OK Dinghy Worlds 2018

North Sails Powers André Budzien to Victory in Warnemunde at the OK World Championship

The OK Dinghy has seen a huge resurgence in recent years, increasing numbers at both club and the international level. This year around 140 competitors took part in the World Championship in Warnemunde. This fleet attracts a huge amount of World class sailors, including many well-known names from several Olympic sailing teams.

This year’s competition was a true test of skill. The week started off with heavy conditions, which allowed for surfing downwind, yet still making it challenging for the upwind legs. The fleet was split into two flights due to overall headcount. On the first day two races were completed, and by the end of the day there were four different race winners, making it extremely close at the front end of the fleet. This really set the standards high for the rest of the week. With a day missed mid-week due to the wind, sailors were keen to get back on the water for the penultimate day when the weather came through with near-perfect conditions. Coming into the final day, only four points separated the top four competitors, making it anyone’s game going into the final races.

The last race saw pre-worlds winner André Budzien score a bullet, confirming his victory in front of Fredrik Loof, the pre-event favourite. Rounding off the podium in third place was Jan Kurfeld, fresh from his win at Kiel Week. Fortunately his solid scoreline earlier in the week meant the UFD in the last race was discarded. Jan was just one point behind second place, the podium positions could not have been closer!

We caught up with Andre Budzien after the regatta. Here is what he had to say about his North KAP-1 Mainsail :

“I used the KL-1 for the Pre-Worlds and it worked well. Since I was using the KAP-1 in the training prior to the event, I chose to use it for racing. It is a very nice looking sail and very powerful with lots of twist in the top area. This gave me some fast upwind legs, with great speed and point. Downwind was also super!”

North Sails has once again proved itself to be the preferable sailmaker of choice for another One Design class, with it’s dominance at the top end of the fleet, including the new 2018 OK World Champion.

If you are interested in any North products or want to speak to an expert to find out how to make the most out of your OK sails, then get in touch today!

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