Reply To: Future of the OK Dinghy
Good point Russ re the branding/image.
How often do you see the OK featured in Y&Y or DSM? Well from Y&Y perspective the last article must have been a good year or so ago when Nick Craigs boat was trialed with an answer back from Andy Turner. Although the article was good it didn’t really tell you alot about the OK.
I know that I harp on about the Merlin, but it is the only other class of dinghy I have sailed and having spent 4 years on the committee as the magazine editor I knew what people wanted to see and read about. I have also written articles for Y&Y on the Merlin to really sell the boat, the coverage of which is international. Does the OK committee have a liasion officer with Y&Y/DSM? I doubt it, i’ll put myself forward if need be. People need to understand what a great class the OK is through media coverage and good action pictures (everyone loves a picture) also how the boat performes , how much it costs, how they can be obtained, etc,etc. When logging onto Y&Y or picking up a copy of the magazine you want to read reports about the OK with a nice big gloss pic of an event (not all the time), without that people will think what the hell is an OK!.
As for media coverage what pro photographer is lined up or has been notified of the 50th champs at Felpham? Fotoboat? Sailingscenes? I know Mike Rice well who founded fotoboat do I call him and let him know? To get this sort of coverage is so important as with todays technology the pics are up on the web the next day and people are reviewing the sites asking ‘ the OK, whats all that about? Wow they had a good championships, looks a great boat to sail, I might try one’ and off you go, the sausage machine starts churning.
As for Jake’s comment about the technical side of the OK, the OK is actually very very basic when compared to, you guessed it, the Merlin. Now that is a very techincal boat but look how many YOOF sail the Merlin, they even have their own dedicated forum! This is becuase they have sorted the new boat scenario i.e Winder ‘off the shelf’ plastics which means a more bouyant cheaper 2nd hand affordable/competitive market to those on a tight budget.
So in summary
1. Lots more media coverage of the OK (example, when is the 50th celebrations at UTSC going to appear on Y&Y webiste or in DSM or both)? 3 weeks ago now since the event, too late, yesterdays news!
2. Club level promotion of the class.
3. Cheap affordable/competitive new boats.
4. Cheap 2nd hand/competitive boats for younger generation.
As for the carbon/laminate debate I think for now one step at a time! Lets get the OK back on the map for a start!
