Sweden’s Niklas Edler has taken the lead at the 2026 OK Dinghy World Championship at Skovshoved, Denmark, after the opening series concluded on Wednesday with two great races in some challenging conditions with wind from 10-26 knots. Denmark’s Johan Schubert moved up to second while Pim van Vugt, from the Netherlands moved up to the third. The race wins went to Edler, van Vugt, Schubert and Britain’s Matt Howard.
Both groups had multiple restarts for the first race of the day, while the second race for each group got away relatively easier. The forecast was for a decreasing wind, however the opposite happened as the wind generally built through the day, still very shifty off the shore, with some big gusts and shifts as the clouds came downwind. The day ended with more black clouds, some very strong winds and of course the inevitable rain.
On the water, it has been a bumpy start to this world championship, in the class’s 70th anniversary year, with light and shifty, winds, thunderstorms, heavy rain, a lightning display, some sunshine and the ever present current. Off the water, the hospitality has been superb, with ample hot food and free beer at the boat park after racing, great conviviality and a fantastic and helpful welcome from the Danish host clubs.
Wednesday’s racing was for many about getting into the gold group, but for those at the top, it was about building a points gap as from Thursday they all race together. Edler and van Vugt won the day with a 1,2 each while Schubert and Howard each posted a 1,3. Former leader, Wannes van Laer, from Belgium posted a 4,3, while Germany’s Jan Kurfeld picked in two fourth places. There were some great battles at the front and through the fleet, fighting for every point.
Howard said, “Super shifty again, but a bit more up pressure. Wind off the land, probably 30 to 40 degrees was the range I saw today. Big lefties, sharp righties, obviously a long, really long start line like before, so being on the edge just kind of put you under a bit of stress early on if you started at the end, but with a long line, and a bit of bias you kind of have to.
“For me it was a good day, like I’m pretty heavy so a bit of breeze kind of favours me. Led round the first top mark and finished third, and then in second race I won. So yeah, 3-1 was good and legs are hurting; glad we didn’t do a third race.”
Johan Schubert is one of a number of newcomers to the class this week. He sailed the ILCA in the 2024 Olympics and is aiming towards LA in 2028, and has borrowed a boat this week.
“I had one mediocre medium start and one really good start. And I’ve been trying to find my way around the track with a bunch of boats around. So, it’s been a bit shifty and a bit gusty today with the clouds coming over, but overall pretty good.
“The first one I finished third. Had a good last downwind. The last one I got the better of the lead. I was leading from the top mark to finish.”
He has only had about 12 days in the boat so far. “But it’s been really, really nice. Everyone is super-friendly and really good at sharing their knowledge, which there’s plenty of. So, I’m really enjoying it. The boat sails well and I’m learning something about trim every day.”
The fleet now moves into the final series with four races scheduled over the next two days in gold and silver groups. The event concludes on Friday.
Results after five races
1 SWE 71 Niklas EDLER 7
2 DEN 1533 Johan SCHUBERT 9
3 NED 7 Pim van VUGT 10
4 BEL 112 Wannes van LAER 10
5 GBR 2298 Matthew HOWARD 12
6 GER 18 Jan KURFELD 16
7 GBR 6 Charlie CUMBLEY 20
8 GER 886 Stefan HOFFMANN 23
9 DEN 3 Jørgen SVENDSEN 27
10 NOR 428 Lars Johan BRODTKORB 28
Full results here: https://www.manage2sail.com/en-US/event/9149908f-7772-48e1-9f34-801b55ef556b#!/
Day 3 gallery here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/okdia/albums/72177720334136656
