No racing was possible on the penultimate day of the 2026 OK Dinghy World Championship at Skovshoved, Denmark, with bad weather – actually almost every kind of weather except snow – on Thursday. Sweden’s Niklas Edler will lead into the final day from Denmark’s Johan Schubert and Pim van Vugt, from the Netherlands with just two races possible on Friday. 203 boats from 14 nations and taking part.
Early morning sunshine and rising temperatures soon gave way to cold northerly air, rain and the threat of thunderstorms. An early postponement was raised waiting for the promised window of wind. As the postponement continued through the morning and afternoon, the successive ominous storms passed through bringing rain, cold air, sunshine and 180-degree swings in what remained of the wind.
Conversation was in full swing with many happy to relax and rest after the big day on Wednesday. The coffee shop did great business. But by 14.00, racing was called off and the fleet could prepare for the championship dinner tonight at Hellerup SC.
At the top of the fleet, it is very tight. The top seven boats are all with nine points, when including the discard, while the top four have a two-digit discard. With two races left, any mistake now will be costly. Only three boats have all single digit scorelines, so all seven have chances, though it could effectively be over and done with one more race.
Of those at the top Edler is the only established OK Dinghy sailor in the top four. He has shown great downwind speed so far and is the only sailor to have won more than one race. After three podium finishes in recent years, a title win has been elusive but would be well deserved.
The next three sailors are all new to the class, but with extensive and successful pedigree in other classes. All have showed great speed and tactics so far. No Dane has won the world championship since Poul Kirketerp in 1980. Johan Schubert has been in the boat for 13 days and is close and getting better race by race. Wannes van Laer has done even less days, while Pim van Vugt has done a few events, but this is his first worlds. Past European champion Jørgen Svendsen, in ninth is probably too far away, but will have a chance at the podium.
Meanwhile Britain’s Matt Howard and Charley Cumbley, and Germany’s Jan Kurfeld have all been very consistent with single digit scorelines and could easily be a threat to the podium. It is a race to the finish and a long way from being over. Lurking behind the, Stefan Hoffman from Germany and Lars Johan Brodtkorb from Norway are within striking distance.
Mistakes are easy here. Big scores can happen in a flash, so to maintain consistency shows the level at the front is very high, with some well-established favourites a long way back. It has been a very tough championship so far with different conditions each day, lots of tactical challenges, and lots of battles on the water. Friday will be no different.
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#!/