Greystones Sailing Club ex-pat Sean Cleary was in the top ten of the OK world championships at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron in Brisbane, Australia, but a DSQ originally reported initially as a fourth (before protest) has proved unfortunate.
Nick Craig and Andy Davis traded race wins on the penultimate day. They top the leaderboard, separated by just six points, with Australia’s Roger Blasse – who had the joint best day with Davis – another four points behind. Just two races remain on Saturday.
Now sailing under the flag of New Zealand, Cleary is in 23rd but hoping the 1 and 3 scored in the qualifies can still help to bring him up overall.
Royal Irish's Tim Goodbody, who did well in Europeans last year didn’t travel to Queensland.
The top of the fleet remains tight going into the final day. It would be a brave man to bet against Craig winning his sixth OK Dinghy world title, but with a 20th on the board, and with the way Davis and Blasse are sailing, he cannot afford another slip up. Davis is sailing exceptionally well and while he won the British championship last year, he is a relative newcomer to the class. Meanwhile, Blasse is a double world champion and is within striking distance. It is a long way from over.
