After the mayhem and razzmatazz of the recent SailGP Grand Prix in New York, the OK Dinghy class calmly continues with their second largest OK Dinghy World Championship of all time.
Set to get underway at Skovshoved, Denmark next week, with an impressive 207 entries from 14 nations.
It also comes at the 70th anniversary of the first OK Dinghy, built and launched in Bandholm in the south of the country, by Knud Olsen, in 1956. His reversed initials gave the boat its name.
The significance of the anniversary is not lost on the fleet and especially the Danish fleet. The event is hosted by the Royal Danish Yacht Club and Hellerup Sejlklub, with Hellerup SC playing an important role as home of one of the largest OK Dinghy fleets in the world.
Hellerup was of course home to Paul Elvstrøm, who played a small but important part in the early history of the class. Several visits are planned to Hellerup during the event, including the regatta dinner in the Main Boat Hall at the club.
These visits will be steeped in historical significance. In 2012 both Olsen and Elvstrøm were inducted into the OKDIA Hall of Fame.
Until 2025 Denmark held the record for the largest worlds held – 145 in Vallensbæk in 2012. It seemed a huge number at the time, and it took until 2023, in Lyme Regis, to get close again. Then, in 2025 212 OK Dinghies turned up for the first ever world championship on Lake Garda to set a record many thought would stand for a long time.
The event gets underway on Friday 5 June with equipment inspection and registration. Then ten races are scheduled from 8-12 May.
The huge fleet will be split into two groups with three days of qualification before two days of finals racing. But we do not have to worry about adjusted scoring mathematics or mini knock-out series . . . Paul Elvstrøm would feel right at home here.
The British team, in the absence of 2025 World Champion Andrew Mills and World No. 1 Nick Craig is led by the current European Champion, and 2022 World Champion, Charlie Cumbley, along with last year’s fifth placed Matt Howard.
