Record turnout in Dr Irena Eris ORC European Championship Gdansk 2017

One day of sun and light air at the Polish Nationals Tadeusz Lademann

The ORC fleet preparing to leave the historic Gdansk harbor for the preview event, the Granaria ORC Polish Open National Championship © Tadeusz Lademann

'We are very excited and proud to have attracted such a strong turnout for this championship, another record for ORC,' said Michal Korneszczuk, organizer for the event with the Pomeranian Sailing Federation. 'The organizing team looks strong, the competitors look ready, this should be a great week of sailing in Gdnask.'

Action in the Polish Nationals was tight, and featured a variety of weather in 3 days of racing © Bartek Modelski

A preview of the teams to watch is as follows: in Class A there is a healthy mix of a dozen Racers and Cruiser Racers, with the latter category led by Tea Ekengren-Sauren's Swan 45 Blue Nights from Finland, who has just won their class in the Granaria ORC Polish Open National Championship. Yet they will likely be challenged by another Swan 45, Erik Berth's Tarok 7 from Denmark, who was the Silver medalist in last year's ORC World Championship in Copenhagen. Among the Racers in this class will be Filip Engelbert's Ker40+ Elvis from Sweden and Rolf Relander's Cookson 50 Furiosa from Estonia, a sistership to the newly-crowned 2017 ORC World Champion, Mascalzone Latino.

The marina in the historic city center of Gdansk will be packed with boats for this largest-ever ORC Europeans event © Tadeusz Lademann

Class C is the largest class at the event, with 42 entries, the largest ever for an ORC European Championship. Within this group there are also some proven champions - such as the reigning Class C European Champion Aivar Tuulberg on his Arcona 340 Katariina II from Estonia and new winner of the Granaria ORC Polish Open National Championship as well, Patrik Forsgren's modified First 36.7 Pro4U, the 2015 Class C ORC European Champion from Sweden, and Sandro Montefusco from Italy leading an Estonian team on the NM 38 Sugar, the Class C ORC European Champion in 2013.

While not competing for ORC European titles, there is also a class of nine additional entries in ORC Class D which are Sportboats and other designs from Poland and Russia not rated fast enough to be included in Class C.

Racing will be held in the Gulf of Danzig just north and east of the port, and the shoreside venue will be in the historic heart of the Port of Gdansk, a scenic backdrop for a city which has had a seafaring heritage for over 1000 years.

More information visit event website.