K1 Class Review of 2024 and looking forward to the 2025 season
by Hilly King 7 Jan 01:37 PST
Jason King at Plymouth © Hilly King
The K1 Class has continued to flourish in 2024 and as we progress into 2025 now is the time to review not only the racing events but the class as a whole.
Considering first the Open Meeting circuit in 2024, despite the weather doing its best to disrupt the planned series we have seen new venues visited, increased numbers coming to the start lines, significant number of new boats launched and above all our extended family increasing with massive enjoyment throughout the fleet.
Barnt Green was a blustery start to the year which everyone enjoyed so much we are revisiting in 2025. Simon Hawkes was the overall winner, closely followed by Leighton King and Richard Sims. Datchet Water followed in April and another win for Simon, this time followed by Richard and Jeremy Hudson. Datchet Water SC along with Carsington SC now have the two largest fleets of K1's in the Country. Simon also ran a training session for any K1 owner who wished to attend. We are very fortunate that some of the countries top sailors give of their time and expertise freely to enhance performance throughout the fleet. Porchester SC were the next club to organise a training event and this coincided with two days of glorious weather. All who attended improved noticeably and I was told boats had never been better prepared.
Next was a trip to the ever popular POSH event where the K1's always perform well and 2024 was no exception. Sunshine and lighter winds were the order of the day and this time we had a tie for first between Simon and Andrew Wilson. The tie-break went in favour of Simon with Jeremy completing the podium. Carsington SC were excellent hosts in June. The racing here was exceptionally close throughout the fleet and it was not unusual to gain or lose half a dozen places by simply making incorrect decisions. Andrew won this event followed by Richard and Jeremy. Another windy weekend greeted the K1 fleet in Bala for the long distance race which this year proved to be very enjoyable and successful both on and off the water. The K1 fleet dominated the overall results with Jeremy winning, Hilly King second and Geoff King third. The popularity of the K1 at Bala has as a legacy built a very active expanding home fleet.
Rutland is always a popular destination for the K1 fleet and in 2024 the Inland Nationals were held in a fresh breeze with again lots of close racing all through the fleet. I am sure the wind gods were toying with the fleet as the middle race was actually abandoned when the wind direction literally rotated 360 degrees over a twenty minute cycle. Lucky for some that we have 65kg of lead in the keel to prevent unnecessary swimming! After a battle royal Simon was a well deserved winner followed by Richard and Jeremy.
Our National Championships were held at Brixham Yacht Club in September and after a mostly windy season we were greeted with limited winds and mirror like seas. An exceptional competition was run in challenging circumstances and the enjoyment everyone had was evident for all to see. Our new National Champion was Graham Butler, followed by Andrew and Simon.
As the temperatures started to fall the fleet moved to Burton SC, an old favourite for the K1 sailors as that is where the first Championship was held over ten years ago. With a threat of thunderstorms and gale force winds this time the fleet was treated to sunshine and a shifty 8-20 knots of wind. There is no holding a good chap down with Simon winning, followed by Richard and Mark Stones.
The more intrepid sailors then packed their campervans and headed to Scotland and the stunning Loch Lomond Open meeting. I am told the hospitality alone is worth the drive however the date clashed with the Ovington boat regatta in Portland so a reduced fleet enjoyed a steady 10-20 knot breeze which is literally champagne conditions. Jeremy became Scottish Champion followed by Richard and Fergus Duncanson. In the K1 Class at the Ovington Boats Multiclass Championship Simon won the event followed by Paul Birbeck and Ian Duke. This event was not part of the National Travellers Trophy event, but is clearly increasing in popularity so maybe a consideration in the future?
With only the Broxbourne Open Meeting to take place Jeremy and Richard were tied on points with Geoff in a comfortable third for the National Travellers Trophy, demonstrating how close the racing over the season had been. Broxbourne SC have a lively home fleet and is always a venue which attracts a bumper number of entrants from all over the country and 2024 was no exception. When the travelling K1's started arriving at Broxbourne the welcome was as warm as always, however the wind had literally vanished. Despite everyone's best efforts and boats sailing off by themselves the meeting unfortunately had to be abandoned as the wind stubbornly did not materialise.
The National Travellers Trophy was presented to Richard who beat Jeremy on a tie break with Geoff collecting the third placed trophy.
The K1 Class Association is clearly delighted with the numbers of participants coming to the Class Open Events however I am pleased to say I continue to receive results from members who chose to sail at their home clubs. The K1 continues to achieve success at club level and please keep emailing me your club series results so we can celebrate your success with the wider community. The SailJuice Series holds large multi-class open events through the winter months and has previously been a great way to showcase the attributes of the K1. We invariably get new members when one of our fleet has performed with excellence. 2024 has seen Simon win the Chase SC Polar race and been very well placed in other Sailjuice events. Even if you cannot sail yourselves please support those in these handicap events as the K1 is a wonderful boat sailed by fabulous people.
The K1 Class Association has had a record number of members in 2024 and the numbers of new boats completed and ordered reflects the continued enthusiasm to join the class.
When Ovington closed for Christmas they had just completed and delivered number 195, however orders I believe are confirmed to 203 so very buoyant order books.
The K1 dinghy is a strict one design with Ovington boats protecting the integrity of the class and making a quality product ensuring the only difference is the colour of your choice.
So as we move into 2025 what's new for the K1 dinghy?
The RYA Dinghy Show is always a busy time for the K1 Class with members renewing friendships and a chance for us all to sing from the rafters the benefits of the K1. Our learnings from previous shows have been that when someone makes the decision to buy a new boat they want it straight away. Ovington are therefore making more boats to fulfil demand, indeed we will have a new boat on our stand, as will Copenhagen and Düsseldorf boats shows.
The 2025 Open Meetings are already published on the Class Association website. This year we visit Castle Cove and Salcombe as new venues which are beautiful parts of the country. We would like to encourage all K1 owners to come along and enjoy being with like minded souls. We also invite all K1 owners to attend the training sessions, these are provided by the K1 Class Association which I can assure you will be pitched for all abilities and are great fun. The Open Meetings this year will also act as qualifiers for regional events and of course the National Travellers Trophy. We also have a lake district sailing rally planned so visit the K1 Class Association website for more information. Another change for this year is to introduce prizes for the most improved sailor against your predictive place. Ian explains the mechanism of the predictive place prizes on the K1 Class Association website. I am pleased to say both the Inland National Championships and Sea National Championships will continue to have age related prizes to celebrate our demographic. I would also like to introduce a photographic competition in 2025 so please email me your favourite picture which involves a K1. Some of the best pictures I have seen are the impromptu pictures taken on mobile phones at your home clubs. The best photograph will win a prize and be displayed on the K1 stand at the following year's RYA Dinghy Show. I have also been asked if we can interview race winners at our National Championships to get an insight into how they approached the racing, rig set up etc. so that is something I plan to implement this year.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish the whole sailing fraternity a Happy New Year and I hope to catch up with you all over the coming season.