OK Dinghy World Championship at Circolo Vela Arco - Day 3
by Robert Deaves 17 Sep 2025 21:17 PDT
12-19 September 2025
The British team continue to dominate the 2025 OK Dinghy World Championship at Circolo Vela Arco, on Lake Garda. Andrew Mills won both his races on Wednesday, Day 3 of the event, to take the overall lead from Nick Craig, with Charlie Cumbley still in third.
Matt Howard also won both his races to move up to sixth. The other race win went to Bo Petersen, now in eighth overall.
The breeze took a while to build, but by 13.00 it was clearly building for another Groundhog Day. Head to the right; keep your nose clean and tack on the lay line. Some got it right, some went early and some went late. Australia's Rob McMillan was fast upwind, but Matt Howard sailed round and past downwind for two comfortable wins. Mills had a slightly harder time with a very close finish for the top three in the second race. Meanwhile Nick Craig, mulling over the mistakes in Race 5 where he finished third, took off in the last race to lead all the way and win by some 400 metres.
With six races completed there is almost nothing to separate the top boats. But for the remaining races, the top boats will face everyone and it's going to be tough. Among the top 10 there are 10 world titles with a massive amount of talent and determination. It's Garda, and the rewards are great, but mistakes are also heavily punished. What's left is four gruelling races - the forecast is more wind - but also a lot of fun. And these guys are having fun for sure.
Andrew Mills is proving hard to beat. With five wins from six races, he has not made many mistakes. He said, "Another lovely day on Garda today. Third day of somewhere in the region 12-18 knots. A little bit fresher today for the last day of qualifying. Been superb so far. I've been going well. Another couple of firsts for me today.
"It will be interesting tomorrow when we stick the gold fleet together and see what happens.
"The organisation has been brilliant so far. Three fleets of 70 boats starting for 2 races for all the fleets in a 4 hour window is brilliant."
Niklas Edler dropped one place to fifth with a 2, 7 today. "Lovely venue here. Organisation is very, very good. One general recall. That's about it. And they are working really hard on the starts.
"The sailing was a bit windier that than yesterday and the day before. So, a lot of hiking and still the right corner close to the mountains. But it's tricky. Not just speed. You have to take care when you tack."
Gabriel Medeiros Konigsfeld, a Laser sailor from Luxembourg, is sailing his first OK Worlds and also competing for the youth trophy, which he is leading. He is currently lying in 24th.
"The championship is going really well. I'm happy tomorrow is going to be gold fleet. Today wasn't really a good day for me. I had some difficulties in the field. Tomorrow is going to be better. I'm sure of that. I'm enjoying the OK class a lot. It's very different from the Laser. The boat is a bit heavier but I'm enjoying it a lot."
The fleets is now split into gold, silver and bronze groups for the final two days. Four races remain and it's about to get tough at the front.
Results after Day 3: (top ten, 6 races)
1 GBR 94 Andrew Mills 5pts
2 GBR 2295 Nick Craig 7pts
3 GBR 6 Charlie Cumbley 10pts
4 CAN 26 Ben Flower 11pts
5 SWE 71 Niklas Edler 12pts
6 GBR 2298 Matthew Howard 12pts
7 GER 71 André Budzien 12pts
8 DEN 21 Bo Petersen 13pts
9 GER 886 Stefan Hoffmann 18pts
10 GER 19 Ulli Kurfeld 18pts