2021 Allen OK Inlands at Chase Sailing Club
by Ed Bradburn 20 Oct 16:24 BST
16-17 October 2021
As promised the weekend started with plenty of sun but not a lot of wind. The schedule was for two races in the morning before lunch with another 2 in the afternoon.
The race team wasted no time in getting the fleet away in what can only be described as shifty and very puffy conditions. Nick Craig wasted no time in hitting the front of the fleet and sailed away to take the first race by some distance followed by Andy Davis showing good pace in his new ship and Krzysztof Bonicki taking an excellent third. The second race saw an adjusted course and a large right-hand shift on the first beat taking OK veteran Neil Goodhead from his "conservative" start to leading round the first mark followed by Allen Brothers Ben Harden in his first OK event. After many reaches Nick managed to sail through to the lead from Andy with Ben holding on to his third.
After an excellent lunch put on by the team at Chase, the fleet headed out for the third race of the day to another start position and a short postponement. One of the class light weights Will Croxford nailed the pin off the start and looked to be sailing into the distance had it not been for a right-hand shift at the top of the beat which brought Nick and Andy and Gavin Poulloin through into 1st, 2nd and 3rd retrospectively. These positions remained for the remainder of the race.
The schedule planned for another race on the Saturday but due to the earlier postponement and fickle winds the race team looked for council from a keen, energetic sailor who would give them the confirmation that they needed to run the 4th race. Having struggled to find one of those they decided to speak to Will Croxford instead who to avoid the potential wrath of his better half informed the race team that everyone had had enough for the day and that they should call it a day.
The fleet retired a shore to a curry and party put on by Chase Sailing club where I am led to believe there were some questionable dance moves on show by certain members of the fleet, who to avoid embarrassment shall remain nameless, but thank you very much to that individual for sponsoring the Allen Brothers OK Inlands.
Sunday morning treated us to some good old fashioned Midlands weather but more wind and given Will's decision to earn some brownie points the night before the Race Team aimed for 3 back-to-back races.
Race four saw the introduction of the U flag unbeknown to some members of the fleet. It was Andy Davis who rounded first ahead of Nick and seemed to be sailing away to an unassailable lead followed by Nick Craig and Ben Pickering. However, the U flag caught up with Andy allowing nick to sail off into the distance with Ben and Ed Bradburn tustling for 2nd and 3rd with Russ Clark just behind. On the final beat Ed managed to hold of Ben for 2nd but in the process let Russ through into 3rd.
In race five Andy Davis yet again made the best start leading from start to finish with positions changing behind with Nick sailing through into 2nd and Ed finishing up 3rd. Race 6 saw a similar story as race 5 with the same finishing positions in the top 3.
Final scores where Nick Craig 1st, Andy Davis 3rd and Ed Bradburn 3rd.
A great weekend was had by all in some challenging conditions and thanks must go to the race team and all at Chase Sailing club for putting on such a great event for all involved.
In addition the OK fleet must thank Allen Brothers for sponsoring this event and also the nationals earlier in the year providing prizes and support at both events and Ben Harden for supporting the event. The fleet hope to see him in a boat again soon and also some more of his dance moves... oops!