You are here: okdia.org > press > 15 north sails

Advertiser Press Release

Back to press release list

OK Dinghy - 2015 Review - 10. November 2015

by Charlie Cumbley

Charlie Cumbley racing at the 2015 Spring Cup in Medemblik ©Robert Deaves
Charlie Cumbley

2015 has been quite a special year for North Sails in the OK class, winning not only the prestigious World Championship, but the Spring Cup, Kiel Week, UK Nationals and German Nationals plus many other local regattas, building on the great work our New Zealand colleagues had done in 2014.

North Sails have had a presence in the OK before this, winning World Championships within the last 15 years but during 2014 the decision was made to get involved with the class directly and push to develop the sails further. I would start to sail the class to get a better understanding of what was needed to make an OK fast, and so we began.

I borrowed a boat for the 2014 UK Nationals and we started with a full radial sail derived from the Kiwi design of the time, we coded this the M-15. It was a decent starting point but we knew there was plenty we could improve on, it was here that we used the knowledge and skills developed from our world beating Finn sails to push on in the OK. North Finn sails have won every Olympic Gold since 2000 and 12 of the 15 World Championships run in that same time so this has been the inspiration behind the OK sail development but we also understood the OK was a different animal.

The testing continued during the Spring and I sailed the first major event of the year, the annual Spring Cup in Medemblik using the M-17 model. We had slowly moved on from the M-15 reducing the luff curve and adding seam shape into the bottom 3rd of the sail to help move the draft aft. The picture above is taken from that regatta which I was very pleased to win. It seemed the testing was going in the right direction but there were still some improvements to make.

North Sails design package
design package

North Sails has an incredible design package that allows very accurate adjustment of sail shape, as per our Finn sails we felt that the full radial layout allowed the shape to be placed much more accurately.

The pictures here show the computer designed flying shape, panel layout and vertical shaping of our OK sail.

The full radial panel layout also enables the head of the sail to be completely depowered so it is dead flat in the windier conditions which we felt was key to going fast upwind in the stronger conditions when shape in this area is essentially just drag. All the while we were trying to keep the sail all –purpose, there is nothing worse than having to decide on whether to hoist the light, medium or heavy sail before racing on the day and so this was always our aim to provide a sail that could be as competitive in 5knts as it is in 25kts.

Charlie Cumbley and 2015 World Champion Andre Budzien leading the fleet during the Worlds  - Photo OK Class Association
Cumbley & Budzien

After the Spring Cup we had the huge bonus of Andre Budzien, a previous OK World Champion and Finn Masters World Champion stepping up his OK training. We built Andre a new M-18 model, this used the lessons learnt in Medemblik to increase the shape in the top third of the sail, as the Cunningham was so efficient at flattening the head when pulled hard we decided we could add more shape which is effectively power that could be used to good effect in the light/medium conditions upwind and down whilst still being able to get this area flat in the breezier upwind legs.

Andre raced with this sail at Kiel, our first test regatta for the M-18 and I used the 2014 worlds winning Kiwi design as a first test of the 2 designs. The Kiwi sail had slight differences, ultimately it was a little flatter in the foot and a little deeper in the head, plus it used a radial head and clew with a cross cut mid section, so a different layout also.

Both sails were fast, finishing 1st & 6th overall despite Andre using a new untested mast, we agreed to head to the worlds with this setup, so we built Andre a second M-18 so he could measure in 2 identical sails.

The Worlds produced a range of conditions and finished with Andre winning his 2nd Worlds title by a large margin showing great pace throughout the week, I finished second and Richard Burton using the M-17 model finished an excellent 10th, far and away his best worlds result. All round a superb result for North Sails and really highlighting how far the product had been developed in the preceding 12 months.

Never wanting to rest on our laurels we have now gone one step further with a little tweek to maximise the area on the head of the sail, this M-18B design was hoisted for the first time at the UK Nationals at the end of August and I used it to win that regatta and with it signed off this design for the 2016 season.

With our Seasonal Savings in full swing it has never been a better time to get hold of the worlds winning design. All our OK sails are custom built to order to fit your specific mast details in our new 65,000sq feet flagship North Sails loft in Gosport, UK. Please get in touch with your local North Sails representative to find out more.

Andre Budzien powering to victory at the 2015 World Championships with his North M-18 mainsail  -  Photo: OK Class Association
André Budzien