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Knud Olsen (1919 in Præstø – 31 August 2010 in Bandholm) was a Danish builder and designer of boats, who designed one of the most popular sailing dinghies in use over the past 50 years, the OK Dinghy, which became an ISAF International Class in 1974.

Olsen went on to design sailboats built in the town of Bandholm under that name. The Bandholm boats were built between 20 and 35 feet long starting in 1961 and until the builders went under in the late 80s.

Biography

Olsen was born in 1919 in Præstø, Denmark.^[1] In 1939, he and his brother, Bjørn, formed a boatbuilding business and designed and built several boats until a shortage of boatbuilding material caused by World War II ended the business.^[1] In the early 1950s, he joined the Danish company, A. P. Botved, who were producing speedboats, and worked there until he started his own business in Bandholm in 1961.^[1] He designed and built a number of boats including the Bandholm 26, the Bianca 27 and the Great Dane 28, which were the first Danish boats to be built using fibreglass hulls, the Bandholm 20, Bandholm 30, the Mariboat and the Bandholm 24.^[1]

In 1956, Danish architect, Axel Damgaard Olsen, asked Olsen to create a design for a light, fast, single-handed sailing dinghy that could be built and sailed by amateurs.^[2] The outcome was the 4.0-metre (13.1 ft) OK dinghy, which went on to be a classic design, became an ISAF International Class in 1974^[2] and is still used in international competition. The 50th anniversary of the design of the OK dinghy was marked by the largest ever OK Dinghy World Championships held at Łeba on the Polish coast in July 2007.^[3]

Knud Olsen died aged 90 on 31 August 2010 in his hometown Bandholm.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Andrews, B. (1997). "Knud Olsen, the Designer". OK Dinghy International Association. Retrieved 17 October 2007.
^ ^a ^b "Largest ever OK Dinghy World Championships". Dinghy Sailing Magazine. Retrieved 17 October 2007. ^{[dead link‍]}
^ Deaves, R. (16 July 2007). "OK Dinghy World Championship at Leba, Poland – Preview". Yachts and Yachting.com. Retrieved 17 October 2007.

Sources

[knud-1] Andrews, B. (1997). "Knud Olsen, the Designer". OK Dinghy International Association. Retrieved 17 October 2007.

[DSM-2] "Largest ever OK Dinghy World Championships". Dinghy Sailing Magazine. Retrieved 17 October 2007. ^{[dead link‍]}

[3] Deaves, R. (16 July 2007). "OK Dinghy World Championship at Leba, Poland – Preview". Yachts and Yachting.com. Retrieved 17 October 2007.

[1]

[2]

[3]

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+{{for|the Danish Olympic rower|Knud Olsen (rower)}}
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+{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
-{{AfDM|page=Knud Olsen|date=2007 August 17|substed=yes}}
+'''Knud Olsen''' (1919 in [[Præstø]] – 31 August 2010 in [[Bandholm]]) was a Danish builder and designer of boats, who designed one of the most popular sailing dinghies in use over the past 50 years, the [[OK (dinghy)|OK Dinghy]], which became an [[International Sailing Federation|ISAF]] International Class in 1974.
-<!-- End of AfD message, feel free to edit beyond this point -->
+Olsen went on to design sailboats built in the town of Bandholm under that name. The Bandholm boats were built between 20 and 35 feet long starting in 1961 and until the builders went under in the late 80s.
-{{Unreliable|article|date=July 2007}}
-'''Knud Olsen''' is a Danish builder and designer of boats.
+==Biography==
-Triplet sons, Torben, Bjørn and '''Knud Olsen''' were born in 1919 in [[Præstø]], Denmark where their father worked as a carpenter.  Torben went to sea and became a ship's master, and Bjørn and Knud were apprenticed as carpenters and joiners.  However they preferred to build boats, and when in their 20's they started their own business by building the double-ended boat, "Vata".  In 1941, only twenty-two years old, Knud Olsen entered a design in the competition for the new Folkboat, a design he called "Swan", and in 1943 he drew up the design for five different five-metre racing boats which the brothers built for a yacht agent from [[Copenhagen]] who had high expectations for the future of the five-metre class.
+Olsen was born in 1919 in Præstø, Denmark.<ref name=knud /> In 1939, he and his brother, Bjørn, formed a boatbuilding business and designed and built several boats until a shortage of boatbuilding material caused by [[World War II]] ended the business.<ref name=knud>{{cite web| last =Andrews| first =B.| title =Knud Olsen, the Designer| publisher =OK Dinghy International Association| date =1997| url =http://www.okdia.org/association/history_knud_olsen.php| access-date =2007-10-17 }}</ref> In the early 1950s, he joined the Danish company, A. P. Botved, who were producing speedboats, and worked there until he started his own business in [[Bandholm]] in 1961.<ref name=knud /> He designed and built a number of boats including the Bandholm 26, the Bianca 27 and the Great Dane 28, which were the first Danish boats to be built using fibreglass hulls, the Bandholm 20, Bandholm 30, the Mariboat and the Bandholm 24.<ref name=knud />
+In 1956, Danish architect, Axel Damgaard Olsen, asked Olsen to create a design for a light, fast, single-handed sailing dinghy that could be built and sailed by amateurs.<ref name=DSM>{{cite news| title =Largest ever OK Dinghy World Championships| publisher =Dinghy Sailing Magazine| url =http://dinghysailingmagazine.co.uk/events_details.asp?EventID=103| access-date =2007-10-17 }} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>
-After the war it was almost impossible to obtain suitable materials in Denmark, so Knud and Bjørn gave up the boatyard at Præstø and went to [[Sweden]] to find work.  A few years later, Knud returned to Præstø and resumed designing and building boats there.  He built various types of boats, including motorboats and fishing dinghies, always with an eye to practical design;  Olson boats had to be easy to sail and inexpensive to build.  Knud quickly developed his own style, quite different from the expensive cutter-type sailing craft, with a long overhang and heavy demand for materials, that was currently in fashion.
+The outcome was the {{convert|4.0|m|adj=on}} OK dinghy, which went on to be a classic design, became an ISAF International Class in 1974<ref name=DSM /> and is still used in international competition. The 50th anniversary of the design of the OK dinghy was marked by the largest ever OK Dinghy World Championships held at [[Łeba]] on the [[Poland|Polish]] coast in July 2007.<ref>{{cite news| last =Deaves| first =R.| title =OK Dinghy World Championship at Leba, Poland – Preview| publisher =Yachts and Yachting.com| date =2007-07-16| url =http://www.intersail.co.uk/news/?article=137405| access-date =2007-10-17 }}</ref>
+Knud Olsen died aged 90 on 31 August 2010 in his hometown Bandholm.
-During the 1950s he worked for [[A.P.Botved]], who was producing speedboats in [[Vordingborg]], about thirty kilometres west of Præstø, using veneers covered in [[fibreglass]] like the American boats of the time.  Olson now had the opportunity to design boats in his spare time.  The most significant of these designs was a 4.5-metre dinghy.  It was never actually built, but when architect [[Axel Damgaard]] came back to Denmark in 1956, the design resurfaced and led to the world-famous [[OK (dinghy)|OK Dinghy]] of which over 14,000 have been built.
+==See also==
-The OK dinghy had fine sporting features, and it was both cheap and easy to build.  The OK was a vehicle for an untold number of amateur sailors who would never have pursued recreational sailing if it had not been for Knud Olsen, and it was also a challenge for more experienced sailors.
+*[[OK (dinghy)|OK Dinghy]]
+==References==
-Knud Olsen stayed with Botved until 1961 when he started his own business in an old corn warehouse near Bandholm harbor.  In spite of building many boats, he couldn't make a living at it, because, as he said, "People came and asked if I had something they could sail, so I gave them an old design or a cheap one."  For the same reason he was never really established among the famous designers and builders of the time, such as [[Utzon]] and [[Slaaby-Larsen]].  Nonetheless, many believe his designs were in the same class as his better-known contemporaries and drawn with an even greater emphasis on the practical aspects of boat-handling.
+{{Reflist}}
+==Sources==
-At [[Bandholm]] he began building a ten-metre square-sterned boat in [[mahogany]], but he became quickly more interested in the possibilities of fibreglass.  He was already familiar with that material from his days with Botved.  The design became the [[Bandholm 26]] which, together with [[Bianca 27]] and [[Great Dane 28]], built in association with the Nimbus brothers, were the first generation of Danish keelboats built primarily of fibreglass.  Only the hull was fibreglass as Knud Olsen believed that the deck should be wooden to give the dinghy the right feel underfoot.
+*[http://www.okdia.org/association/history_knud_olsen.php Okdia: Knud Olsen]
+*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071014185508/http://okdworlds2007.com/ OK Dinghy World Championships, Leba, Poland]
+*[http://www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?SEID=2&Nid=35739&SRCID=0&ntid=0&tickeruid=0&tickerCID=0 Sailworld.com: Largest ever OK Dinghy World Championships]
+*[http://www.okjolle.dk/nyheder/2005/ok_coral.htm Welcome to the OK coral, Dansk Okjolle Klub]
+{{authority control}}
-Later came the Bandholm 20 and Bandholm 30, which were superseded by the Mariboat at the start of the 1970s.  The Bandholm 20 appeared later in a short-keeled version as the [[Bandholm 24]], and for the first time Knud Olsen was able, as the license-holder, to make a living as a designer.  When the Mariboat later had problems, he was forced to take up boatbuilding again, mostly doing simple jobs or refitting bigger boats.
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Olsen, Knud}}
 [[Category:Boat and ship designers]]
-[[Category:Living people]]
 [[Category:1919 births]]
+[[Category:2010 deaths]]
+[[Category:Danish yacht designers]]
-[[da:Knud Olsen]]
+[[Category:People from Lolland Municipality]]
+[[Category:People from Vordingborg Municipality]]