Please select your home edition
Edition
Leaderboard FD July August September 2023

OK Dinghy class at Kieler Woche - Overall

by Robert Deaves 30 Jun 08:34 PDT 26-29 June 2025

Niklas Edler, from Sweden has won the 2025 Kieler Wiche for OK Dinghies after the final two races on Sunday, which brought the strongest winds of the week.

Edler only needed one good race, but it took a second place in the final race to secure the week for the second year running. Germany's Andre Budzien ended up second with Canada's Ben Flower in third. Both race wins on Sunday went to Flower.

With a similar forecast to Saturday, the fleet expected a hard day on the water, but it was harder than anyone expected. The first race was sailed in 15-20 knots, and then soon after the start of the second race was gusting to probably 25 knots with many opting to head back to the harbour. Only 22 boats finished the final race.

Denmark's Bo Petersen led the majority of Race 7, starting well and finding the right shifts to hold a nice lead on the reaches. He was still leading 50 metres from the second top mark when he was caught by an unusually vindictive shift when on the lay line just 50 metres from the mark that left him without wind and 50 degrees down. Flower, Budzien and Stefan de Vries, from The Netherlands, ducked inside him to round ahead. The finish was tight with Flower just having the edge to cross ahead of Budzien with Petersen third.

Regatta leader Edler made an unusual error on the first beat and rounded mid fleet but could only recover to eighth, so it came down to the final race.

In a much-reduced fleet for the final, with again more wind and big shifts, the top five all sailed well and found the front. Flower rounded first from Edler and de Vries and it pretty much stayed that way until the finish, with Edler sailing safely to cross second and ensure the victory, with de Vries in third. A fourth for Budzien was enough to take the silver by two points.

In all it was a generally windy Kieler Woche with no complaints about the new format of two races a day, though this did leave more time on shore for socialising, which also took its toll in different ways.

Many in Kiel were using the event as a warm-up for the European Championship, which begins in Warnemünde next weekend. Racing takes place from 6-9 July witgh the entry standing at 117 entries from 12 countries.

Overall Results: (top ten, 8 races)

1 SWE 71 Niklas EDLER 15pts
2 GER 71 André BUDZIEN 19pts
3 CAN 26 Ben FLOWER 21pts
4 NED 6 Stefan de VRIES 32pts
5 DEN 21 Bo PETERSEN 34pts
6 SWE 72 Benjamin HAMMERÖ 47pts
7 DEN 700 Jesper BENDIX 57pts
8 GER 51 Sebastian SCHMIDT-KLÜGMANN 58pts
9 POL 777 Michal STRUMNIK 59pts
10 DEN 61 Henrik KOFOED 70pts

Related Articles

OK Dinghy Open at Overy Staithe
Two days of contrasting weather challenged the sailors Two days of contrasting weather challenged the eight OK sailors competing for the Overy Staithe SC annual open meeting, which was first held in 1971. Posted on 29 Jun
OK Dinghy class at Kieler Woche Day 3
Niklas Edler extends OK Dinghy lead at Kieler Woche with one day to go. Niklas Eder, from Sweden, extended his lead at Kieler Woche after two more races on Saturday in again, quite windy and shifty offshore winds. Posted on 28 Jun
OK Dinghy class at Kieler Woche Day 2
Niklas Edler maintains narrow lead after four races Sweden's Niklas Edler has maintained his lead in the 49 strong OK Dinghy fleet at Kieler Woche on Friday with a 2,1 in fairly breezy conditions and holds a 2-point lead over Canada's Ben Flower who scored 1,2. Posted on 27 Jun
2025 International Classes Regatta preview
The ICR has earned a stellar reputation as an outstanding lead-up regatta for competitors The Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club (RFBYC) is proud to announce that the 2025 International Classes Regatta (ICR)—the Club's premier annual dinghy event—will take place on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 November 2025. Posted on 27 Jun
OK Dinghy class at Kieler Woche Day 1
Niklas Edler leads the fleet after two races On the first day of Kieler Woche for the OK Dinghy class, Sweden's Niklas Edler began his defence for the OK Dinghy with a solid 2, 1 on the day that started with light winds and which increased through the second race. Posted on 26 Jun
OK Scottish Championship at East Lothian
Attracting sailors from the far corners of the UK On the weekend of 7th & 8th of June, East Lothian YC based out of the beautiful harbour of North Berwick hosted the OK Scottish Championship. The event was also part of the Grand Slam OK circuit and attracted sailors from the far corners of the UK. Posted on 11 Jun
OK class in Daffodil Regatta at Ullswater
Fleets of 12 for part 1 of the Border Trophy A dozen OKs turned up at Ullswater for the annual Daffodil Regatta, this year sponsored by Magic Marine and also being run as part of the SailRacer Summer challenge. It was especially encouraging to see several new faces join the fleet. Posted on 28 Apr
OK Border Trophy Preview
The first half takes place at Ullswater YC's Daffodil Regatta next weekend This coming weekend sees the first half of the OK Border Trophy being sailed at the Ullswater YC Daffodil Regatta. The Border Trophy started in 2023 as an initiative to help grow the fleet in the North of England and Scotland. Posted on 21 Apr
Roger Blasse remains OK Dinghy World No. 1
As an epic season is set to begin Australia's double world champion, Roger Blasse, maintains his lead at the top of the OK Dinghy World Ranking list for April 2025. In November 2024 he became the first Australian to reach No.1 in the 20 years since the list was started. Posted on 18 Apr
More than 60 entered for the Daffodil Regatta
The first event of this year's Sailjuice Challenge at Ullswater is in a week's time It's just over a week until the Magic Marine Daffodil Regatta at Ullswater, the first event of this year's Sailjuice Challenge... Posted on 18 Apr
Armstrong 728x90 - Wing FG Board Range - BOTTOMHenri-Lloyd Dynamic RangeCyclops Marine 2023 November - FOOTER