OK Dinghy World Championship at Circolo Vela Arco - Overall
by Robert Deaves 20 Sep 2025 00:39 BST
12-19 September 2025
Britain's Andrew Mills has won the 2025 OK Dinghy world championship after an epic week of racing on Lake Garda. With only one race possible on the final day, the result was academic to Mills, who was already discarding a second.
Nick Craig, also from Britain, finished third in the race to take silver while Sweden's Niklas Edler took second, to take bronze. The final race was won by Britain's Matt Howard.
While early conditions on Friday looked like repeating Thursday, the southerly Ora was late and then never fully came in, only reaching 7-8 knots. With a cut off time of 15.00, and after a postponement and several recalls, it soon became clear that it was going to be a one race day, taking the pressure off Mills.
Wind pressure, however, was variable on the first upwind with Craig rounding ahead from Edler. Howard was not far behind and took the lead on the downwind to lead round and win his third race of the week. Many of the top 10 rounded deep, with Mills about 30th, but he pulled back on the second upwind to cross in eighth.
With the time limit soon expiring the fleet was sent back to the beach for more free beer and pasta. The event was over.
Mills said, "I had a very good week. We had classic Garda for the first four days. With three fleets the points were going to be very tight, so I made a big effort to minimise points at that stage and with five firsts and a second, I was very happy. It was very clear Nick was in cracking form as well. In the Gold fleet racing I got two firsts on the first day, but Nick did not really give me a break and was always there on my transom. So, it was hard to build a lead over him.
"I went into today with a small lead, and it was different Garda today, but I managed to survive and win the week. Lake Garda is interesting because it is a simple place in many ways - if you can execute the start and be fast it looks very easy, but if you don't do that it can suddenly look very had. I was confident considering the speed I had throughout the week but you still have to make that start each time, so it was not in the bag for sure."
It is his first ever world championship win, "I have obviously sailed the Finn at a high level for a long time and a few other class, but it's something different to put together a whole week with very few mistakes and actually nail that world championship, so to actually do it here with a 200 plus boat fleet is quite special and I'm super happy get that ticked off.
"I had a nice block of training coming into the event training with Matt and Charlie at the local club and that has helped a lot and it's all gone exactly the plan."
On the class, "The fleet is brilliant. People come from all over the world to be here and it's just a good group of people. The racing is full on and brutal with the wind we have had. No one gives an inch, but when you get in everyone is there to have a beer and chat and talk about the racing. A lot of people want to race hard but leave that on the water and enjoy the social side together, which is a great thing to be part of."
It has been an incredible week on Lake Garda. The sailors have loved being at the host club, Circolo Vela Arco, with its impressive new facilities, and the club has loved having the sailors. The weather has been amazing, textbook Garda almost every day, getting hotter as the week progressed. The competition on the water was also hot, even with a largely one-way track, but the sailing conditions were superb.
With 212 boats from 17 nations, it was the largest championship ever held by the class and underlines the huge growth and development over the past decade. At the class AGM during the week the sailors looked at plans to continue this trend in the coming decade, for what is once again one of the premier singlehanded dinghies.
Looking to the future, the 2026 World Championship heads back to Denmark for the first time in 14 years. Another big fleet is expected in the home of the largest OK Dinghy country in the world and where the boat originated.
Overall Results: (top ten, 9 races)
1 GBR 94 Andrew Mills 9pts
2 GBR 2295 Nick Craig 14pts
3 SWE 71 Niklas Edler 21pts
4 GBR 6 Charlie Cumbley 24pts
5 GBR 2298 Matthew Howard 25pts
6 CAN 26 Ben Flower 33pts
7 DEN 21 Bo Petersen 37pts
8 GER 886 Stefan Hoffmann 41pts
9 GER 19 Ulli Kurfeld 46pts
10 GER 71 André Budzien 52pts
Woman's Trophy: Juliane Hofmann, GER
Youth Trophy: Gabriel Medeiros Konigsfeld, LUX
Veteran: Nick Craig, GBR
Master: Bo Petersen, DEN
Grand Master: Rod Davis, NZL
Paul Elvström Trophy: Nick Craig, GBR