OK Worlds Day 3- Two Guns for Kiwi

by Steve McDowell & Robert Greaves on 28 Jul 2005 Kiwi OK sailor, Steve McDowell, filed this report after the third day of the OK Worlds:

The Kiwi team dominated day three of the 2005 OK Dinghy World Championship being held at Skaelskor, Denmark. 2002 World Champion Greg Wilcox won both of the races with a host of other New Zealanders featuring in the top ten.

In Race 5, half the top ten were Kiwis and in Race 6, 3 of the top five . This result comes after extensive sail development and training for this event.

Light and variable winds were expected which is what we have, although the breeze is often very patchy and shifty.

Greg Wilcox currently lies in third position, needing some big (bad)scores from the two leaders in the next four races to improve his overall standing; not totally impossible given the conditions. Two races are scheduled for tomorrow and two for Saturday.

Also near the top are Steve McDowell in 7th, Mark Perrow in 13th and Alistair Deaves in 15th..

Good results have also been posted by fellow team mates as well. Wayne Avery finished fifth in Race 3 and Trent Pryce finished fourth in Race 5.

With conditions set to remain the same for the rest of the week hopes are high for more Kiwi success and possibly another OK Dinghy World Champion.

Source: www.kiwispy.com

For full results see: http://www.kiwispy.com/KiwiCampaigns/OKWorlds2005Results.htm


From Robert Deaves: Int OK Assoc Secretary

Greg Wilcox (NZL) won both races today and moves up to third position overall, on the third day of racing in the World OK Championships in Skælskør Denmark.

Two second places for Nick Craig (GBR) has extended his lead after six races. With the discard kicking in today, Jonas Quist (SWE) moves up to second after dropping his black flag disqualification on day 1.

'One of the best day’s racing I’ve ever had', said Wilcox reflecting on the day.

A north-westerly breeze and brilliant sunshine greeted the fleet for day 3 of the OK Dinghy World Championship at with another day of patchy, testing winds that saw many high profile casualties picking up high scores.

Race 5 got underway in a force 2-3 with most of the favourites sailing up the left side of the course. Steve McDowell (NZL) led round the first mark followed by Roger Blasse (AUS), Greg Wilcox (NZL) and Nick Craig (GBR). The left was favoured again on the second beat with Craig and Wilcox pulling ahead and building a gap on the fleet. Craig briefly moved into the lead on the run but round the last leeward mark Wilcox tacked for the left again while Craig covered the majority up the middle. Wilcox proved right and won the race by some 20 seconds from Craig and Blasse. The final beat saw a 30 degree shift to the left, leaving many boats on the right and middle counting more boats than expected.

After being DSQ’d by the jury for hitting a mark yesterday and picking up an OCS in the second race today, Jon Fish (GBR) is still celebrating his win at last night’s unofficial ‘OK World Match Racing Championship’. The event was sailed in the enclosed waters off the school where the regatta has been hosted and just across from the Harboe brewery which has kindly sponsored the OK Worlds - and in generously provided the match racing prize of half the winner’s body weight in beer. Four windward-leeward races were sailed with two countries eliminated at each round. The final saw Fish against Janusz Stobinski (POL), with Fish inflicting two penalties before the start. However it was all over by the first leeward as the Pole capsized to leave Fish the proud winner of over 120 cans of Harbroe beer – a small consolation.

Race 6 was sailed in similar conditions to Race 5, with the wind continually flicking left and several corner bangers making massive gains. Craig started mid line and came out on the first shift to lead up the middle. He rounded the top mark just ahead of Jonus Quist (SWE) and Wilcox. At the bottom mark Quist was right behind Craig and these two sailed to the left while Wilcox caught up some distance finding pressure to the right. On the run Quist again showed devastating speed to close right up on Craig and the two became inseparable up the final beat.

Locked in a tack for tack battle, Craig never let up, but Wilcox, allowed to sail his own race, went right, although he initially looked in a poor position,100 metres down on the leaders. However a last minute shift from the right brought him back between Craig and Quist to tack for the line and win his second race of the day by less than half a boatlength.

Before this regatta, Wilcox had only ever won one OK World Championship race, and that was the clinching race in the 2002 World Championship, which won him the world title. This week, Wilcox has already notched up three race wins, and is ready for more. He said, 'After the race win in Napier three years ago, this is the best day’s racing I have ever had. You can’t ask for better than winning two World Championship races on the same day.'

Talking about the racing so far he continues, 'However, it’s like a minefield out there with holes and shifts and pressure coming in from all directions. But I think I’m doing well because I am being allowed to sail my own race and haven’t got sucked into playing games with other boats. Nick is proving very consistent with top 3 every race so far which is incredible in conditions like these.'

With six races down, there are still four to go and in the challenging winds off Skælskør Fjord, there is still a long way to go.