OK Dinghy International Association Press Release

2009 OK Dinghy World Championship Kalmar, Sweden

Day four - Wednesday 29th July 2009

The penultimate day at the OK Dinghy World Championship in Kalmar,
Sweden has set up a fascinating final day for Thursday. The top two
sailors Thomas Hansson-Mild (SWE) and defending champion Karl
Purdie (NZL) are now level on points with two races to sail and both
are carrying an OCS from earlier in the week.

The sailors launched in blue skies and light winds, but all this was
soon to change. By the time they had sailed across Kalmar Sound to
the Oland shore, where the racing has taken place all week, dark
clouds were gathering from the south. Open to the south, the waves in
the Sound soon began to build.

Race seven started promptly as usual in a light breeze. Today’s start was
clean away at the first attempt under the blue peter. Although there
is always fierce competition on the favoured part of the line, there
is sufficient space for all to get a good start. As usual, Bartosz
Rakocy (POL) guarded his position at the pin end of the line with good
boat handling skills. The majority of the 68 starters sailed
the middle part of the course, though there were a few who banged both
the left and right corners.

By the windward mark Thomas Hansson-Mild (SWE) had built a good lead and,
once again he demonstrated an excellent reaching technique down the building
waves.
However, Karl Purdie (NZL), who has been overtaken by Hansson-Mild in the
leader table today, said "I was catching Hansson-Mild on the reaches today
and I am going faster downwind, but he has increased his upwind speed,
so everything is equal now !" Lying second in the race as well, Purdie was being chased by Andre Blasse (AUS), Pawel Pawlaczyk (POL) and Greg Wilcox (NZL). Wilcox pulled up to fourth at the finish, otherwise the order remained unchanged.

1. Thomas Hansson-Mild SWE
2. Karl Purdie NZL
3. Andre Blasse AUS
4. Greg Wilcox NZL
5. Pawel Pawlaczyk POL
6. Jorgen Lindhardtsen DEN
7. Bo Teglers DEN
8. Bo-Staffan Andersson SWE
9. Nick Craig GBR
10. Bartosz Rakocy POL

Pawel Pawlaczyk, dans les 10 aujourd’hui

For race eight, a moderate breeze had set in and the waves were quite
pronounced,
sufficient for the French competitors to say, "We do not get wind and
waves like this on the Seine in Paris !" A line-shy fleet had a clean
start at the first attempt, the majority choosing the port side of the
course. At the windward mark, the leaders had again broken free of
the chasing pack, building a substantial lead on the many
participating club sailors whose legs were beginning to tire in these
demanding conditions.

At the end of the triangle, Hansson-Mild was in the lead again, though
Purdie had taken
back some of the lead he had at the windward mark. Blasse was
again third, with Nick Craig (GBR) in fourth in front of Wilcox. Jorgen
Lindhardtsen (DEN) had moved up to fourth place by the
time the fleet rounded the leeward mark again. Once again there were
no place changes in the top four on the final beat.

1. Thomas Hansson-Mild SWE
2. Karl Purdie NZL
3. Andre Blasse AUS
4. Jorgen Lindhardtsen DEN
5. Pawel Pawlaczyk POL
6. Nick Craig GBR
7. Greg Wilcox NZL
8. Gunter Arndt GER
9. Christian Olesen DEN
10. Terry Curtis GBR

Hans Elkjaer, président de l’association suédoise

With two first places today Hansson-Mild has moved to the top of the leader
board, with just a greater number of race wins the difference between him
and Purdie. While the sailors at the front are not making many mistakes,
virtually
all have a high score on the board, so any mistakes in Thursday’s final
races
could be very expensive.

Overall positions after 8 races

1. Thomas Hansson-Mild SWE
2. Karl Purdie NZL
3. Jorgen Lindhardtsen DEN
4. Andre Blasse AUS
5. Greg Wilcox NZL
6. Nick Craig GBR
7. Terry Curtis GBR
8. Pawel Pawlaczyk POL
9. Martin Zimmermann GER
10. Antoni Pawlowski POL

The future of the OK Dinghy is in the hands of the youth sailors

Andre Blasse, the new President of the OK Dinghy International
Association, is a firm believer in the development of a rig which is
suitable for the sailor who weighs less than the 80+kg. His country,
Australia, is actively developing a Junior rig, comprising a reduced
sail area, whose configuration does not alter the dynamics of the boat
or its handling skills. Progress is such that he feels he will be in
a position to present final measurements for approval at the next AGM
in February 2010. The Junior fleet is already expanding as siblings
and friends join in OK Dinghy sailing, preferring the individualism
that can be injected into an OK Dinghy rather than the Laser style of
sailing.

My first World Championship

Richard Burton

Richard Burton (GBR), at 18 years old, is experiencing his first World
Championship, competing for the Junior trophy. "I have been dreaming
about going to the Worlds for so long, it was nearly an anticlimax
when I started sailing," he said. "I sail on a reservoir near Oxford in the
UK,
so I needed to learn how to sail in waves ; Terry Curtis took me
training at Weymouth so I could get in some practice. Since I have
been here, I feel my boat tuning and my boat handling have improved,
the next step is to improve my equipment - a carbon mast would be nice.
I feel I am coping well racing in this big fleet, I look where the
leaders are starting and try to find a place near them, it has worked
on most occasions.

"I was 20th round the windward mark today, so I
have got faster and faster upwind, but there are still a lot of boats
in front of me when I finish. At the beginning I was very
inconsistent, but now I am finishing in around 40th place, which means
I am 46th overall at the moment. It is an amazing experience to go
and talk to current and ex-world champions as they are all so helpful
at offering tips on how I can improve my speed. I would love to go
to New Zealand in 2010, but I may have to wait till 2011 for my next
World Championship experience which will be in Largs in Scotland".

Hall of Fame

Hall of fame et Bo Staffan

Two more names were added to the OK Dinghy Hall of Fame last night at
the BBQ supper. Hans Elkjaer, the President of the Swedish national
association, hosted the event at which Swedish sailor Bo-Staffan
Andersson received his trophy in recognition of being the most
successful OK Dinghy sailor ever - he won four World Championship
titles in the late 80s and early 90s, as well as one European title and
three Swedish titles.

In addition Basil Crosby was awarded a posthumous position in the
Hall of Fame for his work for the class. Crosby’s role in the establishment
and ultimate success of the OK Dinghy as an international class cannot be
overstated.
He was one of the founders of OKDIA in 1962 and was also secretary of the
British OK Dinghy Class Association at the same time

Crosby took on the role of British secretary when the job became too
large for Richard Creagh-Osborne, who up to that point had done almost
everything in the UK. Crosby was also later elected as the first secretary
of the newly formed OK Dinghy International Association and he held this post until his untimely death in an air crash 11 years later in November 1973.
Sadly, he died before all his work to secure international status had been
realised. The class didn’t finally receive international status until 1975.

Without the enthusiasm and dedication of Basil Crosby the OK Dinghy
would not be success story it is today. His selfless contribution to the OK
story is unquantifiable.

The two final races of the 2009 OK Dinghy World Championship are
scheduled to take place Thursday.

Event website : www.kalmarraceweek.se
Class website : www.okdia.org

Text : Mary Reddyhoff OKDIA
Photos : Mary Reddyhoff