Luke Deegan becomes first non-European OK Dinghy European Champion

Luke Deegan, from New Zealand has won the 2024 OK Dinghy European Championship in Palma after a shortened week of challenging conditions with only four races completed. Britain’s Charlie Cumbley took silver while Niklas Edler, from Sweden, took the bronze. 82 sailors from 14 countries took part in what was the first ever OK Dinghy international championship in Spain.

No more races were possible on the final day despite the best efforts of the race committee. The fleet spent the day drifting around with the wind shifting from north-east to south but there was never enough for a race. After many starts, some with black flag, one race got as far as the wing mark and one near the top mark before being abandoned.

The conditions during the week were quite unusual. The practice race was sailed in high winds, two days were lost with no wind, one day was lost with a severe weather alert, and only one and a half days had enough wind to complete any races.

Greg Wilcox, also from New Zealand, said, “To be fair they tried to start us, which was OK, but every time they tried the wind died completely and we had almost nothing and then it died out, so two starts abandoned, and that’s it.”

Mark Jackson, from Australia, “Long and frustrating day. The wind just really didn’t want to settle. We went out on a promising northerly, but it never stayed around for long enough. So, we ended up with two upwinds, one downwind, a lot of starts and then we were towed.”

“The club has been fantastic. It’s a great place to be. We were a little challenged by the weather, we understand, but you can’t change that. We just accept it, but we had a lot of fun.”

Luke Deegan has become the first ever non-European, European Champion, “A really tough day, again trick on the head, but I’m happy with the result from yesterday. I am really love Palma as an island and for sure we haven’t seen the best of what it can offer. But the regatta has been really well organised, and everyone is super friendly in the fleet, congratulating me and helping me out where I need it, and so all good.”

It was a big week of firsts with the first Swiss sailor at an event for a quarter century, as well as the first Argentinian and Brazilian sailors to compete in an international championship in written records. The fleet in Palma is booming and many of those visiting this week mentioned training there over the winter, so it will only get bigger and bigger, and perhaps a return will be on the cards before too long.

As the fleet departs, it is already looking forward to next year’s championships, with large fleets expected at both events. The 2025 European Championship will be in Warnemunde, Germany, one of the classes all-time favourite venues for its big waves and clean winds. At least 150 boats are expected. Then the 2025 World Championship will be in Arco, on Lake Garda, Italy. There are already 180 pre-entries, and over 200 is not out of the question.

These large numbers are good problems to have, but it will all be just OK

Final 2024 OK Dinghy European Championship results after four races:

1 ESP111 Luke Deegan
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

Youth: Mathis Vorndran, GER
Veteran: Charlie Cumbley, GBR
Master: Bo Petersen, DEN
Grand Master: Jørgen Holm, DEN
Lady: Jessica Finke, GER