Other than that, this has been a typical winter day’s sailing in Dun Laoghaire.

Rounding the windward mark for the first time

Get ready for this weekend…it’s going to be warm!

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Here’s an example. It’s a refurbished Don O’Donnell hull from 1986 (regarded as a very fast shape) upgraded with a 2010 C-Tech carbon mast and a couple of new sails. Comes with over and under covers, combi trolley, spare c/board, etc., etc., etc.

It’s in Germany and the asking price seems a tad on the high side, but that’s where post Celtic Tiger negotiating skills come in.

As long as the boat’s condition is as good as it sounds, you could probably win the worlds in this….if you can sail better than Craig/Deaves/Wilcox/Hanson-Mild/Zimmermann/etc…  which you probably can’t…yet.

Here are some pics of the boat before and after it had its deck re-done and its hull re-sprayed.

Other boats have been for sale in more remote parts of England, so this one’s a real option.

At £900, it’s not going to break the bank either.  No carbon mast, but unless you want to win the worlds that’s just not an issue.  See the ad on ApolloDuck.

* – Bob Hoare also built very successful Flying Dutchmen and Contendors.

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These are the kinds of images that attract people to the class.

A compact, seaworthy dinghy, equally at home in big seas or on flat water.

There are a few other pics on the OKDIA homepage, but they carried copyright notices so I haven’t included them.

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They want to make sure it’s circulated to all active OK Dinghy sailors.

It’s on the subject of Ultra-High-Modulus carbon in OK Dinghy masts.

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Materials used for OK Dinghy masts

Following recent developments in the Finn Class, the OK Dinghy Class may soon be faced with the prospect of Ultra High Modulas carbon being used in their masts and the increased costs that go with it. This is a situation that the Technical Committee feels would be bad for the OK Class and also for the mast manufacturers.

The Technical Committee has been working for some time to find ways to stop this. A year or so ago the OK Dinghy Class approved a rule change to ban the use of carbon with a modulus higher than 400GPa in their masts. This rule was proposed to ISAF, which subsequently rejected it on the basis that it is unenforceable because only destructive testing could be used to check what is in a mast and they felt that this would be unacceptable to the sailors.

ISAF suggested that the only way forward was to introduce a scheme of licensed builders. We are now working with ISAF and looking at ways to achieve this. We realise that this would be a big change for the Class but feel that it is the only option. However, any Rule change must first be passed by the AGM and then ratified by ISAF.

At the time that the Rule change was rejected by ISAF,  the information we had received from various experts was that UHM would not work in unstayed masts because it was too brittle. But as just mentioned, recent developments from the Finn Class have outdated this information.

As a class, we feel that it is beneficial, both to the Class and the mast manufacturers not to use UHM, and so we would ask everyone to please refrain from using it until we can get Rules in place to ban it. If and when this Rule change is passed, the intention is that all masts must conform, whether built before or after the Rule change. We feel that expensive masts, and in fact any developments that allow a few sailors to gain an advantage at large cost, are bad for the future of any class and their gear suppliers.

Thanks you for your cooperation and please let me know if you have any comments or thoughts.

Alistair Deaves
Chairman – International OK Dinghy Technical Committee

Sunday was an outrageously beautiful day for February in Dublin, with the RSGYC’s OK Dinghy again getting a lot of attention.

Two good races inside Dun Laoghaire harbour, with the Laser and Fireball fleets sailing alongside the varied PY fleet.

There were Finns, OK Dinghies, IDRA 14s, GP14s, Vagos, RS200s, RS400s, Topaz Magnos, Mirrors, Supernovas, etc., all having a great time.

Between the frostbites, the junior Oppie training, the junior squad training, the team racing, the cruiser racing and the people generally just messing around in boats there must have been 5-700 people on the water.  In February.

There are sailors from Greystones, Howth and Blessington all enjoying the safe harbor of Dun Laoghaire.

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He stayed in the Northern Hemisphere, but Florida is far enough south to have decent weather at the moment.

The North American Wayfarer Mid-Winters were on at Lake Eustis, and Trevor’s results speak volumes for his abilities.  Remember, this is the guy that didn’t get invited to the Irish Sailing Championship last year.

If he’s equally as good in an OK as in a Wayfarer then there’s a possibility that an initial Irish National OK championships might not be so easy for visiting boats…..

By they way, in case of confusion, Trevor is the good looking one in the photo.

There were 7 races and Trevor was first in, ehm, 7 of them.

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And yes, there is an OK in the picture. Starting at the committee boat end.

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[picture from the DMYC's Facebook Albums]

The New Zealand OK fleet was out in the sun for a weekend’s racing, with the 2012 Hurricane Classic in Worser Bay, Wellington.

A full report is available on the OKDIA website, here.

Is sailing in Ireland ever like that?

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As you sail around the lakes of Holland or Friesland, you’ll see boats that were built in 1900 or 1930 that are still in great condition and regularly raced….not just sailed, but raced hard.  Classes like the Regenboog (Rainbow) and the 16m2 and the Valk are all over the place and are often “Grandad’s boat”.

Well, those Dutchmen are doing the same to the OK Dinghy.  Three OLD boats are being refurbed in The Netherlands.  One is NED 3, dating back to 1962 or ’63.  Another – NED 497 – dates back to at least the early 1970s

There are some (smallish) pictures and articles in Dutch on their association website.  Google translate will at least give you the flavour.

Madmen.  Admirable and brave, but mad.  Isn’t the world a wonderful place!

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