Bo Petersen wins OK Dinghy European title after dramatic final day in Bandol

 
Bo Petersen has won his third OK Dinghy European Championship at Société Nautique de Bandol, France, after one final race was sailed on Saturday in Bandol. Stefan de Vries takes the silver while race winner Valerian Lebrun takes the bronze.
 
It has been a tough event with first a mistral, and then strong winds for the rest of the week, bringing colder than expected conditions, but it is still Bandol and a very pleasant place to be. Petersen never finished worse than third in an 80 boat fleet, which is impressive, but the top four boats were a level apart from the rest of the fleet and it was very tight at the top.
 
The final race was sailed in 18-22 knots and big waves with a close battle between de Vries and Petersen, who started the day on level points. De Vries had a good lead at the top, but Petersen was ahead at the bottom mark. De Vries passed him up the final beat to cross in second behind Lebrun and take the title. However de Vries was scored UFD for being over the line at the start, handing the title to Petersen.
 
It was a dramatic end to what has been an epic week in Bandol. With the wind increasing and the forecast for much, much more wind, further racing was abandoned for the day.