For a day that started with such high hopes and good conditions, the third day of the 2018 OK Dinghy World Championship in Warnemünde, Germany ended with disappointment with no more races sailed.
The fleet was sent out on time for a scheduled 12.000 start in a promising 10-12 knot breeze with warm sunshine, but on arriving at the course area it was soon clear to the fleet that the wind was rapidly dying. By 12.00 the wind had almost disappeared and a postponement was hoisted. An hour later the fleet was sent back to the harbour to wait for developments.
With a five hour postponement posted on shore the earliest start would not be until 17.00, but at 16.15 the decision was taken to abandon racing for the day. A 4-5 knot breeze had developed on the course area, but it was very unstable and was often down to 2-3 knots. Soon after AP over A was hoisted the wind died further. It was clear no racing was possible.
The day had started with the news that after late night redress hearings on Wednesday, Race 4 winner Jim Hunt was given a UFD disqualification after an incorrect identification of a premature starter. This left Jan Kurfeld leading overall from Andre Budzien and Fredrik Lööf. Updated results are below.
Thursday was supposed to be the final day of the opening series, but at least one more race is required to be able to move into the final series. So the opening series will now continue into Friday with two races scheduled before the gold and silver fleet split comes into play on Saturday.
Forecasts for the remaining two days show stronger winds, so the hope is that the remaining four races will go ahead on schedule. Racing is scheduled to continue on Friday at 12.00. The championship will conclude on Saturday.
Revised top 10 after four races
1 GER 18 Jan KURFELD 6
2 GER 71 Andrè BUDZIEN 6
3 SWE 69 Fredrik LOOF 7
4 DEN 1507 Bo PETERSEN 11
5 GBR 6 Charlie CUMBLEY 12
6 SWE 100 Thomas HANSSON-MILD 17
7 NOR 428 Lars Johan BRODTKORB 21
8 POL 1 Tomasz GAJ 24
9 GER 77 Sönke BEHRENS 24
10 SWE 797 Mats CAAP 26
Full results.
– Robert Deaves
