P&B OK Dinghy Southern Championship at Poole Yacht Club

OK Dinghy Southern Championship at Poole © Mary Reddyhoff

Sponsored by Pinnell & Bax

Nick Craig took the P&B OK Dinghy Southern Championship at Poole Yacht Club with a nett score of just 2 points, ahead of Baabiil'o La Fleur and Ed Bradburn.

Seventeen boats came to the line for what was officially a regional championship and unofficially the opening shots of the British squad's campaign for the World Championships in Thailand this February.

OK Dinghy Southern Championship at Poole - photo © Mary Reddyhoff

Thailand, of course, promises warm water, steady breezes and the sort of sunshine that makes sun cream a tactical decision. Poole in October promised none of these things. The UK autumn had well and truly arrived, and the clearest proof came from our Canadian visitor: Baabiil'o turned up wearing sleeves. Those who have sailed with him will understand the gravity of this. Meteorologists have since confirmed that "Baabiil'o in sleeves" is now an officially recognised marker of seasonal change, sitting somewhere between the clocks going back and the first mince pie in the shops.

Saturday: three races, one gybe to forget

Three races were sailed on the Saturday, with one discard, and Nick Craig set the tone immediately. Two bullets in races one and two meant his third place in the final race was the discard, and nobody else got close. It was a reminder to the rest of the Worlds-bound Brits that the bar for February is already set, and it is set annoyingly high.

Baabiil'o La Fleur, sleeves and all, was the model of consistency with a 2, 3, 2 scoreline to take second on 4 points. Clearly the extra fabric did nothing to slow him down.

The drama of the day belonged to Ed Bradburn. Rounding the wing mark in race two, Ed appeared to suffer a sudden and total loss of memory regarding what a gybe actually is. Witnesses describe a period of thoughtful contemplation, a boom that went somewhere unexpected, and a boat heading in a direction not featured on the course sheet. He recovered to fifth, which became his discard, and then somehow sneaked a win in race three, helped along by a kind shift or two.

That race win proved vital. Ed and Andy Davis finished level on 5 points net, and Ed's first place broke the tie in his favour, giving him third overall. Andy, with a very solid 3, 2, 4.

Nick Craig wins the OK Dinghy Southern Championship at Poole - photo © Mary Reddyhoff

The rest of the fleet

Gavin Poulloin of Castle Cove sailed a tidy series for fifth, with Chris Turner of Lyme Regis sixth after bouncing back from a 6th in race one. Jason Pyke was a picture of reliability in seventh, posting a 7, 7 and 8 that suggests he may have found a groove and decided to live in it.

Further back, the battles were close. Stephen Butcher (RCNP, flying the Spanish flag) and Hugh Macgregor of Helensburgh both finished on 17 points, with Stephen taking eighth on countback. Sam Thompson of RNSA was just one point behind in tenth, a result made all the more impressive by his ongoing struggle with grip: at various points he appeared to be holding onto his mainsheet with all the conviction of a toddler carrying a wet fish. Simon Davis and Peter Norman rounded out the top twelve.

OK Dinghy Southern Championship at Poole - photo © Mary Reddyhoff

The host club was well represented, with Dinger Philbrick leading the Poole contingent in thirteenth, ahead of Dave Ching and Dave Evans. A handful of retirements in race three, including both Daves and Rory Cohen, suggested that by late afternoon some sailors had decided that a warm clubhouse was the more sensible tactical option. In fairness, with Baabiil'o in sleeves, it was hard to argue.

Sunday: the science of no wind

There was no racing on Sunday. The fleet rigged, waited, looked at the flat water, waited some more, and was eventually sent home without a single start.

It would be easy to dismiss this as just another windless autumn day. But the more thoughtful members of the fleet have been asking harder questions. Across 2026, sailors around the country have reported a worrying pattern: regattas cancelled, races abandoned, whole weekends lost to glassy water and drifting committee boats. Scientists have long warned that shifting global systems can disrupt established weather patterns. Rising temperatures, changes in ocean currents, and the influence of El Niño in the Pacific have all been linked to unusual and unpredictable conditions far from where they begin.

Experts point to a phenomenon in which a single warming influence, starting small, ripples outward and alters the behaviour of the atmosphere over vast distances. Its effects are subtle at first, then undeniable. Wind fails to arrive. Forecasts that promised a solid 12 knots deliver nothing. And the data, when plotted, all points back to a single common source.

That source has a sail number. It is 2260.

A detailed review of the 2026 season shows that wherever Ed Bradburn goes, the wind does not. The phenomenon, now known throughout the fleet as the Ed Bradburn Jinx, has been observed at multiple venues this year and was on full display at Poole. Leading climate scientists (two blokes in the bar) have described the evidence as overwhelming.

A huge thank you to Poole Yacht Club for hosting us so warmly, from the race team who got three good races in on Saturday to the volunteers who kept everyone fed, watered and entertained through Sunday's long wait for wind that never came. Thanks also to P&B for sponsoring the event and for their continued support of the OK Dinghy class, which helps keep events like this on the calendar.

The next big date for the fleet is the End of Season Championships at Northampton Sailing Club, where everyone will be hoping for a final dose of breeze before winter sets in.

Overall Results: