Please select your home edition
Edition
V-DRY-X

Nick Craig closes in on record breaking fifth OK Dinghy Worlds crown

by Robert Deaves on 31 May 2017
Nick Craig - Penultimate day - 2017 OK Dinghy World Championship Alistair Deaves
Barbados conditions seems to suit Britain’s Nick Craig as he notched up two more race wins on the penultimate day of the 2017 OK Dinghy World Championship. He has now won six of the eight races sailed and leads the fleet by 13 points with just two races to sail and any place inside the top 12 on Wednesday will give him a record breaking fifth OK Dinghy World title.

Another former, and double, world champion, Jim Hunt, also from Britain, is in clear second place after picking up a fifth and a second on Tuesday. He sits 18 points clear of third placed Luke O’Connell, from New Zealand.



New Zealand has the largest number of sailors inside the top ten with five sailors capable of picking up a medal on Wednesday. They came to Barbados with high hopes of success.



Great conditions on the fourth day of racing in Barbados welcomed the fleet of 79 sailors to Carlisle Bay. The wind was more northerly with 15-20 knots of offshore wind. The first start was abandoned after a huge wind shift, and then after a general recall race seven started under black flag. Favouring the left once again, Craig led the fleet into the top mark from New Zealand’s Mark Perrow and Denmark’s Henrik Kofoed-Larsen. Craig extended for another huge win while Perrow clung onto second and Luke O’Connell, also from New Zealand, took third.

The second race of the day started with a long delay while the course was reset but a 40-degree shift out of the start meant that some sailors could lay the mark in one tack. New Zealand’s Steve McDowell judged it perfectly from Germany’s Sonke Behrens tacking near the boat end to lift up to the mark while those on the left sailed more distance.



Hunt and Craig were not far behind and soon were up to first and second. The windward mark was reset for the fishy second beat, causing the fleet to sail almost into the fishing harbour before tacking. On the last beat Jim Hunt was heard ordering a rum punch on the beach before pointing towards the finish line, but Craig had it under control for his sixth win of the week. Roger Blasse, from Australia, in third, punched out right to try and get some leverage but just lost ground.



Even though he won the famous Tiki for the top Kiwi boat McDowell, who finished fourth in race eight, remains in fifth overall, just seven points from a medal. He said, “It was a pretty nice day out there. A few big shifts but the course was a bit clearer. It was rum punch sailing.”

Left has been the favourite direction most of the week, but in race eight, Behrens went right, even though he was really going left. “It was a nice race. Steve McDowell and I were very lucky to get the right direction to the first mark. We fortunately got a big gap on the reaches. It was nice racing”



Each upwind has been characterised by pressure from the land that lifts those on port into the top mark. Often it has been a case of overstanding the top mark to get into the bigger pressure and then using that pressure to free off, faster, into the top mark. Either way Craig has it down to a tee and is putting on a master class of sailing in challenging conditions for the fleet.



Four OK Dinghy world title have been won by just three sailors: Leith Armit of New Zealand, Bo-Staffan Andersson of Sweden and Craig. A fifth world title for Craig would rewrite the record books. It would take a significant upset to deny Craig his fifth world title in his favourite class.

The 2017 OK Dinghy World Championship concludes on Wednesday with two more races scheduled at 12.30.







Results after eight races
 
1 GBR 2195 NICK CRAIG 8,0 1 1 1 2 (3) 1 1 1
2 GBR 11 JIM HUNT 21,0 2 3 4 (5) 1 4 5 2
3 NZL 546 LUKE O'CONNELL 39,0 3 2 2 4 (bfd) 17 3 8
4 NZL 517 PAUL RHODES 41,0 5 9 5 6 6 3 (14) 7
5 NZL 545 STEVE McDOWELL 46,0 4 16 8 (17) 4 6 4 4
6 NZL 551 MARK PERROW 52,0 20 4 7 3 2 (dsq) 2 14
7 AUS 749 ROGER BLASSE 52,0 10 15 3 7 5 9 (22) 3
8 GBR 2191 CHRIS TURNER 56,0 6 8 (25) 8 8 8 9 9
9 NZL 566 GREG WILCOX 72,0 9 10 (20) 10 11 10 6 16
10 DEN 3 JORGEN SVENDSEN 73,0 19 14 14 1 (23) 5 8 12
Hyde Sails 2024 - One DesignHenri-Lloyd Dynamic RangeCyclops Marine 2023 November - FOOTER

Related Articles

The latest in fleet monitoring and tracking
Join us on October 22nd for an in-depth exploration of the latest in tracking technology Fleet monitoring and tracking are essential for efficiency, safety, and compliance with real-time visibility into fleet movements critical.
Posted today at 9:30 am
Record fleet set for 13ft Skiff 2026 Championships
The biggest fleet in the event's history is set to line up in January The pain of handing over the national 13ft crown after owning it for a year is driving Manly's Theo Franklin to recapture the title when the biggest fleet in the event's history lines up for the 2026 Australian Championships in January.
Posted today at 5:29 am
2025 Six Metre World Championship Day 2
Eau Vive and Jill claim first victories in Oyster Bay After the disappointment of a wind and raceless day one, the 2025 International Six Metre World Championships at the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club finally got under way in warm sunshine and a south-westerly of around 6-8 knots.
Posted today at 3:23 am
46th Cannes Royal Regatta day 2
A dream day! If we had to give a score for the entry of the "classic " and 5.5 m on Tuesday 23 September, we would hesitate between an 18 and 19/20... knowing that you never put a 20/20!
Posted on 23 Sep
Middle Sea Race set to attract exceptional fleet
Royal Malta YC has 118 entries already At midnight on Friday, 19 September the 46th Rolex Middle Sea Race had amassed a fleet of 118 yachts. The entrants represent 30 countries and territories: from Australia and New Zealand to Finland and Norway, and from the United States to Romania.
Posted on 23 Sep
52 Super Series 2025 Porto Cervo day 1
Solid Sled earn early lead in Sardinia Takashi Okura's Sled lead the 52 SUPER SERIES - Porto Cervo - Range Rover regatta after the first two windward leeward races.
Posted on 23 Sep
Melges 24 Worlds 2025 at Trieste, Italy Day 1
No racing possible on the first day Good things are worth waiting for, and that was the adage at the opening day of the Melges 24 Worlds, which ended without any races in the scoreline. The weather in Trieste proved too unstable, with storms in the morning followed by a lack of wind.
Posted on 23 Sep
Formula Kite Worlds Quartu Sant'Elena preview
9th Sardinia Grand Slam is the first major step towards Los Angeles 2028 Next September 28th to October 5th, the Poetto beach will host the event that crowns the new World Champions. Among the top contenders: Maeder, Vodišek, and Pianosi in the men's fleet; Nolot, Aldridge, and Kampman among women
Posted on 23 Sep
SailGP, TOR Europe, Women's Match Racing Worlds
Good things often happen when preparation meets opportunity Good things often happen when preparation meets opportunity. Such was the case for the Germany SailGP Team presented by Deutsche Bank squad when they notched their first-ever SailGP event win at last weekend's Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix.
Posted on 23 Sep
Melges 15 Fittings Guide
A breakdown of the fittings based on a complete Allen Brothers fit-out If you are looking to upgrade or replace the hardware on your Melges 15, it helps to know exactly which fittings you need and what their role is on the boat.
Posted on 23 Sep