ORCi World Championship 2011 are currently underway in Cres, Croatia. On the second day of racing, light air conditions challenged the fleet.
Despite glassy morning conditions and a weak forecast, race managers have today sent the fleet of 119 teams off on the long and middle offshore race.
The course of approximately 100 miles in total length started in the mouth of the bay just west of the town of Cres, turned towards Susak Island 35 miles south, then to a rounding mark 25 miles north in Martinscica bay, then 15 miles southwest to Unije Island, then southeast five miles to Male Srakane, then the remaining 20 miles north to the finish back in Cres.
'This will be an interesting navigational course for the teams,' said event director Zoran Grubisa, 'as there are many islands and rocks to get around, and local wind conditions to understand at many points on the course. And if the wind remains this light, it could be a long night for some teams and reward those who can stay focused.'
The long distance race in ORC championships consists of two races: a long race scored on the time taken to complete the entire course, and a middle-distance race scored on the time taken at a scoring gate placed halfway into the course. Each is given a scoring coefficient of 1.5, and is not discardable in the overall scores for the event.
Yesterday's Class A winner, the Croatia-based Grand Soleil 56R Marina Kastela skippered by Mate Arapov, may be a favorite to win given the team's familiarity with the local conditions and the design's prowess in light air. But the two TP52's in the class, Action Team's TP52 Aniene 1er Classe from Italy and Felix Reidl's Austrian-based Aquila, as well as yesterday's third placed GP42 Airis owned by Roberto Monti and skippered by Cesare Bressan, may have the right combination of light weight and generous sail area needed in the light air to out-pace the generous time allowances owed their slower rivals.
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