Luke Deegan takes lead at OK Dinghy Europeans

Luke Deegan, from New Zealand has taken the lead at the 2024 OK Dinghy European Championship in Palma after just one more race was sailed on Saturday. Overall, Britain’s Charlie Cumbley dropped to second while Sweden’s Niklas Edler climbed to third.

The fleet woke up to the happy news that the orange severe weather alert had been lifted and that racing could go ahead, but the wind was slow to build and in the end was no more than 5-7 knots. After multiple restarts, one race went ahead, but the dying breeze at the end meant 20 boats failed to finish.

Shifty conditions

Deegan led all the way, with many of the other favourites deep. It was shifty and patchy and some recovered back to near the front, but for some it was a tortuous race looking for pressure and angles to stay in the game.

As the breeze started to die again, he crossed well ahead of Edler and Poland’s Pawel Pawlaczyk, who had been there most of the race. Further racing was abandoned for the day.

Deegan said, “It was looking sort of marginal, and we attempted 3 or 4 starts as the wind was moving round to the right, and then had a 20 min postponement and then finally got away on a black flag start.

“I came off the pin and got a bit of left shift to get over the fleet. And that was most of the race. Still a battle, especially in the head. I had a lot of Swedish guys on my tail all the way but really happy to come away with the win.”

Awesome competition

On the competition. “I am really enjoying the fleet. We have 80 boats here so pretty awesome, and there’s some really good sailors amongst them and also a level for everyone.

“A good mate of mine, Tim Goodbody wasn’t able to do the Europeans, so he offered up his boat for me for this regatta. I’ve done a little bit of OK sailing this year with Tim, but jumped in a month ago, so I ended up here.

“I’ve come from Lasers, and the thing about the OK is that you can adjust the boat and adjust your settings a little bit more to make it work for you. And that’s why we have such a range of sizes and ages, and I really like that about the class and I am learning lots about pre-bend and mast rake and sail shape and all that sort of stuff, so it’s really good.”

The championship concludes on Sunday, with two more races possible.

Full gallery from Day 4: https://www.flickr.com/photos/okdia/albums/72177720321674453

Results after 4 races:
1 ESP111 Luke Deegan 4
2 GBR6 Charlie Cumbley 6
3 SWE71 Niklas Edler 11
4 GBR2279 Matthew Howard 12
5 GBR2261 Baabi’o Flower 17
6 DEN21 Bo Petersen 17
7 SWE100 Thomas Hansson-Mild 18
8 GBR11 Andy Davis 21
9 FRA8 Timothee Petetin 23
10 SWE73 Patric Mure 24

HOW TO FOLLOW THE 2024 OK DINGHY EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

The 2024 OK Dinghy European Championship is being held at in Palma, Mallorca, hosted by tee al Club Nautico de Palma. Ten races are scheduled from 30 October to 3 November June. The fleet consists of 80 sailors from 14 nations.