OK Dinghy World Championship - Friendships, culture and intense racing

by Robert Deaves on 3 Jan 2015 An OK Dinghy World Championship is always so much more that the pinnacle event in the class. It is also an annual gathering of old friends from across the world, almost a pilgrimage that keeps the class enthusiasts coming back year after year. While some sailors find it hard to ignore the OK call, competing every year for longer than they can remember, a number of sailors in Black Rock this week have made a return to the class they once loved and are having another crack at the world title.

For some of the sailors here it is their first OK Dinghy Worlds, other such as Andre Blasse (AUS), Roger Blasse (AUS), Greg Wilcox (NZL), Alistair Deaves (NZL) and Gavin Waldron (GBR) are approaching, or over, 20 championships.

Some are missing with injury. Shoulder injuries appear to be in vogue with OKDIA Vice-President Mike Wilde (NZL) staying home, while local sailor Don Williams (AUS) assisted with measurement with one useful arm but was unable to sail. It was also expected that Rod Davis (NZL) would sail, but his other commitments had taken their toll, and he decided to stay home as well.

The new sailors are finding out what the OK Dinghy is all about. From the Finn class, there is the three time Olympian Anthony Nossiter (AUS), a recent campaigner Matt Coutts (NZL) and long time Finn sailor Rob McMillan (AUS). They are finding out that there is a bit more to the class than they originally thought.

Then there are the returning world champions. There are four here. Roger Blasse won in 1998 and 2013, Wilcox won in 2002, Glenn Collings (AUS) won in 1984 and Peter Milne (AUS) won in 1999.

For Collings, this week is his first time in an OK Dinghy for nearly 30 years. He won the OK Dinghy world title in 1984 in Sonderborg, Denmark.

What brought him back? 'This is my home town so I thought they would be good fun to do this after so many years. I had a sail and remembered I really enjoyed sailing OKs. They are great to sail in all conditions, especially downwind. I sailed a worlds in New Zealand in 1985 but didn't do any training for that and haven't sailed one since. Since then I have sailed Etchells, and Tasars and a bit of Lasers.'

How has the class changed since then? 'The mast and sails have developed a lot since my day, they have got a lot harder with so many big sailors in the class these days. I wasn't a super lightweight back then, but I am now. The boats haven't changed that much though – it's all pretty similar and still a lot of fun to sail. But still very hard. The people in the class are the same, maybe there are a few more professionals in the class nowadays.'

Is he back for the long term. 'I don't know. The worlds don't come to Australia very often and I would find it hard to go overseas now. But I might be able to find an old boat I can fix up.'

'I was really surprised how well I went on the first day.' Collings got a fifth and a tenth. 'I am just trying to focus on the right things. I still think I am a bit slow at times, but I didn't seem to be in the first two races. In the third race I just went the wrong way. The wind did what I expected it to do, but the direction didn't do what we expected. It was one of those races when you say 'I'll do what the locals do' and then you don't do it when you get the regatta.'

Looking at the conditions he said, 'Occasionally we get days on end of sea breezes here, but it's quite rare for that to happen. More than likely you get a bit of everything here, so this is not unusual. If a frontal system comes through then each day is different.' That has certainly been the case this week.'

'Back in 1984 my main competition internationally was Stig Westergaard (DEN). Stig was the one to beat when I won the worlds and was always a very consistent sailor. There was also Alastair McMichael (GBR) and when I sailed, and won, the English Nationals he was second; and also John Derbyshire (GBR) was third in the worlds, the year I won. It's amazing that those guys went on to do some pretty incredible things.'

'My best memories of the class back then are travelling and seeing lots of countries, which was always lots of fun. I always enjoyed sailing in different places. Basically it was my chance to get to see the world. I went overseas quite a few times and haven't really done that since.'

Peter Milne started his OK Dinghy career just as Collings was finishing. 'Glen was just finishing as I came into it. I only overlapped a year or two with him and then he went to New Zealand for a one off worlds, so it's a long time between events for him.'

After a gap of some 14 years, Milne has bought back his 1999 world championship winning OK Dinghy and is having another go. Why did he return to sailing the OK. 'Hmmm, these are questions I keep asking myself. I guess the thing that drags me back mostly is the culture. The friendliness, the intensity of the racing and the social side. Everyone mixes together really well. And of course the fun of sailing them downwind in a breeze is not matched by many other classes. So, that's what brings me back – the opportunity to sail my old boat against my old mates.'

'I started in 1983, stopped in 2000, and came back last year. I have done six months before these worlds, though I have been sailing a lot of different boats over the years. In 1983 -1989 period I did a lot of other sailing, with keelboats and Sydney-Hobarts, but always kept coming back to the OK. When I started sailing there was a core group of us with Andre, Roger, Neil Williamson (AUS) and Mark Jackson (AUS). There'd be six to eight of us out a couple of nights a week, so we all sort of grew up together. Really this is just the opportunity to race against my mates again.'

On the changes in the boats. 'The masts are very different and I really don't understand them. Roger very kindly leant me his mast and I had a brand new sail made at the last minute. I can't sail with a stiff mast, so I changed to a much softer mast which is like what I had when we had aluminium. I am only 82 kg now. When I won the worlds in 1999 I was 78 kg and I won the windiest race. But I had an aluminium mast that has an epoxy-glassfibre wrap around the top, so it was very stiff sideways but very soft fore and aft and that worked really well in the breeze.'

'So if I keep sailing now, I will have to develop another mast as I can't keep using these stiffer masts we have today. For my weight it doesn't really work.'

'The boats are different from the 1990s with the carbon mast but not a lot, just the masts are stiffer and there seems to be an increase in the size of the people sailing the boat these days. It's quite dramatic, so I don't think at the moment there is a lot to cater for the lighter guys, especially in the breeze. If you sail here you have to have rig that will be competitive in 20 knots. So I think we just have to work a bit harder for that. But that's the main change I see over the last 20 years.'

'I have my old boat back, all resprayed, that I built 18 years ago. It's still quick, it's just the rig that's not quite balanced, so I need to sort that out and see how we go. I bought the boat back and restored it so I think I'll keep it and do regattas here and there. I am still sailing other boats as well so it's not my main boat at the moment.'

Of the two former world champions, Milne is currently lying in 17th place after two 13th on day two, but dropped with a 38th on day three. Collings is fairly slightly better in 12th overall.

At Black Rock, the club has been buffeted by 30-40 knot winds all day long on Saturday with temperatures in the high 30s. The frustration of the sailors is palpable. They want to go sailing, but that will now have to wait until Sunday, which is the final day of the event, as for the third time this week the sailors have been kept onshore because of strong winds. Two more races are needed to make a valid championship and the PRO has changed the schedule for the final day to give the best possible chance of racing. Racing is now scheduled to start at 10.00 with a last possible start moved back to 17.00. So keep fingers, toes and everything crossed that we get the final races in.

Results after three races

1. NZL546 Luke O'Oonnell 15
2. NZL519 Matt Coutts 16
3. NZL549 Matt Stechmann 17
4. AUS749 Roger Blasse 19
5. NZL544 Greg Wilcox 22
6. AUS753 Mark Skelton 29
7. DEN1340 Christian Olesen 33
8. AUS735 Mark Jackson 33
9. AUS730 Michael Williams 35
10. AUS765 Anthony Nossiter 40

Complete Results:

					Race Number			Points
Pl	Name	Sail Num	Country	Club	1	2	3	Total Points	Net Points
1	O'CONNELL, Luke	NZL546	NZL	Worser Bay BC	8	6	1	15	15
2	COUTTS, Matt	NZL519	NZL	Auckland SC	4	7	5	16	16
3	STECHMANN, Matt	NZL549	NZL	Naval Point Club	1	5	11	17	17	Veterans
4	BLASSE, Roger	AUS749	AUS	BRYC	11	2	6	19	19	Veterans
5	WILCOX, Greg	NZL544	NZL	Potsdamer Seglerverien	3	12	7	22	22	Veterans
6	SKELTON, Mark	AUS753	AUS		7	19	3	29	29	Veterans
7	OLESEN, Christian	DEN1340	DEN	VSK	14	17	2	33	33
8	JACKSON, Mark	AUS735	AUS	BRYC	9	16	8	33	33	Veterans
9	WILLIAMS, Michael	AUS730	AUS	BRYC	6	8	21	35	35	Veterans
10	NOSSITER, Anthony	AUS765	AUS	MHYC	22	1	17	40	40	Veterans
11	MCMILLAN, Robert	AUS766	AUS	WSC/RPAYC	20	4	20	44	44	Veterans
12	COLLINGS, Glenn	AUS535	AUS	Safety Beach SC	5	10	30	45	45	Veterans
13	DOUGLAS, Bradley	NZL369	NZL	Wakatere BC	12	20	22	54	54
14	BLASSE, Andre	AUS729	AUS	BRYC	17	18	19	54	54	Veterans
15	PERROW, Mark	NZL551	NZL	Waiuku YC	15	11	34	60	60
16	CLOUGH, Jonathan	NZL498	NZL	Wakatere BC	21	38	4	63	63
17	MILNE, Peter	AUS694	AUS	BRYC	13	13	38	64	64	Veterans
18	HOOGENBOOM, David	NZL303	NZL	Waiuku Yacht Club	26	34	9	69	69	Masters
19	WILLIAMS, Brent	AUS754	AUS	ASC	24	26	24	74	74	Veterans
20	DEAVES, Alistair	NZL542	NZL	Wakatere BC	29	37	10	76	76	Veterans
21	BOURNE, Dave	GBR2157	GBR	Upriver YC	34	27	15	76	76	Veterans
22	MCDOWELL, Steve	NZL545	NZL	Worser Bay BC	28	31	25	84	84
23	MORRISON, Ben	NZL530	NZL	Wakatere BC	27	3	56	86	86
24	O'DONNELL, Edward	AUS734	AUS	Wangi ASC	32	15	40	87	87	Veterans
25	DAVIES, Tim	AUS739	AUS	Wangi ASC	10	24	54	88	88	Veterans
26	DEAVES, Robert	GBR2156	GBR	Waldringfield SC	41	33	14	88	88	Veterans
27	RHODES, Paul	NZL557	NZL	Worser Bay BC	23	23	43	89	89	Veterans
28	HORNE, Peter	AUS764	AUS	Drummoyne SC	25	29	37	91	91	Veterans
29	SVENDSEN, Jorgen	DEN1445	DEN	Hellerup Sejlklub	2	14	78 DSQ	94	94	Veterans
30	BUSH, Daniel	NZL478	NZL	Wakatere BC	50	9	35	94	94
31	KETTERIDGE, David	AUS725	AUS	Adelaide SC	33	46	18	97	97	Masters
32	WELLS, Gareth	AUS742	AUS	Wangi ASC	18	28	59	105	105	Veterans
33	PEDERSEN, Malte	DEN1407	DEN	Royal Danish YC	57	40	12	109	109	Masters
34	FENWICK, Chris	NZL509	NZL	Napier SC	30	54	28	112	112
35	ASHTON, Bruce	AUS728	AUS	BRYC	19	78 DNF	16	113	113	Masters
36	ROBINSON, Peter	AUS750	AUS	Drummoyne SC	42	41	31	114	114	Veterans
37	COULTHARD, Adrian	NZL531	NZL	Napier Sailing Club	31	55	29	115	115	Veterans
38	BAKER, Andrew	AUS761	AUS	BRYC	44	49	23	116	116	Veterans
39	MANNERING, Adrian	NZL504	NZL	Napier SC	36	35	49	120	120	Veterans
40	POSPIECH, Rainer	GER765	GER	Yachtclub Berlin-Grunau	35	44	41	120	120	Masters
41	WILLIAMS, Glenn	AUS719	AUS	Big River SC	47	22	52	121	121	Veterans
42	JANSSEN, Folkert	AUS733	AUS	BRYC	65	25	32	122	122	Veterans
43	DAME, Dirk	GER750	GER	Segler-Vereinigung Mannheim	37	58	33	128	128	Veterans
44	HENGST, Rob	NZL533	NZL	Napier SC	48	39	47	134	134	Veterans
45	FOEST, Ronald	GER688	GER	DRS	55	68	13	136	136	Veterans
46	RONE, Eric	USA536	USA	Wakatere BC	16	42	78 OCS	136	136
47	LOKUM, Gary	AUS741	AUS	BRYC	60	32	46	138	138	Veterans
48	WALDRON, Gavin	GBR756	GBR	Morecambe SC	43	53	44	140	140	Veterans
49	TROLAND, Nils	DEN1391	DEN	HSS	52	45	45	142	142	Veterans
50	WILLIAMS, Elizabeth	AUS759	AUS	Sandgate YC /BRYC	40	78 DNF	26	144	144	Women Veterans
51	HORVATH, Michael	AUS744	AUS	BRYC	62	21	63	146	146	Veterans
52	GERICKE, Dirk	GER735	GER	SG Einheit Brandenburg e.V.	61	59	27	147	147	Veterans
53	HAINES, Samuel	AUS708	AUS	BRYC	59	43	48	150	150
54	HALL, Chris	AUS757	AUS	Ballarat YC	46	48	57	151	151
55	SYLVESTER, Jorg	GER726	GER	Segeberger Segel-Club	39	63	50	152	152	Veterans
56	PIKE, Martin	NZL554	NZL	Napier SC	63	50	42	155	155	Masters
57	WILSON, Mitchell	AUS695	AUS	Wangi ASC	53	64	39	156	156	Youth
58	VISICK, Christopher	AUS758	AUS	BRYC	45	47	64	156	156	Veterans
59	WAKEFIELD, Grant	AUS736	AUS	DSC	38	61	58	157	157	Veterans
60	POWRIE, Sefton	NZL547	NZL	Wakatere BC	49	56	55	160	160	Masters
61	LYNCH, Peter	AUS726	AUS	Wangi ASC	56	30	78 DNF	164	164	Veterans
62	DEVINE, Chris	NZL548	NZL	Napier SC	67	36	62	165	165	Veterans
63	BROCKHUUS, Mads	DEN1419	DEN	Skaelskor Amator Sejlklub	58	60	53	171	171	Veterans
64	YATES, Glenn	AUS767	AUS	Wangi ASC	64	62	51	177	177	Masters
65	FERGUSSON, Ron	AUS618	AUS	Albert SC	51	66	66	183	183	Veterans
66	SMITH, Tim	AUS740	AUS	BRYC	70	52	61	183	183
67	MOORE, Stephen	AUS755	AUS	BRYC	69	51	65	185	185	Masters
68	PARKINSON, Ashley	GBR711	GBR	London Corinthian SC	74	78 DNF	36	188	188	Veterans
69	FURNEAUX, Richard	AUS737	AUS	BRYC	66	57	67	190	190	Masters
70	THOMPSON, Erik	AUS706	AUS	Sandgate YC / BRYC	72	67	60	199	199	Masters
71	ROBERTS, Mark	AUS762	AUS	ASC	54	78 DNF	78 OCS	210	210	Veterans
72	CROMIE, Luke	AUS672	AUS	BRYC	73	65	73	211	211	Veterans
73	FLAVELL, Mike	AUS543	AUS	BRYC	75	70	70	215	215	Masters
74	WALKER, Michael	AUS655	AUS	Drummoyne SC	71	78 DNF	68	217	217	Masters
75	WILLIAMSON, Neil	USA678	USA		68	78 DNF	71	217	217	Veterans
76	HENDERSON, John	AUS715	AUS	BRYC	76	69	72	217	217
77	USTOVYTSKI, Slava	AUS760	AUS	BRYC	77	78 DNC	69	224	224