Nick Craig wins OK Winter Championships

by Dan Ager on 12 Feb 2008
World Champion Nick Craig won the OK Winter Championships for the second year running from a competitive fleet of the usual names, newcomers to the class and some good juniors.

Twentyfour OKs turned up at Ardleigh Sailing Club on the 9 February to take part in the next round of the Winter Cup and the Winter Championships. Very welcome sunshine but uncharacteristically light winds were a feature of the day.

The first race held in 10kts of breeze was lead by the newly sylph like John Ball for the first round, closely followed by Dan Ager. Those two pulled away from the rest of the fleet. Ball let Ager through on the beat of the second round, who went on to win quite comfortably. The rest of the fleet caught up to Ball, with Nick Craig coming through to second and Homer Goodhead third.

The second race started with the wind decreasing. Craig was first to the windward mark and sailed on with little difficulty to win. Tony Woods a little way behind but retained a comfortable second place. The third position was taken by junior Jake Cracknell, who battled round with and had the better of Jon Fish in 4th, Robert Deaves in 5th and Ball in 6th.

The wind held for the duration of the final race which was thankfully was shortened just as the wind was about to disappear completely. Will Turner decided that his own boat wasn’t fast enough for his liking and swapped boats with his father. He might have been right as he got a second place. Craig winning after coming through following an average first beat. Woods getting third from the consistent Ball in 4th and Ager in 5th.

Craig won the event for the second year running from a competitive fleet of the usual names, newcomers to the class and some good juniors.

OK - Final Overall Results:

1 2116 Nick Craig Frensham Pond 2 1 1 2
2 2068 Tony Woods Etherow 9 2 3 5
3 2120 Dan Ager Waldringfield 1 8 5 6
4 2045 Will Turner Ardleigh 6 7 2 8
5 2122 Jon Fish Waldringfield 4 4 10 8
6 2100 John Ball Ardleigh 5 6 4 9
7 2125 Neil Goodhead Sth Staffs 3 10 8 11
8 2012 Jake Cracknell Ardleigh 10 3 11 13
9 2084 Mike Edwards Sth Staffs 7 9 6 13
10 2119 Robert Deaves Waldringfield 13 5 9 14
11 2117 Alex Scoles Overy Staithe 8 15 13 21
12 2105 Jack Grogan Ardleigh 12 12 14 24
13 2087 Graham Sexton Unattached 15 16 10 25
14 2082 Rob Bellfield Sutton Bingham 16 13 12 25
15 1774 Richard Burton West Oxford 17 11 15 26
16 2123 Andy Turner Ardleigh 11 17 OCS 28
17 2031 Dave Cooper Overy Staithe 14 18 16 30
18 2059 Pete Turner Ardleigh 19 14 DNS 33
19 1968 Nigel Grogan Ardleigh 18 19 17 35
20 1781 Paul Church Tollesbury 20 20 18 38
21 1376 Gary Pilgrim Ardleigh 24 23 19 42
22 1990 Tim Hirst Mersea 23 24 20 43
23 2054 Ben Woodcraft Ardleigh 22 21 dnf 43
24 1963 Alan Price Portsmouth 21 22 dnf 43