32	35	24	49	-72	177
77	GER 777	Jörg SYLVESTER	SSC	-41	37	35	38	35	35	180
78	GER 8	Ronald FOEST	DRS	-53	28	34	35	46	38	181
79	GER 746	Julius RAITHEL	SVWS	-52	37	36	37	39	38	187
80	AUS 692	Bob BUCHANAN	Huon Yacht Club	33	36	38	-48	42	41	190
81	GER 781	Stefan HAAGE	WYC	30	33	38	-49	45	45	191
82	GER 812	Michael MÖCKEL	ASVZR	38	-72	41	32	40	42	193
83	GER 757	Falk HAGEMANN	SWS	38	33	-48	39	38	48	196
84	SWE 7	Bengt LARSSON	SSKA	-72	72	58	20	34	16	200
85	DEN 1482	Tim NORMANN	Herslev Strand Sejlklub	42	40	-48	46	41	31	200
86	AUS 740	Richard FURNEAUX	Black Rock YV	34	31	44	-51	44	50	203
87	SWE 55	Ulf SAHLE	GeSS	46	-72	40	38	41	40	205
88	GER 821	Jochen LOLLERT	YCH	54	32	44	45	36	-72	211
89	DEN 1424	Henrik HAMANN	Birkerød Sejlklub	-72	72	43	22	31	44	212
90	GER 607	Gerd BREITBART	SCOE	47	-51	46	33	43	43	212
91	AUS 759	Elizabeth WILLIAMS	Southport Yacht Club	-49	46	47	43	47	37	220
92	AUS 727	Donald WILLIAMS	Black Rock Yacht Club	40	41	53	-54	42	46	222
93	GER 767	Juliane HOFMANN	BERND	-72	72	29	37	48	37	223
94	NED 669	Sybren HORNSTRA	KWVS	44	41	50	40	-51	49	224
95	DEN 1419	Henri SKOU	Horsens Sejlklub	-72	72	42	39	40	36	229
96	GER 695	Erik BORK	SSCRA	39	29	-72	72	47	43	230
97	DEN 1392	Poul VINCENTS	Herslev Strand Sejlklub	48	39	49	47	-51	49	232
98	DEN 1463	Lars ANDRESEN	Herslev Strand Sejlklub	40	-72	72	72	28	22	234
99	GER 820	Heinz RIDDER	SVPB	48	47	34	53	-54	53	235
100	GBR 68	Rodney TIDD	Overy Staithe Sailing Club	51	-52	49	48	44	46	238
101	DEN 1505	Peter PLESNER	Svendborg Sunds Sejlklub	45	49	52	-53	46	48	240
102	GBR 18	Deryck LOVEGROVE	Burghfield	42	42	55	-56	48	54	241
103	AUS 767	Glenn YATES	South Lake Macquarie Amateur Sailing Club	44	48	52	46	52	-54	242
104	GER 751	Knut RAMIN	CKA	52	44	47	50	49	-53	242
105	DEN 1458	Søren SIGURDSSON	Herslev Strand Sejlklub	53	43	-55	54	50	47	247
106	GER 178	Axel PROPP	RSC	49	-72	50	51	56	44	250
107	DEN 1484	Olof STENSTRÖM	Hellerup Sejlklub	51	-72	51	52	53	45	252
108	NZL 569	Phil COVENY	Wakatere Boating Club	50	53	-54	49	52	50	254
109	GER 784	Claus STOCKHARDT	SSCP	50	-72	51	52	50	51	254
110	AUS 706	Erik THOMPSON	Southport Yacht Club	55	50	45	55	-57	51	256
111	SWE 2791	Roine ERICSON	KSSS	45	-72	56	58	55	52	266
112	GBR 63	Brian QUAYLE	MS&CC	54	-72	54	55	53	52	268
113	GER 79	Frank STRELOW	SLS	35	25	-72	72	72	72	276
114	NED 667	Hessel HOEKSTRA	kwv Langweer	-72	72	32	41	72	72	289
115	DEN 1417	Ingo GRIEM	KBL	-72	72	56	56	54	55	293
116	DEN 666	Peter ZEILER	Svendborg Sunds Sejlklub	-72	72	46	35	72	72	297
117	GBR 2080	Paul PIKE	Covenham SC	56	-72	57	57	55	72	297
118	GER 567	Jan BECKMANN	SVPB	-72	72	53	50	72	72	319
119	GER 686	Jaroslaw SOLTYS	HSC	47	-72	72	72	72	72	335
120	GER 539	Uli BORCHERS	SCST	55	-72	72	72	72	72	343
121	DEN 142	Jørgen LINDHARDTSEN	Hellerup Sejlklub	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	DEN 1485	Johan BJØRLING	Hellerup Sejlklub	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	DEN 1499	Anders GERHARDT-HANSEN	Svendborg Sunds Sejlklub	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	DEN 15	Stig FRANDSEN	KBL	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	DEN 2	Jens Christian JURLANDER	45	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	DEN 20	Jesper HOEJER	Hellerup Sejlklub	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	DEN 3	Jørgen SVENDSEN	Hellerup Sejlklub	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	DEN 77	Jesper STRANDBERG	Herslev Strand Sejlklub	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	GBR 59	Andy OSMAN	Parkstone Yacht Club	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	GER 10	Christian HEINZE	SCV	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	GER 13	Frederik ROENTGEN	SSC	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	GER 24	Karsten KATH	SCGMS	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	GER 36	Klaus ROCHOLL	LYC	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	GER 4	Lutz BOGUHN	FSC	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	GER 788	Jessica FINKE	SKM	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	NED 638	Sipke HOEKSTRA	wsvw	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	POL 4	Radek DROZDZIK	DRYF	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	SWE 15	Mats HOVDE	GKSS	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	SWE 2849	Sverker HÄRD	Upsala SS	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	SWE 60	Per WESTLUND	Norrköpings SS	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360
121	SWE 80	Arne MALM	2018	-72	72	72	72	72	72	360