OK Northern Championship at Morecambe and Heysham Yacht Club

Over the weekend of the 25th & 26th May the OK fleet gathered at Morecambe and Heysham YC on the Lancashire coast to compete for the International OK Northern Championships. True to form, Keith and Sue Byers had everything planned to ensure that the weekend went off without a hitch.

Saturday

Race 1 - Sailing got underway in very light winds. Hugging the shore side of the beat to get out of the tide, several boats over stood the windward mark, but Dave Bourne and Paul Pike hit the lay line spot on. Dave rounding with a comfortable lead never looked back. Tony Woods inched his way into second place with Keith Byers third.

Race 2 - With the wind increasing to a force 3 and brilliant sunshine on the Lancashire Rivera the tide was now slackening off and the fleet were closely bunched. This time Tony Woods sailed a great race with Dave Bourne all over his transom and Ben Steele showing great speed in third.

Race 3 - With the wind increasing to a force 4 and wind against tide, the waves were fantastic on the reaches and runs. Tony Woods lead for the first half of the race with Ben Steele and Keith Byers sneaking inside him on the run to round the leeward mark ahead. With the strong tide with them to the finish the positions remained in that order.

Sunday

Race 4 - After a home Curry and quiz night washed down liberally with plenty of Boddingtons fine ale the OK fleet were bright eyed and ready for the off next morning. The day was overcast and force 2 to 3. With three different winners on Saturday the trophy was up for grabs. Despite everyone being used to the tidal streams by now, Dave Bourne, in his new boat, shot off the line and was clear ahead. Tony got hemmed in for a while, by fellow competitors, until he managed to break clear into second place. Gavin Waldron pulled up to third place. Poor Ben had too many Southern Comforts the night before to make any lasting impression!

Race 5 - The overall weekend winner was down to Dave and Tony in the last race. With the tide ebbing fast judging the start line without ending up over was very difficult. Dave, keen to get a hot start, got to the line seconds early and had to sail down the line in order to avoid being over. Tony hit the line at the committee boat end, spot on, tacked out to sea on the tidal conveyor belt. Tony rounded the windward mark first closely followed by Keith. These two pulled out a reasonable gap over the rest of the fleet. Tony had one hand on the trophy but Dave Bourne put in a last minute challenge to finish third.

So, Tony Woods becomes the OK Northern Champion for 2013, with Dave Bourne coming in an excellent second after returning to the class after a few years away and local Keith Byers a credible third. Morecambe and Heysham Yacht Club would like to thank all OK sailors for making the effort to travel to the event - it was fantastic to see you all.

Overall Results: (top 8)

1st Tony Woods
2nd Dave Bourne
3rd Keith Byers
4th Chris Perry
5th Ben Steele
6th Gavin Waldron
7th Derek Lovegrove
8th Paul Pike