ORCi Europeans - Vaulting into the lead

by ORC Press on 12 Aug 2011
For the ORCi Europeans in Hanko, Norway, three inshore races have taken place which has resulted in Feelgood vaulting into the Division 2 lead.

Inshore racing today under clear skies and with light shifty winds gave competitors and race managers alike a clear contrast from the first day of inshore racing in the 2011 ORCi European Championship, hosted by the Royal Norwegian YC (KNS).

But like Monday, three races were held to bring the inshore race total to six for the series, just one short of allowing a discard to help compress the standings going into the final two days of racing.

With two bullets and a third added to an already impressive scorecard, Peter Schmidt’s Evento 42Silva Hispaniola from Germany have extended their lead to being almost out of reach from their Division 1 rivals. However, their current lead of over twelve points over two IMX 40’s lying in second and third place - Peter Ortendahl’s IMX40 Gertrud and Jan Henrik Bryde’s Xanthippea – is in jeopardy of being eroded once the discards are put in play on Saturday’s final day of inshore racing, as both boats have twelve and eleven points, respectively, to drop from their totals.

On the strength of three second place scores earned today, the new Division 2 leader has vaulted from fifth place to first in the standings from yesterday. Martin Nilsson’s Salona 37 Feelgood has an eight point lead over Jarle Kristiansen’s GS37 Xtreme, who in turn is less than one point ahead of Patrik Forsgren’s modified Beneteau First 36.7 Team SWE 88. It's notable to mention that the long offshore race runner-up, Kai Haupthoff’s X-332 Sport Varuna Express, had two firsts in the first two races, followed by a disastrous tenth place in Race 3.

Just as in Division 1, however, this may all change once the discards are applied: second through fifth place are separated by less than five points, and would compress even more.

But before any discards are applied, the fleet has one more offshore race, the middle-distance coastal race, scheduled for tomorrow. This will have a point weighting of 1.25,and will be approximately 50 miles in length.

Current top-five standings after seven races:

Division 1

1. Silva Hispaniola 13.75 points
2. Gertrud 26.06
3. Xanthippe 29.50
4. Westwind 31.25
5. Saillogic Racing 42.75

Division 2

1. Feelgood 29.75 points
2. Xtreme 37.75
3. Team SWE 88 38.50
4. Varuna Express 41.00
5. Ille Moro 42.00

ORCi Europeans website