2015 Volvo Estonia ORC Europeans – Delayed start for offshore race

by ORC Media on 13 Aug 2015 2015 Volvo Estonia ORC European Championship – Warm temperatures and sunny skies have helped to confirm Pärnu as Estonia's official summer capital, but the lack of sailable wind for most of today delayed the start of the first race by five hours. 65 boats from eight countries are assembled here to compete today through Sunday at this event hosted at Pärnu Yacht Club.

After relocating the starting line to a position several miles southwest of the harbor entrance, Principal Race Officer Alfredo Ricci laid out a course to have the fleet sail west to rounding marks that differ according to the speed of the boats. After Class A-B sails upwind through a gate positioned at the mouth of the bay and to the east of Kihnu Island, they will then head out on a close reach to a mark to the southwest of the island, before rounding and heading downwind back to the gate and then on back to the finish line at the mouth of the harbor, for a total course distance of about 50 miles.

Class C has a slightly shorter course at 40 miles by rounding a mark closer to the south shore of the island after sailing through the gate, then back through the gate before proceeding as well to the finish.

The forecast for light winds was no surprise to the Race Committee or the teams, who were kept ashore for two of the five hour's delay. During this time some teams were nervous about the light air and their prospects for the starting race of this seven-race series.

'Our boat is better suited to heavier winds,' said Kirsten Harmsdorf, skipper of the all-women's team on the German DK46 TUTIMA. 'We perform better in those conditions, so a challenge for us will be to keep our intensity up and motivating our team. But everyone is excited to be here, the TUTIMA team has done well here in Pärnu in the past, so we're looking forward to a good week.'

In Class A-B the early lead to Kihnu Island among the 27 entries in this class was being hard-fought between two other contenders from Germany: Sven Wackerhagen's beautiful mirror-finished Knierim 49 DESNA and Kai Mares's Judel/Vrolijk 49 IMMAC ONE4ALL. TUTIMA overtook her rivals on the reach and was placed third at the rounding mark with the long downwind legs ahead.

Meanwhile in Class C, Sandro Montefusco from Italy is the helmsman on the Estonian-owned NM38S SUGAR 2, who was the 2013 ORC Class C European champion and finished a respectable fourth in the ORC World Championship in Class C one month ago in Barcelona. His brother Paolo is tactician for the team, and they too were nervous about the light air.

'Typically we like more wind for this boat,' said Montefusco before the race, 'but the forecast and the course indicate some reaching legs, where we are strong.' On the Sportrec trackers put on board each entry in the event, SUGAR 2 could be seen to take the early lead of the 38 boats in Class C.

Interview with Kirsten Harmstorf



Interview with Sandro Montefusco