Australia’s biggest ever OK Dinghy World Championship begins in Brisbane in just over a week.
The Tan Lines Distilling 2024 OK Dinghy World Championship is hosted by the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron and racing will take place in Waterloo Bay from February 24 to March 3.
The World Championships will be preceded by the Australian Championships, which will be held from Monday 19th to February 21st.
However, making this bold statement may be a temptation of fate, since the European boats have not yet been delivered. Boats from Australia and New Zealand make up the majority of the fleet, but 18 boats from Europe also participate.
Two containers have already arrived from New Zealand.
Two people from Europe were diverted and subsequently delayed, but hopefully they will make it in time. The Scandinavian container arrived in Brisbane on Wednesday. The British container has been stuck in Sydney for some time, but is expected to arrive in Brisbane soon.
Despite the potential for disruption, there were 110 entries from seven countries, making it by far the largest entry for the OK Dinghy World Championship to be held in Australia.
This championship marks the fifth consecutive year that more than 100 boats have participated in the OK Dinghy World Championship.
Overall, the class continues to trend upwards and with the 2025 World Championship being held on Garda for the first time, many expect to see 200 boats on the lake.
The last European winner was Nick Craig in 2006, when he won his second of five world titles.
Having already won more OK dinghy world titles than anyone else, he is hungry for more challenges and will be one of the favorites to win in Brisbane.
Britain’s small squad also includes last year’s Spring Cup winners Andy Davies, Chris Turner and Simon Davies.
There are 86 entries for the Australian National Championships. This will take place over three days from February 19th to 21st, followed by three days of equipment inspection and registration for the World Championship.
The race is hosted by the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron and will begin on February 26th with a series of 10 races scheduled including March 2nd. Ray Day is planned for February 29th, assuming at least four races have been completed by then.