OK Dinghy Magazine January 2024

GBR
Henry Wetherell wins
world title in Lyme Regis
The Ovington Boats and Pro-Set Resins
2023 OK Dinghy World Championship
was held in Lyme Regis, UK, with an
outstanding entry of 143 boats from 13
countries. It was without doubt the strongest
OK Dinghy fleet that had ever gathered together
in one place, and the second largest of all time.
Former Finn sailor Henry Wetherell, started off well and just
got better and better. Though he didn’t win a race until the final
day, he dominated both final races to take two race wins in the
hardest conditions of the week to take the title by five points.
Last year’s runner up Niklas Edler had to settle for second
again after a very good series, while Valerian Lebrun took
bronze just six points back.
Jens Eckardt was the early pace setter with three race
wins, but then it started to go wrong. Five time champion
Nick Craig also had a spell at the top, but a black flag in the
penultimate race put paid to that.
The enthusiasm and welcome from the club members
was amazing, and the endless free beer (thanks to the huge
number of sponsors) and hot sausage rolls after racing went
down a treat. It will be a hard act to follow for sure, though
if truth be told, OK Dinghy event organisers raise the bar
every year and that’s part of what brings people back year
after year. Huge thanks to Lyme Regis Sailing Club and all its
members for putting on a spectacular event.
The practice race was held in the best conditions of the
week, with weather and waves and wall to wall sunshine,
but set up a week of very hard racing in some windy and
sometimes light and shifty conditions. The huge fleet was
split into groups, with three days of qualifying series before
two days of gold and silver fleets.
DAY 1
Though the forecast was for good breeze through the day, it
was anything but with the first attempt at a race abandoned.
On the restart in a tricky breeze, Matt Howard and Craig
led the first group with Craig taking a narrow win. In the
second group, there was a similar battle with the top two
from 2022, Charlie Cumbley and Edler. Edler took the win.
Race 2 finally started in 6-7 knots, but it was soon shifting
again and the race committee worked hard to reposition
marks. The Danes dominated, with Eckardt, the early leader
in the first group, winning by a huge margin, while in the
second, after a lot of changes Bo Petersen took the win.
Craig, “The first race was very difficult. Consistency
was the name of the game, which I didn’t achieve today
unfortunately but one good race and one very bad one.”
Eckardt, “I think it was a very difficult day. And a very difficult
day for the course setters. I think this is a great place to sail.
We talked with some of the locals yesterday and they said the
weather is very unusual. But it’s very beautiful; in Denmark we
think it’s always raining and cold here, but this has changed our
minds.”
8 OK DINGHY INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE