I'm sorry, OK
Having made the mistake in a recent Rolltacks of referring to Nick Craig as the Solo class representative when he won the Endeavour Trophy last autumn, I thought I owed it to Nick to set the record straight. He was in fact representing the OK class, and my error gave me the excuse of having a longer chat with one of Britain's top amateur sailors.
For Nick, 2004 was an extraordinarily successful year. He won the Enterprise Worlds, RS400 Nationals, the OK Nationals and the Endeavour Trophy. Nick was understandably delighted with his season, but admitted that he had failed to achieve the number one goal of his season, to win the OK World Championship. If he had done so, he would have become the first Brit to win this event in its 40 year history. He came pretty close, finishing a very creditable second, but it was another Brit - his friend and training partner Jim Hunt - who became the first to win the Worlds.
Nick was disappointed not to have won, but happy to see his friend win in his place. "Neither of us would have got there without the other. At the beginning of the season, Jim was quicker upwind, I was quicker downwind. By the time the championships came round we were pretty even." Nick won the Nationals the week before the Worlds, and Jim won the Worlds, so it is a testament to the hard training they put in.
Jim has sold his OK and is focussing on a Finn campaign, albeit a weekend campaign. Nick is also racing the Finn on a part-time basis, but there is no doubt where his main goal remains. "The aim for this year is to sort out that second place and win the OK Worlds." His chance comes in July when the Worlds take place in Denmark. Last year, he and Jim used the same combination of gear - British-built Rushworth hulls, Selden carbon masts and sails from North UK. Nick hasn't ruled out using the same gear for 2005 but he has certainly been busy considering other options. Last year was the first season for carbon masts, and he feels that the Ceilidh mast from Holland might be leading the way in developments here.
Strong international following
Nick has also bought a New Zealand-built hull. "We reckon the Kiwis were quick downwind last year. We modestly thought they were quick because of their hull shape rather than technique," he laughs. So it seems he is leaving no stone unturned in his quest for victory in the OK. At least he won't have to beat Jim Hunt, but his absence is a double-edged sword because it means Nick won't be able to tap into Jim's technical expertise, and he will lack a world-class training partner.
But why the OK in the first place? For Nick, it represents one of the toughest challenges outside of Olympic sailing. "There is a strong international following. The Worlds is limited to 80 entries. You've got events like Kiel Week. There's not a lot to match that."
Upwind, Nick reckons the OK bears comparison with the Finn, which is not surprising as it was originally conceived as a trainer for the Olympic singlehander. "It's not nearly as grunty or as physical as the Finn, but it's very tweaky upwind. Small adjustments make a big difference. Downwind it's more like a Laser, it sails by the lee and all that type of stuff. It's really good fun in waves."
With a choice of different mast and sail combinations, Nick says a wide range of weights have proven competitive in the OK, although he reckons the sweet spot to between 80-90kg. At 92kg he is currently on the heavy side as he has been working on his Finn sailing recently, but for the Enterprise and RS400 events last year he managed to get down to 84kg. So finding his OK weight in time for the Worlds shouldn't present too much of a problem.
Hearing Nick enthuse about the boat makes me wonder about having a go myself. I'm sure I'll wake up in the morning and realise what a foolish idea that would be. It would require me to get some leg muscles, and some tummy muscles too. So probably not. But it does sound like the OK deserves a bigger recognition than it currently receives. The fact that it doesn't probably comes back to one of my common gripes about classes that don't sell themselves. Nick's contact with me was the first time I've heard from anyone in the OK class.
If a class doesn't have the budget or inclination to market itself in the traditional sense, then making changes to the boat is another way of attracting attention. For an extreme example, think of the International Moth. How many magazine covers and articles have been devoted to the hydrofoiling antics of Rohan Veal and the Brits who have followed in his wake?
To a lesser extent, perhaps the OK's adoption of carbon masts will help breathe new life into a class that for many probably seems quite dated. I remember thinking what a boxy looking boat it was, but having seen some pictures of the latest GRP hulls I'll have to revise my opinion. I just wish they'd go the whole hog and allow Mylar/Kevlar sails. I'm sure they'd last longer and bring the OK even more up to date. I saw in the recent Y&Y review of Sailboat that Red Eye Sails are making Kevlar sails for £470 for the Phantom class, which seems like very good value.
Carbon dating
Bringing old classes up to date with new technology certainly seems to give them a new lease of life. As a long-time OK sailor, Nick had been concerned that upgrading the mast from aluminium to carbon would turn the class into "cheque book sailing", but the class association has been very prudent with adopting the new masts. They must be raced with correctors attached for the next few years so that those competing with metal masts don't feel immediately disadvantaged. And the price difference between carbon and metal is negligible too. "Selden has done a good job of keeping costs down - a new mast is around £700 compared with £600 for a metal mast," says Nick.
There had been a feeling with the first year of carbon that the Worlds would be one by someone who had made a breakthrough in technical development, but Nick says it was pretty much the same faces at the front, albeit with a Brit winning for the first time. "Everyone thought the Worlds would be won on boatspeed, but the pecking order was hardly different to previous year. Everyone went out and bought one or two masts, whereas if it was an Olympic class like the Finn perhaps we'd have got through 30. Everyone is still at quite an early stage of development. In any case, the OK is quite a slow boat, so tactics still matter. Our reckoning was that we were quicker mainly because we'd done a lot of tuning and training. At the start of the year we were getting beaten a lot because we were less consistent with our speed. Time on the water was the crucial factor."
Nick certainly gets plenty of time on the water, but it comes in a wide range of classes. But has that made him the successful sailor that he is? "I find long term it really helps, because there are loads of bits you can transfer between the boats. Some of the Olympic guys could maybe benefit from that approach. But short term I find it quite difficult. The boats I sail are all fairly similar upwind but downwind it's a nightmare, the RS400 is totally different from anything else. Whenever I jump back into the 400 I make some glaring cock-ups to begin with. I remember at the Nationals last year telling myself not to try doing anything clever until I'd remembered what to do."
But if forced to sail just one of his chosen classes, Nick says he'd opt for the fun of the 400. "It's a great boat downwind, and a sheer blast. From a racing point of view I'd choose the OK, because so it's international. It would be great if the 400 went more international, but it doesn't look like there's any sign of that."
Xenon approval
Although as reigning National Champion, Nick has been one of the beneficiaries of the Endeavour Trophy's longstanding use of the RS400, he welcomes the decision to go with the Xenon. "Getting hold of an RS400 has been a nightmare for some sailors, so I think the Xenon is a great choice for the event. It will be open for all. My only slight concern is it doesn't seem to have much sail area. So heavier people might struggle to be competitive in it."
With Nick due to compete in the same breadth of classes during 2005, he has every chance of becoming a multiple qualifier for the Endeavour as he was last year, when he could have represented either the OK or the RS400. He is clearly a talented sailor, and having dipped his toe into Olympic racing with the Finn, would he not consider a full-on campaign for Beijing?
"I think if I did it every day between now and 2008 I'd never get to Ben Ainslie's level," says Nick. "He's a once-in-a-generation talent. He got a medal when he was 19, and he's been sailing every day since. It's taken me until 31 to get to the front of the amateur fleet. I might get the odd race off the Squad guys, but that's about it. If I lived in a smaller country I might think about it, but if you're going to the Games for this country you've got to be gold medal potential." Nick says he is happy to race with the best in his odd outing in the Finn, but believes that he has found his niche at the top of the amateur circuit. Doubtless he will have another glorious season in 2005, and let's hope he can crown it with victory in the OK Worlds.
RS800 goes aft
Congratulations to the RS800 class for adopting the aft-led mainsheet system. I've only sailed the boat once but it was immediately apparent just how high the mainsheet loads were on a conventional, centre-slung 4:1 system. The up-and-over system long favoured by other skiffs like the 14 and 49er has now found favour in the RS800 fleet, following a year-long trial involving four teams of varying sizes. Babs Emmans, one of the triallists, commented: "I am a small, lightweight helm, so this will make a massive difference to me. With the original system, I couldn't manage the mainsheet loads, but with the aft main, I managed four very windy races in one day at the nationals." Findings from the trial included:
· This system significantly reduced mainsheet loads
· The twin tillers were easy to get used to
· No advantage was found in speed or pointing ability
· This arrangement frees up space in the cockpit
· Care had to be taken not to oversheet and stall the sail.
