Fantastic sailing conditions for the UK Nationals at Herne Bay Sailing Club

The weather gods were amongst us. You’d better bet your money on Euromillions and win some or a lot of money instead of hoping for 4 days in a row of sunshine and great dinghy sailing conditions in Great Britain. But we were lucky, more or less ?.

For a start 27 OK dinghy enthusiasts were warmly welcomed by Dave and Burt and the Herne Bay Sailing Club. Beers and pies were ready to roll but only after a good sail on the first day. Sailing conditions were excellent for the power sailors like Burt, Dave and Terry. 8 boats abandoned the race in wind of 20-30 knots and a tidal current above 2 knots.

The Friday compensated windy Thursday as no wind at all except for a slight sea breeze which was too unstable to sail a regatta. No worries, a cosy bbq with a lot of Ramsgate Gadds (beer) and some stronger stuff geared us up for the next day.

By the way ‘Dick of the Day’ was 26 year-old Burt who lost the push-up and sit-up contest from the 69 year -young Paul (Pike) ???.

The 4 to 8 knots of wind on the Saturday was a challenge for everyone. The strong current did not help things and Luke Gower took the overall lead. Pie and beer rinsed away the salt, sunshine and frustration.

The Sunday wind of 10 knots tossed the coins finally and confirmed Luke as the UK National Champion 2017. For the results, please see here.

Thank you for the support, friendship and great hospitality of the Herne Bay Sailing Club and the British OK Dinghy Association. Next year the UK Nationals at Brixham are definitely on the agenda with hopefully some more overseas participants !