Estonia ORC European Championship preview – Preparations underway

by ORC Media on 11 Aug 2015 2015 Volvo Estonia ORC European Championship – 66 teams from eight countries throughout northern Europe have converged on Pärnu in preparation for five days of inshore and offshore racing in the championship, held over 10-16 August. The event is organized by Kalev YC, Pärnu YC, the Estonian Yachting Union and the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC), and is the largest European Championship regatta held in the 12-year history of the event.

After measurement and registration activities held over 10-11 August, and a practice race held for competitors tomorrow, 11 August, the event will officially open with a parade from the square of Pärnu Keskus - the shopping centre in the city centre to the Vallikäär, where the Opening Ceremony will take place. Following the official ceremony and procession, music and other entertainment will be held on stage, and a large screen placed here and at the race village at Pärnu YC will also bring to the public news, photos, videos, and live streaming video and tracker coverage of the racing held in the bay of Pärnu.

The Opening Ceremony in Vallikäär on Tuesday evening will be a grandiose outdoor play which focuses both on smart technical solutions and a clever stage performance, during which multiple different water vehicles will be launched to sea. Various moving platforms will be built on the water especially for the show, and Vallikäär will receive a special makeover for the performance. There will be a lot of activities going on in the Race Village in Pärnu YC and the whole program can be found here.

The competition will start on Wednesday, 12 August with an offshore race, followed by four days of inshore racing from Thursday - Sunday, 13-16 August. Racing will start each day at 1100 local time, and will be scored 1.0 points, with a total of seven races scheduled.

As a preview to the Europeans, the Danske Bank Estonian ORC Championship concluded last Saturday, and featured 29 entries from four countries who were keen to get tuned up for the main event. After one 40-mile offshore and six inshore races, the winners were from outside Estonia: Martin Estlander and his X-41 Xini Freedom from Finland won Class B, while Patrik Forsgren and his modified Beneteau 36.7 Pro4U-Malin from Sweden won Class C.

Neither, however, had a large margin of victory: Xini Freedom defeated runner-up Eero Pank and his Salona 38 ibc Reval Cafe Elisa Sailing Team by only 1.5 points in seven races, and Pro4U-Malin won by an even smaller margin: 0.5 points over Ott Kikkas' Estonian NM38S SUGAR 2, helmed by Sandro Montefusco from Italy and the 2013 ORC Class C European Champion.

These teams are battle-tested and thus are among the favorites who have been proven performers not just here in Pärnu, but throughout the Baltic region and beyond in competitive ORC racing. Besides last weekend's winners and runners-up, these other teams include the following:

In Class A-B (27 boats):
- Inmac One4All - the German J/V 49 led by Kai Mares won Gold in their class at Kiel Week in June and is one of the larger boats in the class;
- EL POCKO - another German team led by Thomas Jungblut is an interesting Puma 42 design built in Spain from the IMS era that has been revived and modernized for racing;
- Tutima - and yet another German team, this one being all-girls and led by Kirsten Harmsdorf sailing a DK46 that won Bronze this year at Kiel Week;
- Forte - the 2014 ORC Class B World Champions from Estonia, racing on an X-41 led by Jaak Jogi;
- Audi Quattro - a 37-foot custom-built design by Maurizio Cossutti sailed by a Finnish team led by Jani Lehti that made its debut last year but has come back this year with more horsepower in her sails, and are still learning their boat.

In Class C (38 boats):
- Katarina II - Aivar Tuulberg's brand-new custom design by Cossutti and built here in Estonia missed the podium last weekend, but is still learning their new boat and will likely be a strong force this week in Class C;
- Jazz - an Estonian First 34.7 skippered by Viljar Sepp was a podium finisher last weekend;
- Vihuela - a fast GP33 design being sailed by Eugeniusz Ginter and his team from Poland. As the fastest-rated boat in the class, they may be able to spring free from the pack, especially on the downwind legs if it is breezy.