Palma Bay crowns the best European OK Dinghy

New Zealander Luke Deegan has claimed victory at the OK Dinghy European Championship, organized from last Wednesday, October 30 to November 2 by the Real Club Náutico de Palma, followed on the podium by the British Charlie Cumbley and the Swede Niklas Edler, who finished in second and third place, respectively.

The championship was marked by adverse weather conditions, which only allowed four races to be completed over five days. The instability of the wind affected the development of the competition from the start, with a first day on Wednesday without wind and no possibility of holding races. On Thursday, conditions improved and three races were completed, but on Friday the races were again suspended due to the DANA alert that affected the Bay of Palma.

On Saturday, the Race Committee managed to start a race, but the scarce wind forced the course to be shortened in the final stretch. This Sunday, an attempt was made to advance the start to take advantage of any opportunity, but the lack of wind once again made it impossible to hold races, leaving the overall unchanged.

Among the Spanish sailors, the Mallorcan Javier Estarellas finished in thirtieth place overall. Estarellas has actively promoted the OK Dinghy class in Mallorca and his effort was reflected in the participation of a local fleet of ten local boats in this European Championship. Another notable representative was Mark Branagh, from the Real Club Náutico de Palma, who finished in twenty-fifth place.

The award ceremony was held at 17:30 hours at the facilities of the Real Club Náutico de Palma and was attended by Hugo Ramón, RCNP sailing board member; Francisco Villalonga, manager of Ports IB; and Javier Núñez de Prado, head of the Naval Sector of the Balearic Islands.

This championship, which brought together 84 boats from 14 countries, was held at the RCNP without interruption after the World Championship of the Swan class. Next Saturday, November 9, the Palma-Melilla-Palma A2 race will start, in which 40 boats from the Mini class participate, a category unprecedented in the history of the Náutico de Palma as an event organizer.