You are here: okdia.org > hall of fame > Alf Lock

Hall Of Fame:
Alf Lock - New Zealand

Alf Lock was inducted during the World Championship 2012 in Vallensbæk, Denmark

Alf Lock is best known as the designer, in the mid-1970s, of a number of OK hulls, including the famed “Icebreaker” hull that has since become dominant in international competition. Icebreaker hulls have won many world championships and nearly every New Zealand national championship since the 1970s, except for a number of titles won by Greg Wilcox in NZL 369 which was also designed by Alf Lock.

One of Alf’s greatest OK achievements was successfully cleaning up the class, in terms of the legality of hull designs, in the lead-up to and at the 1977 World Championship, held at Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand. Following 1970, a number of designs were increasingly pushing the boundaries of the class rules where, to Alf’s mind, there were boats being raced that were simply not OK Dinghies, most notably the Kjolhede design. Alf spearheaded a campaign to get rid of the cheating boats, which included:

  • deliberately designing a boat that pushed the boundaries too far for the measurers to accept at the 1976 Worlds;
  • as chief measurer for the 1977 Worlds, making it clear to all competitors in advance that the rules would be strictly enforced; and
  • following through and failing a number of infringing boats at the measurement for the 1977 worlds.

Thanks to Alf, the bad design trend stopped there and the class has remained truly one-design, which is one of its single biggest strengths.

Alf Lock

Back to complete Hall Of Fame