Wood clinches second

The Toshiba OK Dinghy Australian and Interdominion Championships came to a close today

The final race of the 2006 Toshiba OK Dinghy Australian and Interdominion Championships was sailed in the lightest winds of the week, with large shifts coming through from both sides of the course. The overall title was already decided, but the other medal positions and top ten were wide open. Second and third placed overnight Russell Wood (NZL) and Nick Craig (GBR) were tied on 17 points with Andre Blasse (AUS) just four behind them, while just nine points separated fifth to ninth.

The wind had turned southerly again and the lighter winds at force two to three also brought the shiftiest conditions of the week. While the left seemed favoured most of the time, the right often looked good, bringing boats through the fleet. Those who opted for the middle took a gamble on finding one of the many large holes in the wind.

Both Craig and Wood started near the pin end and headed left, but Mark Williams (AUS) started the near committee boat and found a large shift to cross the fleet and lead round the first mark. He gradually extended his lead throughout the race to win by a considerable margin.

Behind him the battle for second place was turning into an epic. Wood rounded the first mark second after reaching in from the left side of the course in a large shift. Craig did the same and rounding about 12th. On the succeeding legs Craig gradually pulled through the boats to lead Wood round the final leeward mark. The final beat turned into a gruelling tacking dual between the two, with Craig looking to be in charge. However, within sight of the finish line he dropped his mainsheet and capsized to windward to let Wood through to take second overall. Mark Perrow (NZL) took advantage to finish third in the race with Andre Blasse in fourth. Craig finally finished fifth to make sure of third overall.

Roger Blasse finished in ninth place, but had already won the Australian Nationals for the tenth time and the Interdominions for the fourth time. The Toshiba OK Dinghy World Championships starts on Monday with the measurement of boats taking place over the weekend, allowing the sailors a well-deserved rest.

Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Tot
1	AUS678	R Blasse	2	4	1	1	2	5	[9.0]	15
2	NZL526	R Wood	1	8	3	[12.0]	1	4	2	19
3	GBR2116	N Craig	3	1	2	7	4	[8.0]	5	22
4	AUS719	A Blasse	7	[12.0]	5	2	6	1	4	25
5	NZL521	M Perrow	4	2	[14.0]	8	10	2	3	29
6	NZL502	K Purdie	5	3	9	5	[20.0]	12	6	40
7	DEN1348	J Lindhardtsen	11	5	8	4	3	10	[13.0]	41
8	NZL522	G Wilcox	10	[79.0F]	6	11	5	3	7	42
9	AUS716	P Horne	8	10	7	3	9	6	[16.0]	43
10	AUS720	M Williams	9	7	[17.0]	15	17	9	1	58
11	NZL525	S McDowell	13	6	11	10	7	11	[79.0C]	58
12	NZL504	A Mannering	6	[16.0]	16	9	11	7	15	64
13	AUS722	P Foster	12	[28.0]	13	13	15	19	8	80
14	NZL523	J Porebski	16	11	12	6	22	15	[23.0]	82
15	NZL472	A Deaves	21	13	4	16	13	18	[22.0]	85
16	GBR2081	R Deaves	17	18	19	20	8	13	[79.0O]	95
17	DEN1340	J Petersen	28	9	18	14	12	14	[30.0]	95
18	AUS676	T Davies	26	17	[38.0]	17	14	16	11	101
19	AUS703	M McQueen	14	19	[31.0]	22	18	25	18	116
20	SWE99	H Elkjaer	18	14	15	26	30	26	[31.0]	129
21	NZL491	M Bismark	[34.0]	33	23.5	18	25	17	14	130.5
22	NZL497	T Pryce	15	15	[36.0]	28	36	21	20	135
23	AUS718	P Burton	20	22	29	33	[34.0]	22	12	138
24	NZL481	D Hoogenboom	23	34	[48.0]	34	29	20	10	150
25	AUS666	S Wilson	[79.0O]	26	26	36	16	28	25	157
26	AUS681	M Gleeson	19	30	27	39	23	24	[79.0O]	162
27	AUS724	R Howard	38	[79.0F]	23.5	21	24	23	33	162.5
28	NZL500	P Rzepecky	30	27	20	[35.0]	26	27	35	165
29	AUS711	N Gray	[40.0]	23	25	24	38	29	32	171
30	AUS610	T Burton	33	[79.0F]	30	27	28	38	17	173
31	AUS668	P Wallace	32	20	37	23	31	33	[41.0]	176
32	AUS713	P Lynch	36	[79.0F]	21	29	37	30	26	179
33	AUS704	B Chapman	27	32	39	25	[43.0]	40	19	182
34	NZL498	D Hunt	29	31	34	[40.0]	40	35	21	190
35	AUS696	J McAllister	22	40	43	[79.0C]	21	31	37	194
36	NZL518	G Pedersen	25	[79.0S]	32	38	35	34	34	198
37	AUS693	E O'Donnell	31	41	35	[79.0C]	19	37	36	199
38	GBR2117	A Scoles	24	39	33	42	[52.0]	43	27	208
39	GBR2110	J Fish	37	21	28	19	27	[79.0F]	79.0F	211
40	AUS672	D Ketteridge	43	25	[49.0]	43	41	39	24	215
41	AUS721	J Barr	35	29	41	32	39	[46.0]	46	222
42	AUS708	C Visick	45	35	40	30	33	41	[79.0O]	224
43	AUS628	B Ashton	[79.0F]	24	45	45	51	45	29	239
44	GBR2100	D Ager	41	[79.0F]	10	31	32	50	79.0C	243
45	AUS7	P Richards	46	37	[53.0]	49	44	36	39	251
46	AUS641	B Holly	[79.0F]	79.0S	22	37	46	32	42	258
47	AUS692	B Tyler	39	36	[69.0]	47	47	44	51	264
48	AUS689	G Yates	42	42	44	41	49	49	[79.0C]	267
49	AUS709	P Yates	44	43	[50.0]	46	48	48	40	269
50	AUS694	R Furneaux	[79.0F]	79.0S	42	44	45	47	28	285
51	SWE2759	P Olssen	[79.0O]	38	52	79.0F	42	42	38	291
52	AUS655	D Coleman	52	50	51	55	50	53	[60.0]	311
53	AUS636	A Stiel	48	48	56	57	54	55	[58.0]	318
54	AUS680	C McQueen	49	47	55	54	61	[79.0C]	54	320
55	AUS625	D Swales	51	49	[64.0]	53	62	56	55	326
56	AUS688	P Robinson	50	44	57	52	[79.0F]	79.0C	47	329
57	AUS695	J Hogan	[79.0F]	45	63	58	55	60	53	334
58	POL24	D Kras	[79.0S]	79.0S	46	51	65	52	44	337
59	AUS715	T Pearce	47	46	59	59	[79.0F]	79.0F	50	340
60	AUS663	A Maclean	53	52	[67.0]	62	59	59	57	342
61	AUS660	D O'Donnell	[79.0F]	54	65	61	56	57	52	345
62	AUS653	D Lock	[79.0F]	79.0S	47	48	60	51	61	346
63	NZL493	G Lambert	54	[79.0S]	60	64	53	79.0C	43	353
64	AUS612	D Parker	55	53	[68.0]	65	63	61	59	356
65	AUS642	N Wallis	[79.0F]	51	58	63	57	58	79.0O	366
66	GER699	J Hoffman	[79.0F]	79.0S	54	50	79.0F	79.0C	45	386
67	AUS646	M Walker	[79.0F]	79.0S	66	60	79.0F	54	48	386
68	AUS684	C Lynch	[79.0F]	79.0S	62	79.0C	58	79.0C	49	406
69	AUS637	P Blunt	[79.0S]	79.0S	71	68	64	62	62	406
70	AUS685	D Smith	[79.0F]	79.0S	70	56	79.0F	79.0C	56	419
71	AUS619	E Kennedy	[79.0F]	79.0F	74	69	79.0F	79.0S	63	443
72	AUS717	K Semmens	[79.0S]	79.0S	73	66	79.0F	79.0C	79.0C	455
73	AUS687	E Furneaux	[79.0S]	79.0S	72	67	79.0F	79.0C	79.0C	455
74	AUS698	G Gillespie	[79.0F]	79.0S	61	79.0F	79.0F	79.0F	79.0C	456
75	AUS638	A Stiel	[79.0F]	79.0S	79.0S	79.0S	79.0C	79.0C	79.0C	474
75	GER695	J Hoffman	[79.0C]	79.0C	79.0C	79.0C	79.0F	79.0C	79.0C	474
75	AUS650	M Date	[79.0F]	79.0S	79.0S	79.0S	79.0C	79.0C	79.0C	474
75	GBR2048	R Thorne		79	79.0S	79.0S	79.0F	79.0C	79.0C	474

More photos on the following page