Greg Wilcox maintains OK Dinghy World No. 1 position throughout 2018

by Robert Deaves 30 Oct 2018 23:49 AEDT

World No. 1 Greg Wilcox in Bandol © Robert Deaves

With the 2019 World Championship heading to New Zealand in just over three months, Greg Wilcox, maintains his lead at the top of the final OK Dinghy World Ranking List of 2018 as the only Kiwi in the top 20.

This release includes 11 events from July to October, including the World and European Championships and national events in Poland, Sweden, The Netherlands Denmark, Britain, Germany, France and Belgium.

The ranking is calculated from 45 events over the last two years, with each sailor counting their best five events. Out of more than 500 sailors on the list, there are 29 new names, reflecting the growth of the class in the past year.

Wilcox only managed one podium place in the events counting for this release, but his consistency across all events has kept him in the No 1 place since August 2017. So he will have been World No. 1 for all of 2018.

Bo Petersen - photo © Robert Deaves

Former World No 1, Bo Petersen, from Denmark, moves up five places to second after a solid season including third at the Swedish championship and second in the Danish Championship. Thomas Hansson-Mild, from Sweden moves from 10th to third.

World champion and German champion Andre Budzien moves up nine places, but he still sits just outside the top 10. The biggest climber is Fredrik Lööf who jumps 189 places to seventh. He won the Europeans and the Swedish title, and was runner-up at the world championship.

The ranking list events were completed by many of the national championships across Europe during the autumn months. Tomasz Gaj won the Polish title, Andreas Pich, from Germany won the Dutch title, Anders Andersen won the Danish championship, Julien Dejugnat, won the Southern French Nationals, and Sefan Rassau, from Germany, won the Belgian title.

Thomas Hansson-Mild - photo © Robert Deaves

Charlie Cumbley won the British title again, which together with silver at the Europeans and a fourth in the worlds leaves him in fifth overall, just behind Gaj.

The final event of the year counting for this release was the Belgian Autumn Regatta, which this year was won by Michel Lesure, the first time anyone from Luxembourg has won a world ranking event.

The 2019 season is already looking like eclipsing the massive 2018 season for the class with many new sailors acquiring boats and equipment over the northern hemisphere winter months, while in the southern hemisphere the event calendar is just starting, leading up to the world championship in Auckland in February. The class is attracting many sailors from other classes, attracted by the intense but friendly competition. The OK Dinghy class is certainly becoming the class of choice for more and more top sailors every year.

OK Dinghy World Ranking List – October 2018 (top 30 of 512 sailors from 11 nations, best five events over a two year cycle)

Pos	Name	Country	Sail No	Pts	Events sailed
1	Greg Wilcox	NZL	582	975.46	15
2	Bo Petersen	DEN	1507	947.17	9
3	Thomas Hansson‑Mild	SWE	100	946.40	10
4	Tomasz Gaj	POL	1	9189	10
5	Charlie Cumbley	GBR	6	897.56	6
6	Sonke Behrens	GER	77	872.40	8
7	Fredrik Lööf	SWE	69	862.47	4
8	Pawel Pawlaczyk	POL	14	856.89	7
9	Mats Caap	SWE	797	812.76	7
10	Henrik Kofoed Larsen	DEN	1487	796.42	11
11	Ralf Tietje	GER	5	796.16	10
12	Andre Budzien	GER	71	786.48	6
13	Martin von Zimmermann	GER	803	774.31	10
14	Mark Jackson	AUS	768	764.95	8
15	Andreas Pich	GER	7	752.94	13
16	Jorgen Holm	DEN	1477	721.72	8
17	Jorg Rademacher	GER	775	706.19	7
18	Jonas Borjesson	SWE	2846	6936	6
19	Marek Bernat	POL	7	689.44	12
20	Joe Schubert	DEN	1431	6845	10
21	Wolfgang Hofener	GER	3	671.77	6
22	Dirk Dame	GER	75	670.74	6
23	Ask Askholm	DEN	22	668.80	9
24	Jim Hunt	GBR	11	664.17	5
25	Jan Hempel Sparso	DEN	1510	655.33	5
26	Luke Gower	NZL	573	651.56	5
27	Jens Lauge	DEN	10	650.82	6
28	Brent Williams	AUS	754	621.74	6
29	Hans Borjesson	DEN	139	621	4