Britain’s Henry Wetherell snatched the 2023 OK World Title with back-to-back race wins on the final day at Lyme Regis.
Starting the final day in third, Wetherell took the first race (R8) ahead of Steve McDowell (2, 3) of New Zealand, then confirmed the overall victory with a second win, this time ahead of Britain’s Anrew Mills (3, 2).
Overnight leader Nick Craig retired with a black flag from the penultimate race, and although he completed the final race in sixth place the podium was out of reach.
Sweden’s Niklas Edler (4, 4) retained his second place on the podium and Valerian Lebrun of France (5, 5) moved into third place.
Wetherell said, “From early this week to today there was quite a big difference in my downwind speed so I managed to get away from the fleet today so that was quite nice and had to manage the fleet from there and keep hiking but it was hard. I had Andrew Mills behind me charging upwind so it was a hard day but I got through it with two wins, so all good.”
Wetherell remains world champion for just six months. The next World Championship will be held in Brisbane, Australia in February 2024.
OK World Championships – Final Leaders after 9 races, 1 discard (145 entries)
Full results available here . . .
2023 Ovington Boats and Pro-Set Resins OK Dinghy World Championship hosted by Lyme Regis Sailing Club Ltd.
