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Five Kiwis finished in the top 10 but they could do little to prevent Great Britain's Nick Craig from collecting a record breaking fifth OK Dinghy world title in the Bahamas this week.
Nick Craig dominated the regatta. Photo: okworlds.org
Luke O'Connell was the best placed of the New Zealanders, finishing third overall, with Steve McDowell (4th), Paul Rhodes (5th), Mark Perrow (7th) and former world champion Greg Wilcox (9th) also featuring in the top 10 in the 79-boat fleet.
But Craig was imperious, finishing with an impressive score of 10 points from nine races which included six race wins. Fellow Brit and defending champion Jim Hunt was second on 22 points, a score normally good enough to win.
Craig becomes the first person in the 60-year history of the class to win five world titles. What made his performance even more impressive was the fact the winds in the Bahamas were often shifty and difficult to pick but Craig often put himself in the right place at the right time.
O'Connell had hoped to improve on the second he registered at the 2015 world championships in Melbourne but was satisfied to finish on the podium.
“It’s been a tough week," the Worser Bay sailor said. "I am pleased to come away with third. The middle of the week was pretty bad for me. I don’t know what happened there really. But it was great sailing here. Nick and Jim sailed super well and Nick definitely deserved to win.”
New Zealand has a good history in OK Dinghy sailing with Clive Roberts (1973), Peter Lester (1977), Richard Dodson (1982), Leith Armit (1983, 90, 94), Greg Wilcox (2002), Karl Purdie (2008, 10) and Matt Stechmann (2014) all winning world titles.
Top 10 standings from the OK Dinghy world championships in the Bahamas
1 Nick Craig (GBR) 1 1 1 2 (3) 1 1 1 2 - 10 points
2 Jim Hunt (GBR) 2 3 4 (5) 1 4 5 2 1 - 22 points
3 Luke O'Connell (NZL) 3 2 2 4 (bfd) 17 3 8 3 - (42 points)
4 Steven McDowell (NZL) 4 16 8 (17) 4 6 4 4 7 - (53 points)
5 Paul Rhodes (NZL) 5 9 5 6 6 3 14 7 (20) - (55 points)
6 Roger Blasse (AUS) 10 15 3 7 5 9 (22) 3 4 - (56 points)
7 Mark Perrow (NZL) 20 4 7 3 2 (dsq) 2 14 12 - (64 points)
8 Chris Turner (GBR) 6 8 (25) 8 8 8 9 9 9 - (65 points)
9 Greg Wilcox (NZL) 9 10 (20) 10 11 10 6 16 6 - (78 points)
10 Jorgen Svendsen (DEN) 19 14 14 1 23 5 8 12 (bfd) - (96 points)
