TEST OK OK DINGHY Y&Y PHOTO JEREMY EVANS PHOTO Almost 50 years since it first appeared, how does the OK rate? Jeremy Evans sails the classic singlehander. TEST he founding father of the OK was a Enterprise and Solo – with Knud Olsen’s initials sailing enthusiast from Denmark who reversed and coloured to create both the name had emigrated to the USA. Axel and class logo. T Dangaard Olsen knew what he wanted The OK grew rapidly throughout the 1960s and when he asked Danish yacht designer Knud Olsen early 1970s, when racing fleets were established to draw the lines for a fast, lightweight dinghy for over 10,000 new boats around the world. After using plywood construction, which could also be a that, the Laser (launched in 1971) drove a wedge stepping-stone to the Finn. The first OK was into the dinghy market, driving the OK and other launched in 1957 – a year after Jack Holt’s popular singlehanders into a backwater. More ▲ YachtsandYachting.com compromise. Tony Thresher builds all-wood OKs near Oxford, but there is currently no glassfibre builder for the class in Britain. The closest are Jurgen Hein near Hamburg and P Oddesborgs near Copenhagen (which come in £500-£1,000 more expensive than all-wooden), although the UK association is hoping to appoint a major new builder. Further afield, OKs are built in New Zealand and Australia — where the 2006 world championship is being held in New South Wales this February. Some European sailors have opted to buy a new OK ‘down under’ for the worlds, using advantageous exchange rates to balance the cost of bringing their boats home. Nick Craig’s OK was built at Cookson Boats in New Zealand, best known for top racing yachts like ‘Pyewacket’, ‘Virbac’, ‘Playstation’ and the NZL America’s Cup series. His rig combines a North sail (approx £600) with a Celidh carbon mast (approx £1,100) made by Irishman Thomas Wilkes in PHOTO JEREMY EVANS PHOTO Holland. The North sail is based on Finn technology recently, growing numbers of singlehanded sailors with OK input from world champions Jim Hunt and Above The OK has an have decided they want to race something a little Craig, and is established as top choice in Britain. elegant rig with its different, helping the OK and other classic Elsewhere, different countries tend to favour their smoothly curving mast singlehanders to stage a revival. own sailmakers for the class. and the covered deck Nick Craig has raced the OK for the past 14 design provides an Design and development years. For him, the big attraction of the OK is enclosed working area The OK has followed the usual development of international racing. Apart from Britain, the OK is for the driver. dinghies originally designed for plywood. big in Germany with an enthusiastic following in ‘Tolerances’ were necessary when large numbers Belgium, France, Poland, Sweden, Australia and of boats were home built, allowing small variations New Zealand, plus a scattering in the USA, India, in hull shape which are effectively eliminated Thailand and South Korea. This is reflected in when boats are produced out of the same mould major events – the 2004 worlds had a 81-boat in glassfibre. Our test boat, Nick Craig’s current entry from 10 different countries, making it a OK (his sixth), was built in New Zealand to the genuine world championship. ‘Icebreaker’ shape which first appeared in 1976 The OK also has an active home circuit and well and has proved a regular winner. attended national championship, plus three Below Offwind the OK is OK dinghies are now built in all-plywood European classic events always attract a strong pure fun to sail — construction which is perfect for purists, or class entry — Medemblik in Holland during April, powerful but responsive, glassfibre foam sandwich for practicality with the followed by Kielwoche and Warnemunde on with no nasty rolling. option of a wooden deck as an aesthetic Germany’s Baltic coast in June and July. PHOTO JEREMY EVANS PHOTO YachtsandYachting.com TEST OK Far Left Gybing it fast with the power on requires some expertise. You can see how far world champion Nick Craig rolls the boat to windward, a technique he also uses for sailing by the lee downwind Left The OK is capsize friendly, floating low enough to grab the centreboard and pull the PHOTOS JEREMY EVANS PHOTOS boat back upright without much effort. Sailing OK should feel light and easy on the helm, with Nick’s Icebreaker is clearly fast, but doesn’t win the tiller the only carbon allowed in the boat apart prizes for aesthetics! While contemporary builders from the mast. The OK boom is aluminium for the of Jack Holt classics, such as the GP14, Enterprise best mix of low cost and light weight and still and Solo, have done their best to make the looks incredibly low, which is one reason why the modern glassfibre versions look attractive, the rig is so elegant. A full depth cockpit means there Cookson hull is pure utility. But how the OK should be no problem getting under the boom performs is what matters. I owned an all-wood OK during tacks, which are quick, fairly easy and for several years and rated it one of my favourite reasonably forgiving if you get out of sync. dinghies. I loved the elegant rig with its smoothly Offwind the OK is about pure sailing fun — you curving mast and the covered deck design with a can really work the boat because it feels small and cockpit that provides an enclosed working area for responsive with quite a big rig. We had Force 3-4 the driver. with small waves and it was a pleasure to drive the Taking a ride in Nick’s boat brought it all back — boat to its maximum potential. But if the breeze is the OK really is a delightful small dinghy! Getting up, the OK has a lot of sail area and experience upwind may be a bit grunty, as with any hiking will be required to keep on top of the situation. It’s boat, but at least Nick’s felt reasonably essentially a well-behaved boat with a forgiving comfortable with adjustable straps and side deck and controllable hull shape. You know how a Laser ‘cushions’ for pure luxury. The OK rig has moved gets those nasty rolls to windward downhill in a on a long way from my wooden Collar mast with a blow? The OK can be just as bad if you want it to rather flat Elvstrøm sail. It has the same elegant be, but the difference is you can back right off silhouette, plus much improved control and power. when there’s no escape with a Laser. Nick rates the optimum weight for OK sailors at On a reach you can expect a fast, wet ride if it’s 80-90kg. Lake sailors can be competitive at 70kg, windy, with the compact cockpit allowing the self- but will struggle in a breeze on the open sea when bailers to dispose of water taken on board. Be it’s no fun getting mown down by some 105kg aware that the view to leeward is not great, with monster having a blast in Force 5! The trick for appreciably more sail than window and little optimum performance is to choose a mast with chance of being able to see under the boom. the right degree of stiffness to suit your weight, Gybing the OK during this session actually seemed ensuring the luff curve of the sail is a perfect easy, with no problem from that low-slung boom. match. With the OK sail size between a Laser and Gybing it fast with the power on will require some Y&Y Finn, you should be fully powered in Force 2-3. Rig expertise. You can see how far Nick rolls the boat control upwind is initially governed by mainsheet to windward, a technique he also uses for sailing and traveller — as the wind increases, you let off by the lee downwind. Both are good recipes for a inhaul and outhaul to move draught back and capsize if you get things wrong. The OK does not tension the cunningham to bend the mast. have a fast draining double-bottom common to Changing mast rake to suit wind strength is modern dinghies, but otherwise is capsize friendly. possible during a race day — stop the boat with If you’re down in the water, the OK floats low wind abeam, lean forward and move the chocks. enough to grab the centreboard and pull the boat TEST The OK is a high pointing dinghy, but needs to back upright without much effort. The cockpit be sailed free to get through waves. You don’t takes in enough water to slosh above your ankles, require kicker upwind, particularly when it would which can be planed away through the self-bailers. pull the boom lower and increase hassle in tacks. Instead, the kicker lever is an important offwind The verdict control, pulled down as the wind builds to keep the The international class association neatly defines leech ‘working’ by opening and closing on the the modern OK as: ‘A light, responsive sailing waves and effectively pumping the sail. dinghy that may be raced in fair and equal Nick favours a fixed rudder for max rigidity competition all over the world, without getting ▲ which is a personal choice — fixed or lifting, the into cut-throat Olympic competition and with the YachtsandYachting.com ANSWER BACK from Andy Turner, OK class association Thanks to Jeremy for an article that captures the OK sailing experience — something that keeps sailors coming back for more every year.