Monday 8 February 2010

OK Worlds 2010: Day 2 - All Action


OK Worlds 2010, Day 2. Image copyright Adrian Rumney.

by Mandy Burt

On the second day of racing the breeze initially came from the north at around 15 knots. The forecast was for the wind to change to a southerly around midday and then build during the late afternoon.

Race three was on course 1 between Somes and Ward islands. At the top mark the first Time Andre Blasse from Australia had a nice lead over Paul Rhodes of New Zealand. Nick Craig rounded in third followed by Michael Williams of Australia and Daniel Bush of New Zealand.

Second time at the top mark, Andre Blasse had maintained his lead from Michael Williams. Nick Craig was in third place followed by Andre's brother Roger with Karl Purdie rounding out the top 5.

Andre Blasse sailed a classy race 3, leading from start to finish. Nick Craig picked up one place in the latter stages of the race to finish in second while Karl Purdie improved throughout to finish in third. Roger Blasse came home one place ahead of Michael Williams with overnight leader Paul Rhodes finishing in sixth place. All results are provisional at this stage.

1st - AUS729, Andre Blasse – President OK Dinghy International Association
2nd - GBR2134, Nick Craig – Previous World Champion 2005, 06 and 07
3rd – NZL531, Karl Purdie – World Champion 2008

There were 67 finishers. One of the two female competitors, GER724 – Marina Dellas retired due to a broken mast. Race Management were keen to get Race 4 underway before the forecasted Southerly arrived. Thankfully it never did.


OK Worlds 2010, Day 2. Image copyright Chris Coad.

In Race 4, mark one for the first time saw local boys Karl Purdie and Paul Rhodes at the head of the fleet in that order. Tucked closely in behind were Russell Page Wood, Ben Morrison and Matthew Steven, making it kiwis in the top five places.

Mark one the second time saw the top three unchanged - Karl Purdie, Paul Rhodes and Matthew Steven. Nick Craig came through to fourth, pushing Russell Page Wood into fifth.

The breeze faded, as predicted, but the first boats managed to finish. It was a kiwi trifecta with Karl Purde in 1st, Paul Rhodes in 2nd and Matthew Steven in 3rd. Nick Craig broke the Kiwi stranglehold coming home in 4th in this race. The sailors are now heading for shore.


OK Worlds 2010, Day 2. Image copyright Adrian Rumney.

The wind steadily dropped off and, as a consequence, Race Management shortened the last leg before the wind died completely, which it did by the time the competitors were back to the Boat Park. There were 65 finishers.

There has been one protest received. As a result of the protest, which related to Race 3, Karl Purdie was disqualified. This has dropped him from 2nd overall to 16th after 4 races.

2010 OK World Championship results after the protest hearing and two days of racing, with four races completed

1st - Paul Rhodes, NZL517 – 11 points
2nd - Michael Williams, AUS730 – 18
3rd - Russell Page-Wood, NZL526 – 21
4th - Nick Craig, GBR2134 – 26
5th - Matt Steven, NZL519 – 27 (Leading Junior)

Thomas Hansson-Mild (2009 World Champion) is currently 23rd with an OCS yesterday.

Tomorrow, Monday 8th February, is a Reserve Day. There will not be any sailing. The competitors will have a well-earned rest and are off to the Wairarapa with their friends and family for a day of wine-tasting and a long lazy lunch.

Provisional Results - top 23 places

1. NZL517 Paul RHODES NZL NZL 3 1 6 2 12
2. NZL531 Karl PURDIE NZL NZL 6 4 3 1 14
3. AUS730 Michael WILLIAMS AUS AUS 7 2 5 5 19
4. NZL526 Russell PAGE-WOOD NZL NZL 2 5 7 8 22
5. GBR2134 Nick CRAIG GBR GBR 9 11 2 4 26
6. NZL519 Matt STEVEN NZL NZL 13 3 9 3 28
7. NZL530 Ben MORRISON NZL NZL 1 9 18 6 34
8. NZL525 Steve McDOWELL NZL NZL 5 18 11 7 41
9. NZL528 Andrew PARDINGTON NZL NZL 15 6 10 10 41
10. AUS678 Roger BLASSE AUS AUS 8 8 4 24 44
11. NZL539 Brad DOUGLAS NZL NZL 17 7 8 13 45
12. AUS729 Andre BLASSE AUS AUS 26 10 1 11 48
13. NZL538 Alistair DEAVES NZL NZL 18 16 12 9 55
14. NZL511 Luke O'CONNELL NZL NZL 10 13 14 19 56
15. NZL478 Daniel BUSH NZL NZL 11 15 28 14 68
16. GBR2118 Terry CURTIS GBR GBR 14 25 16 15 70
17. NZL522 Greg WILCOX NZL NZL 23 19 21 17 80
18. DEN3 Joergen SVENDSEN DEN DEN 29 20 17 20 86
19. NZL504 Adrain MANNERING NZL NZL 16 22 27 25 90
20. GER690 Soenke BEHRENS GER GER 22 23 26 23 94
21. GBR2136 Jono FISH GBR GBR 20 36 22 22 100
22. NZL521 David HOOGENBOON NZL NZL 19 44 29 16 108
23. SWE100 Tomas HANSSON-MILD SWE SWE 4 72 15 18 109 (2009 OK World Champion)

Late News: Karl Purdie has an appeal on the protest decision pending.

OK Worlds 2010

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