ORC European Championship – Italian teams tied at top of leaderboard

by ORC Media on 7 Jul 2016 After two hard-fought windward-leeward races today, there are two teams from the Italian Adriatic coast tied at the top of the leaderboard in Class AB at the 2016 ORC European Championship, organized by the Nautical Club of Thessaloniki. In close racing held in winds ranging from as low as seven to as much as 17 knots, these two leaders have achieved their results by only the thinnest of margins in corrected time in both races.

And not only is their cumulative score only two points ahead of two other teams capable of grabbing the lead away at any time, there is one team whose unfortunate BFD in today's first race marred an otherwise impressive scoreline that will shed 38 points off her score once the series gets to five races, probably tomorrow.

Venice-based Giampiero Vagliano's modified Arya 414 Duvetica Grey Goose did not do that well in yesterday's offshore race, placing seventh, but today came into their own with impressive second and third place scores earned around the buoys. To earn their tying score total of 12 points, Claudio Terrieri's Grand Soleil 43BC Blue Sky from down the coast in Ravenna was consistent: a fourth place earned in each race.

Tactically guiding Vagliano around the race courses today is Finn class Olympian Michele Paoletti, while Olympic coach and past ORC champion Gabrielle Bruni is doing the same for Terrieri and the Blue Sky team. And yet another Italian Olympic talent - Paolo Montefusco - has tactically helped guide Nicola de Gemmis's team on his GS 39 Morgan IV to achieve impressive 2-1 results in two races, spoiled by an additional Black Flag Disqualification by being over the start line in today's first race.

This Black Flag start was a necessary measure used by race managers after a messy General Recall in the first race, where the 11-knot, flat-water conditions kept everyone aggressive and close to the line in the class of 37 boats. In all, four boats were caught in the net. Once off the start line and with at first a dying breeze that shifted and built back to its original strength, the racing remained close in corrected time, with yesterday's offshore race winner and reigning Greek ORC National Champion My Way winning another to look strong on scores of 1-1 after two races.

With a building breeze that developed under a cloud northwest of the course area, the fleet got off to a fast start in race three, made faster as the pressure built even more from about 12 knots into mid-teens. Those that could shift their gears quickly up range did well, while others struggled. The right shift that accompanied the pressure build also rewarded those on that side of the course on the beat and who could execute a clean gybe set at the top mark. Morgan did this best to win this race, but by a paltry 22 seconds over the TP 52 Bullet-Encode after an hour of sailing, who in turn was only 10 seconds ahead of Duvetica.

'Yesterday's seventh place in the offshore race was not so good, but it could have been worse,' said Paoletti. 'Today the team performed really well, even though with the scoring system its sometimes hard to know exactly where you are placed because the racing is so close. Tomorrow we don't know what to expect, but we are taking this regatta day-by-day.'

In Class C there is a royal class developing at the top among Italian and Estonian-Italian teams, whose results are stratified with nearly identical scores matching their place in the standings. Yesterday's offshore race winner Scugnizza-Total Lubmarine, Vincenzo de Blasio's NM38S, put her newly modified keel to good work today by winning both races by margins of over a minute in corrected time. Scugnizza strategist Fernando Colaninno is yet anotherItalian former Olympic talent helping get this team around the track.

The runner-up in both inshore races today and in the offshore race yesterday was Katarina II, Aivar Tuulberg's Arcona 340 sailed by a hybrid Estonian-Italian team, and lying in third place is Ott Kikkas's Italia 9.98 Sugar, with another Estonian-Italian team on board.

Also on board Sugar is the Italia 9.98 designer Matteo Polli, who predicted this morning that 'Defeating Scugnizza will be really hard this week, they have a good boat and a good team. But we will do our best, we have the same abilities and just need to work really hard.'

Leading the Corinthian division in Class AB is Stergios Leont-aridis's IMX 40 Ellinixx-Musto on scores of 16-9-17, and in Class C is Giorgos Drakopoulos's Bavaria 35 Match Blue Line-Free Motion on scores of 9-6-5.

Tomorrow inshore racing resumes, with the first start scheduled for 1300 local time.

Standings after three races:

Class AB
1. Duvetica Grey Goose (ITA) Arya 415 mod Giampiero Vagliano
2. Blue Sky (ITA) GS43 BC Claudio Terrieri
3. My Way (GRE) Rodman 42 Faedon Kydoniatis
4. Meliti IV-Musto (GRE) GS42R George Andreadis
5. Canevel Spumanti (ITA) First 40 Manuel Constantin

Class C
1. Scugnizza-Total Lubmarine (ITA) NM38S Vincenzo de Blasio
2. Katarina II (EST) Arcona 340 Aivar Tuulberg
3. Sugar (EST) Italia 9.98 Ott Kikkas
4. Baximus (GRE) X-35 OD Thanasis Baxevanis
5. Blue Line-Free Motion Bavaria 35 Match Giorgos Drakopoulos