P&B OK dinghy End of Season Championship 2026 at Northampton Sailing Club

P&B OK dinghy End of Season Championship at Northampton © Clare Butterfield

Northampton SC were the hosts for the 2026 OK End of Season Championships, kindly sponsored by Pinnell & Bax. The weather forecast for 24 and 25 October was not encouraging, and there were discussions during the preceding week as to whether the event would be able to go ahead. The fleet was somewhat depleted as a result, but the club's decision to hold out till Saturday before making a call on the event turned out to be a good one.

Race Officer Ian Pinnell was determined to get 4 races sailed on Saturday and racing started promptly at 12 noon. The event was shared with the Streaker class and they were the first fleet to get away. The course saw the fleet start at 'the bottom end' of the reservoir racing up towards the dam on a triangular course of 2 laps.

Swift turnarounds were the order of the day, with the sense that the wind was going to build throughout the afternoon encouraging everyone to try and get through the 4 races before the heavy stuff hit. Andy Davis won race 1 (he went on to win races 2, 3 and 4 too!), with Alex Scoles in 2nd and Jason Pyke in 3rd. Race 2 saw Andy claim another first, with Tom Lonsdale 2nd and Alex 3rd. It was Andy, Alex, Tom in 1, 2, 3 for races 3 and 4.

Alex Scoles, second place - P&B OK dinghy End of Season Championship at Northampton - photo © Clare Butterfield

The fleet came together in the evening for their end of season prize-giving, with a delicious meal served in the clubhouse.

A number of boats had packed up after racing on Saturday, taking note of the forecast for strong and un-sailable winds on Sunday. PRO Ian Pinnell formally cancelled the remaining races at 9am on Sunday morning and after enjoying breakfast in the clubhouse the sailors headed off for windy drives home. The class thanks Northampton SC for hosting an excellent event.

Vaikobi OK Travellers Trophy prize-giving - photo © Simon Davis

Congratulations to Nick Craig on winning both the P&B Grand Slam series and Vaikobi Travellers Series and many thanks to our sponsors, P&B and Vaikobi, for their support throughout 2026.

P&B Grand Slam Series: (based on 5 major events)

1st Nick Craig - Burghfield SC
2nd Chris Turner - Lyme Regis SC
3rd Simon Davis - Waldringfield SC

Vaikobi OK Travellers Trophy: (based on all events)

1st Nick Craig - Burghfield SC
2nd Simon Davis - Waldringfield SC
3rd Chris Turner - Lyme Regis SC

Vaikobi OK Travellers Trophy runner up, Simon Davis - photo © Jennie Clark

EOS Results:

Jack Hodgkins is 1st Junior in the P&B OK dinghy Grand Slam - photo © Jennie Clark