Even during his career as an active regatta sailor, which Thomsen began in the Pirate, continued in the Starboot and finished in the Folkeboot, he was extremely committed to his sport on a voluntary basis.
In an obituary from his Kiel Yacht Club, which Thomsen joined in 1954 as a 19-year-old, of which he became honorary chairman in 2016 and commodore in 2018, it says:
"For many years, Dierk Thomsen has campaigned intensively for the interests of the international class association of the Star class. He held many functions on its board and was president twice. Under his leadership, the Starboot class succeeded within only one year to regain their status as an Olympic class, which is why Dierk Thomsen was commodore of the international star boat class until his death.
From 1989 to 1992 Dierk Thomsen was Vice President of the German Sailing Association for competitive and competitive sailing. And from 2001 to 2005 he was then President of the German Sailing Association. During this time, Dierk Thomsen also took part in the Starboot World Championships. In 2007 he was awarded the Order of Merit on Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany for this great achievement.
The new commodore of the Kiel Yacht Club Dierk Thomsen (left) and Carsten Krage, chairman of the KYC, after being appointed in 2018
He also held many positions in the World Sailing Association, including four years on the Permanent Committee and later as a representative of the Central European sailing nations in the ISAF. In a variety of ways, Dierk Thomsen was involved in these functions in the basic sporting policy decisions of the World Sailing Association. When Göran Petersson, as President of the World Sailing Association ISAF, awarded him the ISAF gold medal in 2009 for his outstanding commitment to sailing and the ISAF, he honored Dierk Thomsen for many functions and tasks that he had in world sailing."
German sailing has lost a great friend and sponsor.