Sunday evening the OK Dinghy World Championship opened at Hellerup Sejlklub after 203 boats from 14 nations completed registration and equipment inspection.
The 2026 Championship is being held at Skovshoved Harbour, hosted by the Royal Danish YC (KDY) and Hellerup Sejlklub. Ten races are scheduled from 8 – 12 June.
With the practice race completed, the fleet is now split into two groups sailing an inner and outer trapezoid loop for the two races scheduled each day from Monday to Friday.
History and legacy are a hugely important part of the class, and at this event the sailors are surrounded by it. The OK Dinghy was designed in Denmark in 1956 by Knud Olsen.
His reversed initials gave the class the name that is now synonymous with world class competition. His son, Lars Olsen, was part of the equipment inspection team, over the past three days.
The historical significance of this event is not lost on anyone. The current growth of the class – and the entry here – has gone way beyond expectations, with an encouraging number of younger sailors joining for this event.
The strength of the class is a fitting representative of competitive dinghy sailing that grew in the ‘dinghy-boom’ after WWII, and continues to maintain the highest levels of amateur competition.
