Six S.F. Knarr Teams Travel to Copenhagen for 55th IKC

While the Knarr class is one of the biggest and most competitive on San Francisco Bay, racing Knarrs can be found in only two other countries in the world. Originally designed and built in Norway, the Knarr class arrived in San Francisco in the mid-20th century with Danish immigrant Knud Wibroe.

With racing fleets in San Francisco, Copenhagen, Oslo and Bergen, a unique International Knarr Championship (IKC) was founded. The IKC is Wibroe’s brainchild. It rotates every year among the three countries with racing Knarr fleets.

The host country is given half of the berths in each year’s IKC, while the two visiting countries are given roughly 25 percent each of the remaining bids. IKC bids are decided by the season scores from each of the local fleets’ prior season, while the defending IKC winner earns an automatic berth. Last year’s winner was Jens Christiansen and his team from Danish team Johanna (DEN 124) after a dominant showing in San Francisco.

Thirty-eight of the 54 prior IKCs have been won by Danish teams, while 14 have been won by Americans and two by Norwegian teams.

This year’s IKC is taking place in Copenhagen at the Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub (KDY, Royal Danish Yacht Club in English). Last year’s championship was sailed at St. Francis Yacht Club (StFYC). Per IKC tradition, the host fleet will provide the boats, and teams will sail a different boat every day, decided by a draw before the regatta. Of the different Knarr fleets, the Danish fleet is the closest to a true one-design. Fourteen races are scheduled between August 25 and 30, with a lay day on August 27. There will be a practice race on August 24.

San Francisco Bay’s Knarr fleet normally draws between 14 and 20 teams per weekend regatta and features in a very competitive Wednesday evening series throughout the summer. Six of those teams will be joining seven Norwegian teams and 20 Danish teams to compete for this year’s IKC title.

The San Francisco skippers are as follows: Don Jesberg and team VIVA (SFYC, USA 133), Jeffrey Spoering and team Thor (StFYC, USA 39), Jon Perkins and team Aquavit (StFYC, USA 125), Mark Dahm and team Benino (StFYC, USA 102), Randy Hecht and team Niuhi (StFYC, USA 128), and Risley Sams and team Kraken (StFYC, USA 47).

Jon Perkins will be joined by his brother Chris, normally the skipper of Three Boys and a Girl (StFYC, USA 141). The Perkins brothers are the only two active skippers from the San Francisco fleet to have won the IKC, having won a combined nine times (five for Jon and four for Chris). The last time the brothers sailed an IKC — 2023 in Bergen — they won.

“We are expecting a very close regatta,” Chris said. “Conditions look great. The boats with provided identical sails will be closer than ever. At least seven of the skippers have won one or multiple IKCs in the past so the competition will be tough …. Fifteen races scheduled with a possible three throwouts. What could go wrong?”

You can follow the scores for the 55th International Knarr Championship here.