OK Dinghy Magazine January 2024

GBR
DEN
Clash of Titans
Pontus Gäbel talks to 2023 World Champion
Henry Wetherell, England and Jens Eckardt, Denmark
The fabulous OK Dinghy World Championship
of 2023 in Lyme Regis with 143 boats on
the line, is in the books. On the top of the
podium, a young lad of 27, Henry Wetherell, a
rookie who duked it out with veterans who have
been sailing competitively longer than he’s been
alive. Among them, Jens Eckardt, at 55 more
than twice Wetherell’s age, a former Danish
Olympic competitor in the Laser in 1996, who
started sailing OKs only a couple of years ago and
finished fourth in the Worlds worlds twice in a row
now. Here they talk about what motivates them to
sail, why they love the OK Dinghy, the class culture
and share some secrets to their success.
HENRY WETHERELL QUICK FACTS
Age – 27 years
Weight – 92-95 kg
Occupation – Professional sailor
When did you start sailing?
I can’t really remember. Both my mother and father sailed, and I was always with them, sat
on the bottom of the boat. Dad sailed a lot of 470. I started sailing on a pond that was a
flooded farm field near York and Doncaster in the north of England.
What was your first regatta?
It must have been in a Topper and I was 8 years old
How did you finish?
Probably third, behind my mom and my brother who was also sailing the Topper.
Did you have any idols in sailing when you grew up?
My biggest sailing idol has always been my dad. He got me into the boats. Ben Ainslie is a
big reason for why I was sailing the Finn.
Where other classes have you raced before the OK?
I was quickly too big for the Optimist, I sailed the Topper, Laser 4.7, Laser Radial, Laser
Standard, the Finn and now I have a Moth and sail the OK
When did you start sailing the OK?
I borrowed Charlie Cumbley’s boat for the 2021 British Nationals and practiced one day. It
was a windy regatta, and I was still big, so it suited me, and I won.
What other classes do you race?
The Moth, J70, SB 20. I spend about 130 days travelling a year and close to 200 days sailing.
Why did you choose to go to the Worlds and what were
your expectations?
JENS: It all started with the 2022 Worlds in Marstrand where
I finished fourth. I had been to Marstrand several times in
boats with my parents when growing up and it was nice to
return and relive what I remembered. I stayed at the pension
at Carlstens Fästning, where I had played as a child many
times before. I knew conditions could be challenging on
the Marstrand Fjord and liked the challenge. It was very
different from the south coast of England where we sailed
in a bay, and there was varying wind and current and tide.
When the current met the wind, the waves quickly built to
gigantic proportions. It was nothing like what I had practiced,
especially upwind. You could see that someone [with local
knowledge] like Henry Wetherell had
an upper hand.
HENRY: Lyme Regis is only an hour
away from Weymouth where I do most
of my sailing when not travelling. When
the entries were closing in on 100
boats, I knew it was going to be a big
event, the biggest UK singlehanded
event in 2023. I had no other regattas
planned and the calendar worked out.
Why do you sail the OK?
JENS: It’s 100 percent because of all
the others who sail the class in my
home club Svendborg Sunds Sejlklub.
There are about 10-15 active OK Dinghy
sailors, many whom I sailed against in
the Optimist almost 50 years ago. It
is a good camaraderie, and we have
fun and develop boat speed together. I
sail to feel good and it’s a great way to
motivate yourself to stay in shape.
HENRY: A few of my friends sail
the OK. Quite a few of people that
coached me in the Finn; Matt Howard,
Charlie Cumbley and Andrew Mills also
sail the OK and are competitive. I want
to sail for myself just because it is fun.
I had done five seasons in the Finn but
that class is no longer in the Olympics
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