PURDIE IS WORLD CHAMPION 

After a week of intense competition on Wellington Harbour Karl Purdie from Worser Bay Boating Club in Wellington, New Zealand is the 2010 OK Dinghy World Champion. The World Junior Champion is Karl's club mate Matthew Steven who finished in third place overall. 

Worlds

Overall Placings  here
Mark Roundings    Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race_5 Race 6 Race 7 Race 8 Race 9 Race 10

Nationals

2010 NZ OK Dinghy National Championships Final Results

Photographers have been out on the race track taking some great shots. You can check out and order photos from the following links.

Adrain Rumney Photography here        Chris Coad Photography here

 IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE FINAL DAY 

66 sailors headed out to the course area for race 9 which started at the second attempt under a black flag. The majority of the fleet held their starboard tack for much of the first half of the beat. As the wind dropped from 8 to 5 knots, they migrated to the corners looking for more pressure. A clear leader at the windward mark was three times World Champion, Nick Craig (GBR) with the junior Matt Steven (NZL) leading the pack, and Kagan Weeks (NZL) 3rd and Brad Douglas (NZL) 4th. At this point World Championship contenders Karl Purdie (NZL) and Paul Rhodes (NZL) were lying 9th and 31st respectively. At the wing mark Craig had increased his lead which he held to the leeward mark. The second beat was shortened, but the first 4 positions remained unchanged. Craig had a 40 second lead on the next two and they had a 40 seconds lead on the rest. Greg Wilcox (NZL) pulled up to 5th from 10th place with Purdie in 6th. Alistair Deaves (NZL) was also having a good race – this his second result in the top ten in consecutive races. As the sailors worked their way up the final beat the wind increased to 8 knots and more as tired legs hiked to maximise boat speed and safeguard positions. At the finish Craig had a comfortable lead over Steven and Weeks who celebrated his first top ten result. Five different nations were represented in the top ten in race 9.

Race 10 started swiftly after completion of race 9 in 11 knots of breeze. The contest was by no means decided as the competitors lined up on the start line. After a clear start, the competitors were evenly distributed over the course, the main contenders choosing a central route. As the fleet neared the windward mark, the competitors on the right of the course had the edge over those on the left. Leading the fleet was World Championship contender Paul Rhodes (NZL) with Nigel Mannering (NZL) lying in second place. A past World Champion Nick Craig (GBR) was 3rd and current World Champion Thomas Hansson-Mild (SWE) 4th, with Greg Wilcox (NZL) another past Champion lying in 5th place. As the fleet headed down to the gybe mark, lighter airs caused the fleet to bunch up but Rhodes was still in the lead, with Douglas hot on his heels. Wilcox caught a good wave and surfed past both to take the lead. Craig and Hansson-Mild remained ahead of the chasing pack. As the fleet headed up the second beat, Wilcox increased his lead as he a l d i t l a i . e rounded at 14:19 with Douglas still second and Rhodes had dropped to 3r`. The &l`et ha` completed the rounding in 6 minutes, as they headed down to the leeward mark on their final run of the Championship. Wilcox held the lead on the final beat, but was being chased hard by Craig who had risen to 2nd place. Michael Williams (AUS) had worked his way through the fleet to climb to 4th position behind Hansson-Mild. Both Mannering and Rhodes dropped places, but Luke O’Connell (NZL) climbed to 7th from an early 12th. Despite finishing 10th in the final race, this was good enough for Karl Purdie (NZL) to take the World Championship in 2010 at his home town with 49 points, clear ahead of 2nd place Williams who finished on 62 points. Junior Matt Steven had a disappointing race, but a fantastic regatta, finishing in 3rd place on 68 points.


Overall results
1st World Champion and Veteran Champion Karl Purdie (NZL)
2nd Michael Williams (AUS)
3rd Junior Champion Matt Steven (NZL)
4th Paul Rhodes (NZL)
5th Nick Craig (GBR)
6th Brad Douglas (NZL)
7th Thomas Hansson-Mild (SWE)
8th Steve McDowell (NZL)
9th Andre Blasse (NZL)
10th Ben Morrison (NZL)

Ties, medals and trophies will be presented at the prize giving dinner on Friday night. In the meantime the fleet will be celebrating completion of the regatta at an Indian restaurant tonight.

The start of Day 3’s racing emulated the America ’s Cup – with flat water and sailors just hanging around.  Unlike Valencia , the wind came in and Race 5 of the 2010 OK Dinghy World Championships was able to get away.  

Karl Purdie NZL 531 is off in race 5 - Photo Will Calver

Following his disqualification from Race 4, Karl Purdie (NZL531) was ready and loaded for Race 5.  All guns blazing, Purdie came out on top – first round every mark and first over the finish line.  Michael Williams (AUS730) chased Purdie from mark 2 and finished second, with junior Matt Steven (NZL519) in third.  

Karl Purdie NZL 531 celebrates victory in race 5 - Photo Will Calver

This left Purdie in a great position – with 6 races nearly in the bag he would be able to drop his worst result to date, being the disqualification from Race 4.  Unfortunately, Purdie misfired at the start of Race 6 and was OCS (On Course Side).  Now, with two ‘dud’ races in his lap Purdie was faced with a possibly insurmountable challenge.

However, divine intervention played a hand and a dark cloud developed over the course, sucking away the wind.  Race Officer, John Parrish, had no option but to abandon Race 6.  A reprieve for Purdie.

When the flukey wind finally settled down the Race Committee was able to lay a new course and, at 1700hrs, get Race 6 underway for the second time. 

Purdie’s gun was out of bullets this time, finishing in 18^th.  However, he was not alone in being down the fleet … local adversary and current leader Paul Rhodes (NZL517) was 29^th, current World Champion Thomas Hansson-Mild (SWE100) 20^th and Nick Craig (GBR2134) 16^th.  

Paul Rhodes NZL 517 in race 6 - Photo Will Calver

OK Dinghy International Association President Andre Blasse (AUS729) was first in Race 6, with Wellingtonians Steve McDowell (NZL525) second and Luke O’Connell (NZL511) third.  The leader board now looks very tight going to the penultimate day of racing.

Day two began with a good steady breeze from the North, 15-18knts, and beautiful sailing conditions. There were 67 finishers in race 3. One of the two female competitors, GER724 – Marina Dellas retired due to a broken mast. 

Race 3
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

Race Management were keen to get Race 4 underway before the forecasted Southerly arrived. Thankfully it never did. 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.

Race 4
1st – NZL531 Karl Purdie
2nd – NZL517 Paul Rhodes
3rd – GBR 2134, Nick Craig

When the sailors came ashore Paul Rhodes lodged a protest against Karl Purdie. 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. Karl has lodged an appeal against the protest which should be held before racing begins again.

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 is currently 23rd as he is carrying maximum points from race 2 for being on course side at the start. 

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.

 OK DINGHYS PREVIEWED IN THE MEDIA  

The OK Dinghy Worlds featured on TV ONE News at the end of day one more

The regatta has been previewed by the Wellingtonian. Read the article here

NewstalkZB also previewed the event. You can hear the audio early on in the  10-11 slot for 6 February (we suggest you move the timing slider in your media player to about one tenth of the way through the hour bracket to hear the interview)

The first day of the 2010 OK Dinghy championships started with a cloudless sky and variable five knot northerly on the harbour. 70 sailors left the boat park and then ‘hung around’ for a few hours as they waited for the wind to settle in. 

After shifting to course 2 the first race of the OK Dinghy World Championship was under away in around 12kts of breeze. The fleet was well spread on either side of the track. Ben Morrison from NZ led at the first mark of the first race. Michael Williams from Australia rounded in second place followed by Jono Fish from Great Britain. New Zealanders Russell Page Wood and Daniel Bush rounded out the top five. 

Second time around Ben Morrison was still in the lead at the top mark with reigning World Champ, Thomas Hansson-Mild moving into second place. Russell Page Wood followed in third with Steven McDowell and Michael Williams rounding out the top five. 

Ben Morrison ended up winning race 1 of the 2010 World OK Dinghy championship. Russell Page-Wood sailed through to take second overall with Paul Rhodes taking out third. Champion Thomas Hansson-Mild came in fourth with Steve McDowell in fifth.  

The race committee then reconfigured the track for Race 2 with the wind settling in around 15 knots from the north. First round the top mark for Race 2 was Paul Rhodes from club mate Karl Purdie with Australian, Michael Williams in third. Russell Page Wood was in fourth while Brad Douglas was in fifth. Paul Rhodes ended up winning race 2 from Michael Williams of Australia. Young Wellington sailor Matthew Steven took out third place followed by Karl Purdie and Russell Page Wood.. 

At the end of the day Dragon Boat racing, with 14-18 on each boat, provided the evening’s entertainment with the Europeans winning the first and Australians winning the second.

 OK DINGHY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP INVITATION RACE 

Wellington turned on more champagne sailing today for the Invitation Race of the OK Dinghy World Championships. The day dawned with glorious sunshine and unusually mill-pond-flat water, which was a perfect backdrop for the thousands of Rugby Sevens spectators making their way along the waterfront to the Westpac Stadium. 

The most creative costumes past the Yacht Club were the young guys and gals dressed as 101 dalmatians, complete with leather dog collars and doggie identity discs – inspirational. Our own Yacht Club girls, dressed as pilots, entertained the sponsors boat (BMW and Eye Talent Management) before the former left for the rugby and the latter headed out on the water. 

46 sailors left the shore in an 8 knot breeze, which built to 15 knots during the course of the race – perfect sailing conditions. 

Reigning World Champion, Thomas Hansson-Mild from Sweden, led the race from the start, with Paul Rhodes (NZL) in second. When most of the fleet split, Hansson-Mild went up the middle, and led round every mark. With the breeze building Karl Purdie, who had crept up from fifth to third around the marks, hit the left hand side very hard and finished second just behind Hansson-Mild. 

The competitors then gathered in full team uniform for the official welcoming ceremony and powhiri at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. The Tangata Whenua were impressed by 150 sailors and their whanau from around the world booming out the waiata Te Aroha!

By winning the final race of the regatta Karl Purdie cemented his lead and became the NZ OK Dinghy National champion for 2010. Karl sailed a strong regatta and was seldom far from the front of the fleet. Purdie certainly looks to be in good form going into the world championships which start this weekend.

National Champion Karl Purdie returning to shore after taking out the title.

Fellow Kiwi Paul Rhodes finished in second place on line in Race 8 which was enough to put him into second place overall. Nick Craig from Great Britain rounded out the podium.   

National Championships 2nd place getter Paul Rhodes.

Fifty four entrants started Day 3 of racing, with champagne sailing conditions – 15knts from the south with good chop.  By Race 8 (the third of the day and last of the regatta) this had almost reached the upper limits of sailing, gusting 25 knots, and nearly half the fleet were back on the beach.  Race 8 was particularly hard, with Purdie and Paul Rhodes battling it out for the finish. 

New Zealand took out the the  Interdominion championship this year with placings of 1st, 2nd, 4th, fifth, sixth and seventh giving them a total of 281 points. 

57 boats took to the water today, from all the seven countries entered in the 2010 World Championships. The breeze at Point Jerningham settled at around 8- 10 knots enabling a clear, but delayed, start for Race 3 at 1250hrs.

There was profound ‘argie-bargie’ all day with a game of ‘virtual dodgems’ between current World Champion, Thomas Hansson-Mild of Sweden, past English World Champ Nick Craig and Terry Curtis of UK, Soenke Behrens of Germany, Christian Hedlund of Denmark, and the local boys. 

Over the course of Day 2, in Races 3, 4 and 5, they were all ‘up there’, first around the marks at one stage or other.

At the end of Day 2, after five races, the provisional results are as follows –

1st - Paul Rhodes, NZL
2nd – Karl Purdie, NZL
3rd – Steve Mc Dowell, NZL
4th – Nick Craig, GBR
5th – Greg Wilcox, NZL
6th – Thomas Hansson-Mild, SWE
7th – Michael Williams, AUS
8th – Terry Curtis, GBR
9th – Matt Steven, NZL
10th – Luke O’Connell, NZL

We are looking forward to the last day of racing tomorrow, hopefully, with a good breeze present early in the day, so that they guys can get on and off the water in good time for the evening prizegiving and Kiwiana BBQ.

Despite postponement until after lunch - waiting for the 30 knots winds to abate - two races took place in the afternoon with 49 entrants taking to the water. In the first race sailors had two attempts at a start which resulted in two general recalls.  It was a case of third time lucky, with a clear start, although under a black flag.

Race One saw kiwi sailors taking out the top three places, with Worser Bay members Karl Purdie 1st, Paul Rhodes 2nd and Matthew Steven 3^rd although Matthew's place was reversed as he was deemed to have been on course side at the start. This in turn broke the kiwi stranglehold with Nick Craig from England taking out the third spot.

Karl Purdie takes out race 1

Race Two had one general recall followed by another black flag.  Again, the local guys called the shots and Karl Purdie won for a second time with Paul Rhodes close at his heels and Steve McDowell in third. 

Race Control boat 'Bloody Mary' returns to base

Racing was all over just after 5pm, with two races in the bag.  The sun started to break through the clouds whilst the cold, wet sailors queued for the boat ramp and hoses.  Wellington Harbour turned on a picture-book evening for the contestants, as a background for the evening of bon-homie in RPNYC. 

At the end of Day 1 the leaders were:

The past three world champions – Nick Craig (2005, 2006, 2007), Karl Purdie (2008) and Thomas Hansson-Mild (2009) – talk about the class, the racing and their thoughts on last year's and this year's championship here.

The entries for both the 2010 OK Dinghy World Championship and the 2010 New Zealand OK Dinghy National Championship have all but closed and it looks like we are in for a tight battle. The entry list contains no fewer than six previous world senior or junior champions. Will local past champions Karl Purdie (senior) and Matt Steven (junior) have enough of a home ground advantage to fend of the onslaught from overseas?  Find out who they are up against by viewing a copy of the entry lists (as at 28 January) 

World Championship Entry List here. 
National Championship Entry List here. 

Our organising committee has put together an amazing "MEAL DEAL" covering all your breakfast, lunch and dinner requirements each day of both the 2010 OK Dinghy World Championship and the 2010 New Zealand OK Dinghy National Championship. The "MEAL DEAL" is designed to take all the hassle out of this aspect of your regatta so you can focus entirely on your racing. Check out the "MEAL DEAL" here. 

It is with pride that we welcome all the OK dinghy sailors from around the world to Wellington for the 2010 OK Dinghy World Championships.

We pride ourselves on being the events capital of New Zealand and it certainly looks like our organising committee have lined up a spectacular schedule of events for your stay in Wellington.

I hope you enjoy your stay in our city and I wish you the best of luck in your racing.

Fair Winds and Good Sailing.

Kerry Prendergast
Mayor of Wellington

Kerry Prendergast | Mayor of Wellington

Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club and the New Zealand OK Dinghy Association are proud to announce the publication of the Notices of Race for the 2010 OK Dinghy World Championship and the 2010 New Zealand OK Dinghy National Championship. 

Download a copy of the OK Dinghy World Championship NOR here.
Download a copy of the New Zealand OK Dinghy National Championship NOR here.

If you have any questions or would like to talk to someone about the regatta then please contact ...

Joe Porebski NZ OK Dinghy Association
Phone: +64 4 388 7334
Email: joe.porebski@gmail.com

Paul Davies 2010 OK Dinghy World Championship Racing Secretary
Phone: +64 4 382 9410        
Mobile: +64 210 481 262
Email: pauljd@paradise.net.nz 

Mandy Burt 2010 OK Dinghy World Championship Media Liaison 
Phone: +64 4 970 2984        
Mobile: +64 21 643 064
Email: mandyjb@paradise.net.nz