2019 International OK Dinghy Queensland Championship at Southport Yacht Club

Shane Smith take out the overall Open division and Queensland Champion of the 2019 International OK Dinghy Queensland Championship © Virginia Riddle-Cross

Mark Jackson on Out in The Street in 2nd place - 2019 International OK Dinghy Queensland Championship © Virginia Riddle-Cross

The 2019 International OK Dinghy Queensland Championship have concluded today at Southport Yacht Club in Hollywell, Queensland. The Championships were held on the Saturday 17 and Sunday the 18th of August.

Shane Smith (QLD) has won the Open and Queensland Champion, David Vincent (QLD) won the PHS division, and Glen Yates (QLD) took out the Grandmaster award.

Two days of racing offshore in mainly light to moderate breezes provided some challenging conditions for the sailors and the SYC Race Management Team led by Race Officer Mark Dingley.

Day one saw a light to moderate north, north west winds from 6 to 12 knots. Local SYC sailor Kelvin Holdt started off the day nicely taking a win for race one in some light shifty conditions. Leading from the start followed by Tim Davies and Shane Smith with Mark Jackson following closely behind in 4th.

Race two saw some eager starters, with a general Recall being called. The "U" flag then remained in play for the rest of the day. Mark Jackson took advantage of some wind shift and steamed well in front. Damien Widdy jumped early under "U" Flag and takes a DSQ with his scorecard. Tim Davies consistently takes 2nd again with Glenn Williams moving up the fleet in his new boat to 3rd and Shane Smith rounding out the top four.

The final race for the day was considerably different. Wind changing through 180 degrees several times over a 30-minute period the race went under AP 3 times before we got away. The twist to this start is 5 boats were OCS and all scored a DSQ. Tim Davies, Gareth Wells, Kelvin Holdt, David Haseldine and Richard Kingsmill scores have thrown a spanner in the works at the top of the leader board. The most exciting slip up for the day was a capsize by Steve Shale surfing down the swell through the seaway on the homeward journey, earning him the NSW crab for the day.

The final racing day saw sunny conditions and a light Easterly of 6 to 7 knots. The SYC Race Management team sent the fleets off on a very tight windward hour long course that saw the winner of last year's OK States competition, NSW sailor Tim Davis, take the win over the rest of the 19 boat fleet. With a first place in the first and only race of day 2, it just wasn't enough to regain his title this year.

After Race 4 on the final day of racing the wind started to dissipate and the sails slowly stopped flapping. Race Officer, Mark Dingley, soon saw there was just not enough wind to warrant another race for the day, so racing was soon abandoned. All dinghies were towed in by Race Management volunteers and the days racing was called.

"Southport Yacht Club was pleased to host Australia's best OK Dinghy fleet on the Gold Coast over the weekend", said Commodore Ray McMahon at the Prizegiving on Sunday afternoon.

"A special thank you to all competitors. Those who travelling all the way from Melbourne, Wangi and Darling Point, we appreciate you making the trip up to race this regatta", said David Vincent, President of the OK QLD Association.

Overall Results:

For 2019 International OK Dinghy Queensland Championship event information, visit the Southport Yacht Club event webpage.