Jens Lauge Interview

A never ending source of fun

Jens Lauge has been sailing OK Dinghies for around 12 years and is regularly in the front group in Danish fleets. Now sailing out of Hellerup, which boasts one of the largest fleets of OKs in the world, he is the perfect example of the demographic that the Danish expansion has attracted, middle aged, looking for relatively cheap, easily accessible and strong competition. He has also sat on the Danish committee for many years. Here he speaks about the attraction of the OK, equipment choice and where the class should go next.

Q: What’s your background in sailing and how and when did you get into the OK?

A: Like many of my fellow sailors, I was introduced to sailing in the Optimist, at around eight years of age. At that time my parents were active sailors, and as far as I can remember, I wasn’t given much of a choice really. I really couldn’t swim either, but the YC required you to manage 200 metres, fully dressed, which I accomplished backstroking. My last year in the Optimist must have been around 1983-84, but at that time I was too light to do any transition to the Europe dinghy, which at that time was the only real alternative. I bought a windsurfer instead, and sailed division two and later on wave.

I’ve done some keelboat campaigns along the way, x-79, Int. 806, 606 and so on but really had quite a break from sailing, until 2009. A sailing buddy of mine from the keelboat days, had bought an older OK Dinghy, and persuaded me to go along. I found an old Henriksen OK, DEN 1267, with a red top Needlespar aluminium mast and was really hooked from there on.

Q: What was the attraction?

A: It’s really a mix of the simplicity of sailing on your own time, and the complexity of the gear that’s intrigued me. I think I must have sailed locally for just a year, before I moved my dinghy to Hellerup. On a bad day, we’re no less than 5-6 dinghies on ‘Stormy Bay’ and on good days we have 15. Asking people if they want to sail, isn’t really necessary because there are always people out there. It’s not like you need to schedule your sailing; if you have a few meetings cancelled at work - you go.

Gear wise it’s just a puzzle, and experimenting with sail, mast, foil and hull designs is a never ending source of fun. We can spend hours discussing mast bends, and hull designs in Hellerup, and when somebody enters with a new brand of sail, there is quite a buzz.

Q: What are the standout moments for you at international and Danish events?

A: To start with, the first Danish event I ever entered was the Nationals back in 2009, in Bramsnæs. I remember only entering the regatta for one day, although it was sailed over three. But on that particular Saturday, it blew a gale over Bramsnæs. I hiked and capsized myself to death that day, and it really turned out to be a turning point in my approach to the OK. After being cheered over the finishing line dead last (downwind after my fourth capsize) by Troels Wester, I made an oath with myself, never to perform so poorly due to lack of physique and skills.

In 2012 Denmark hosted the World Championships. I’d actually set the event as a goal of my OK campaign, but as it turned out I kept at it.

By this time Jørgen Svendsen had re-entered the class, and as I had not having prepared for any event of this magnitude before, I followed in his footsteps and moved my boat to Vallensbæk, the host sailing club. At that time Jørgen Lindhardtsen sailed out of the neighbouring YC Hvidovre, but he too moved his boat to Vallensbæk. We sailed upwind for miles, before they turned around and gathered me in for a re-start. I recall being yelled at for not hiking (they still do that) and receiving trim advice when conditions changed. Getting the chance to sail with Jørgen and Jørgen REALLY lifted my game.

The worlds in Vallensbæk turned out to be a record breaking event with 145 entries, and still stands out as being the pinnacle, especially taking second place in Race 2 behind Jørgen S. I believe it’s still my best international result, ending up 14th.

Q: What about your gear? A: I started out with the old Henriksen, which I believe was the mother of all the “club” builds for a while in the eighties. I had it for a few weeks only, and bought a Hein with a prototype JP carbon rig. The Hein is like sailing a log. I mean, if you can stay upright in a Hein downwind, you’ll stay up in anything. After around a year I guess, I bought a Swedish design of Mats Hylander out of Kalmar. The Hylander, combined with a C-tech and a Quantum (now Turtle) sail, was the first real leap into any significant speed, and I actually managed to win my first regatta with that set-up. From there on I really understood the importance of a good mast and sail combination. After the Hylander, I bought Greg Wilcox’s blue Icebreaker, and plugged the mast sail set into it and experienced yet another big leap forward.

I’d have to add, that I gradually also learned and understood better, how to cuddle the OK, and make it go fast. Since I’m a light sailor (82 kg) the narrow design of the Icebreaker also helped me gain more speed upwind. The next major move was joining the SOTA train from Strandberg Marine, and the Green 4CC from Jørgen Holm bringing home my first medal at the 2015 Nordic Championships. The Green sail suits me very well as a light sailor, since it’s really easy to depower in the breeze, and although I’ve tried other combinations of mast and sails, I’m most comfortable with the C-tech/Green 4CC combo.

At this moment I’m sailing an Ovington OK, and so are six of us in Hellerup. It’s a really rigid and sturdy hull. It’s probably a tad slower reaching than my old SOTA Strandberg hull, but a really fast upwind boat.

Q: What do you think about the larger than normal number of new boats being imported into Denmark, especially from the UK? Do you think this is the sign of a healthy class, or just a phase everyone is going through trying to find more speed? A: Importing boats to Denmark, is essential to maintaining the growth of the fleet here. The demand for new boats isn’t met by Strandberg Marine alone, and although Jesper is doing what he can, there is still an 6-8 months delivery time at this stage. New boats release used ones, which is really important in order to keep momentum. That said and speaking on behalf of the Hellerup fleet, it’s certainly also about trying something new, and chasing that 0.2 knots. At this stage we also have three new sail brands in the Hellerup fleet, including UK Sailmakers, developed by Bo Petersen, Fritz sails by Jørgen Svendsen, and BM by Christian Rasmussen. It really proves the fact that the class is still expanding, and we haven’t seen the peak yet.

Q: What about the sailing club scene in Denmark, and why the class has been so successful in building huge numbers at a few locations? A: I have to give full credit to the people that came up with the concept of club owned dinghies. Having a fleet of used but still competitive dinghies, at different locations in Denmark is key to bringing new sailors on board. It only takes one person at a local sailing club to get momentum going, but whenever that one person has been identified, the support from the Danish OK association has been tremendously strong.

Of course some fleets eventually die out, but only to see new ones emerge. Over the last few years we’ve seen new locations like Køge and Korsør surface, and supporting them with clinics and local regattas only adds to the strength and even more people joining. It’s a proven concept, and could be copied worldwide.

Q: Do you see the growth continuing or is there a limiter? A: Really good question actually, and highly relevant. The COVID pandemic, has really vacuumed the market for anything singlehanded. There isn’t any good gear for sale out there. Combined with the British lockdown, it has certainly slowed the momentum we could have had over the last year. Crowds somehow attracts, and it’s putting a strain on the availability of space at the slipway. Locally we need to look into moving the boats around, prioritizing the active sailors, and finding alternatives for the ones that aren’t spending a much time at the sailing club. Besides the two biggest fleets in Herslev and Hellerup, there is plenty of room out there, it’s really more about finding a boat.

Q: What do you think the OK class offers the wider sailing community? A: The OK Dinghy Class gives you a chance to sail internationally and competitively at a relatively low cost, and

at low cost I mean compared to other campaigns whether it would be double, multi or single handed. It’s still possible to build your own dinghy, and be competitive. It’s flexible time wise, and that attracts busy working parents, like myself, And ultimately it gives you lots of pure sailing fun.

Q: Where would you like to see the OK fleet look to host more exotic events and why? A: I’m really not the right person to answer that question. Although I see what these venues like Barbados and Thailand offers besides warm sailing, I’m really more interested in gathering large fleets, meeting up somewhere easily accessible for most, or perhaps visit venues with a large potential of new OK sailors.

France, Italy and USA have great potential, and some might even call them exotic at some locations. Personally, I’d love to sail the worlds on the US west coast at some stage.

Q: How do we balance that against more traditional venues where there are existing fleets? A: I believe we need to focus on new venues with potential of attracting new OK sailors. But whenever we move off the European continent, it will not attract the large numbers of sailors competing in the event. Every other worlds should be held with the goal of large fleet, and every other with the goal of building fleet locally.

Q: Why do you think the class is experiencing such popularity worldwide? A: Sailing the OK can be done on several levels, whether it’s local club racing or at international events. It’s never been Olympic, meaning boats and gear are affordable, and it’s even possible to build your own. It attracts professionals as well as amateurs, because of the variety of sailors across the class. And last but not the least, the social level is the best in the sailing community.

Q: Are there any initiatives you’d like to see OKDIA take in the coming years? A: Keep focusing on building numbers and keeping the Class Rules clean and simple, but evolving with time, tech and materials, without adding to the cost of sailing to remain competitive.

Q: And finally, what is your take on the current crisis? A: That is such a hard question. I believe we should focus on what we can do, instead of what we can’t. The worlds on Lake Garda is a perfect example of this, where travelling from the southern hemisphere and the UK makes it hard to play internationally. Locally we’ve focused on playing the fields we can, with restrictions ashore, maximum entries and such, but we need to adapt and not stop activities altogether. Hopefully we’ll be back on schedule in 2022. I’m personally looking forward to sailing in Marstrand, Sweden, which might not be exotic, but beautiful none the less.