Please select your home edition
Edition
A+T Instruments BFD 2024 Leaderboard

Ovington Boats and PRO-SET Resins OK Dinghy World Championship at Lyme Regis - Day 3

by Robert Deaves 29 Jun 2023 06:14 BST 26-30 June 2023
OK Dinghy Worlds Day 3 - Niklas Edlar, SWE © Robert Deaves / www.robertdeaves.uk

After the third day of racing at the 2023 Ovington Boats and Pro-Set Resins OK Dinghy World Championship in Lyme Regis, Sweden's Niklas Edler has taken a one point lead from Britain's Nick Craig and Denmark's Jens Eckardt. Race wins went to Eckardt, Andre Budzien, from Germany, and Charlie Cumbley and Andrew Mills from Britain.

Wednesday's prize-giving was generously sponsored by Allen Brothers (Fittings).

A light start to the day with 6-8 knots and solid cloud cover gradually gave way to clear skies and 12-16 knots for the second race with large waves quickly building again before more heavy cloud rolled off the hills at the end of the day.

In the first race, Craig led at top from Morten Jakobsen, from Thailand, and Budzien. Budzien took lead on the outer loop and led round from Craig. On the final beat, Denmark's Ask Askholm moved up to third.

In the other group, Edler led from Eckardt and Thomas Hansson-Mild, from Sweden, but then missed the spacer so Eckardt moved through to the lead. He led all the way and extended for a comfortable win from Britain's Henry Wetherell and Cumbley. It was Eckhardt's third win so far this week.

In the increased breeze in the next race Cumbley rounded just behind Edler but took the lead before the next upwind mark and then extended to win from Edler, with Norway's Lars Johan Brodtkorb in third. Andrew Mills did similar work in the other group race to extend for a big win from Sweden's Thomas Hansson-Mild and Britain's Matt Howard.

Mark Jackson, from Australia, is in 28th overall after a 32, 10 today. "Pretty challenging day on the water for me. I struggled to get on the right side of the shifts and wasn't going all that well in the first race when the wind was light. But fortunately, in the second race a great breeze picked up with fantastic wavs and a great way to finish the day. The standard of the fleet is incredibly high, with a high standard in every race.

"The club has been great, so friendly and hospitable and there are volunteers everywhere and we are really enjoying it."

Thomas Hansson-Mild is in 15th after a 10, 2. "It was a lovely day. It started off a little bit light and the wind gradually picked up. Nice racing, good races, fantastic venue. I started at the pin and went from there, just played the shifts, so good fun.

"This year is harder than ever but that's something we say every year, but now this year we have all these ex or current professional sailors from the Finn and the Laser, so it's good fun to be out here and fighting against them."

At the end of the qualifying series, the fleet is now split into gold and silver groups for the final four races. The points at the top are incredibly close, with just 10 points separating the first nine boats so everything is wide open for the final series.

Andrew Mills ends the day in ninth. "We had a nice breeze, starting in 7-8 knots but unfortunately, I got a black flag. In the second race we had 12-14 average and I managed to get a bullet, so a mixed day, but very good racing with lovely big waves again.

"It's interesting learning the boat. Obviously, there is a high quality of sailor here with lots of legends from different classes coming in to have a go. It's also interesting seeing different types of beats and some are fast downwind, and some are fast upwind. I seem to have some reasonable pace in the breeze upwind, but some guys have a bit more pace downwind."

Looking ahead to the final two days, he said, "I think it will be an interesting last couple of days with gold fleet tomorrow and I think the breeze is also due to swing to the north so could be a bit shifty and we'll see how everyone gets on tomorrow."

Racing continues Thursday with two more races scheduled from 11.00 with the 143 boats from 13 countries now in gold and silver fleets. The championship concludes on Friday with a maximum of four races to sail.

Results after Day 3: (top ten, 6 races)

1 SWE 71 Niklas Edler 12pts
2 GBR 2261 Nick Craig 13pts
3 DEN 12 Jens Eckardt 15pts
4 FRA 11 Valerian Lebrun 16pts
5 GBR 6 Charlie Cumbley 17pts
6 DEN 21 Bo Petersen 20pts
7 GBR 2245 Henry Wetherell 20pts
8 GBR 2279 Matthew Howard 22pts
9 GBR 94 Andrew Mills 22pts
10 GER 71 André Budzien 26pts

Full results at 2023.okworlds.org/results

Full gallery at www.flickr.com/photos/okdia/albums/72177720309371000

Related Articles

OK Dinghy Europeans at Warnemünde preview
118 sailors from 14 nations on the entry list The 2025 OK Dinghy European Championship opens in Warnemünde this weekend with 118 sailors from 14 nations on the entry list. It will take place in the first half of Warnemünder Woche. Posted on 3 Jul
Countdown to the OK Nationals at Dabchicks
It's expected that the fleet will enjoy come close and competitive sailing The OK class are just ten days away from their 2025 National Championships, which are this year being hosted by Dabchicks Sailing Club. Posted on 1 Jul
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 on 30 Jun
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