Please select your home edition
Edition
C-Tech 2021 America's Cup 728x90 TOP

Offshore Race to kick off 2024 ORC World Championship

by Dobbs Davis 29 Sep 17:31 PDT September 27 - October 5, 2024

After three days of inspections, the first race of the 2024 ORC World Championship organized by the New York Yacht Club in cooperation with the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) will start tomorrow with a long race designed to test the offshore skills of the 43 teams entered in the week-long event.

Starting at 1000 local time all teams will set off from the start within Narragansett Bay and head offshore to various buoys and towers placed in the Atlantic and other locations ranging from west of Montauk on Long Island east to Buzzards Bay Tower. The finish will also be near the harbor at Newport at Fort Adams.

There are three courses for each class: a 231-mile course (at left) for the fastest 6 boats in Class 0, a 203-mile course for the 19 entries in Class A and a 177-mile course for the 14 entries in Class B. These courses have been designed for a target completion time of 24-30 hours based on the fastest and slowest-rated boats in each class and the predicted moderate northeast breezes expected tomorrow and Tuesday.

"We're using ORC's Weather Routing Scoring for these courses, which are running more or less east-to-west," said Ed Cesare, Chairman of New York YC's Rating Rule and Measurement Committee. "Key factors in the race will be tactics and sailing fast. There are a lot of twists and turns in the course, so staying ahead of the decisions on the true-wind angles on the next leg will be important for making the right sail choices. Fatigue will also be important, since the race is not long enough to get into a real watch system and teams will have to balance pushing with rest at the same time. Traffic may be a factor since there are a lot of commercial vessels and recreational fisherman out there that will keep everyone on their toes, and lastly tidal currents rushing between Montauk and Block Island. It will be a challenging race."

Since 1969, the Offshore Racing Congress has been a world leader in providing a scientific and transparent rating system used to create fair racing among a broad variety of boat types, from sportboats to superyachts. Since 1999, ORC has organized annual ORC World Championships and other inshore and offshore racing events sanctioned by World Sailing, with recent events attracting over 100 entries from dozens of countries around the world. The 2024 ORC World Championship will be held in Newport, R.I., and hosted by the New York Yacht Club. Registration and measurement started on September 27, with racing kicking off on Monday, September 30, and finishing on Saturday, October 5. The ORC World Championship is sponsored by Helly Hansen, Safe Harbor Marinas, Peters & May and Hammetts Hotel. The ORC World Championship will serve as the culmination of the Road to the 2024 ORC World Championship series, which encompasses four regattas in Newport, R.I., from June through October.

Find the ORC World Championship entry list here.

Race tracking can be found here.

Some teams took advantage today of practice racing with the Race Committee rehearsing their moves for the inshore phase of the competition. Starts and short courses were set in two course areas east of Brenton Reef for Classes 0 and B and for Class A in anticipation of the windward-leeward races to be held on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

"Our team is really excited and ready to take on this event," said Jesper Radich, tactician on Hanno Zeihm's Marten 49 Moana (at left) from Germany. "Our team is relatively young and everyone is full of enthusiasm. We are the slower-rated boat in Class 0, but this could sometimes be to our advantage in races like this."

"We have been planning for this event all year to take advantage of competing in a world championship here in Newport," said Connie Baris, owner the J/122 Class B entry Dire Wolf. "This is a bucket-list event, and we expect to have a great week of racing."

More information on the entries, race documents, scoring, media resources and more may be found on the event website.

Racing for the 2024 ORC World Championship will start on Monday, September with a 36-hour distance race. Buoy racing will take place on Wednesday, October 2, Thursday, October 3 and Saturday, October 5. A coastal race will be held on Friday, October 4.

Related Articles

J/24 and ORC Worlds, LVC Finals, Women's AC
David Schmidt looks at the current racing news from a North American perspective Few things are more inspiring than seeing someone accomplish something that they had to fight long and hard to achieve, and that required a massive amount of commitment. Posted on 8 Oct
The Yacht Sales Co Sail Paradise Regatta day 3
Skippers and crew made the most of the delay waiting for the wind Day Three presented very light conditions for our final day of racing, with starts postponed till 12:45pm covered Course 11 using the Surfers Mark for PHS & Cruising Divisions, and a final Windward/Leeward RTC for the IRC competitors off Broadbeach. Posted on 7 Oct
The Yacht Sales Co Sail Paradise Regatta day 2
Surfer's Paradise becomes Sailor's Paradise Day Two has presented perfect sailing conditions for all divisions and competitors of the The Yacht Sales Co Sail Paradise 2024 Regatta on Australia's Gold Coast. Posted on 6 Oct
ORC World Championship overall
New (and Old) Winners Prevail After six days of competitive inshore and offshore racing within three classes, two new and one returning team have been crowned ORC World Champions at the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court. Posted on 5 Oct
The Yacht Sales Co Sail Paradise Regatta day 1
Kicking off with a splash of fun, colour and questionable fashion choices Day One of the the Gold Coast's offshore sailing regatta kicked off with a splash of fun, colour and questionable fashion choices, with 40 competitor boats dressed up for the 'Parade in Paradise', set in front of the Southport YC's Main Beach restaurant. Posted on 5 Oct
ORC World Championship Day 5
Another perfect day of racing today sets up final showdown Another perfect day of racing today sets up final showdown tomorrow for podium positions. Posted on 5 Oct
ORC World Championship Day 4
Racing tightens after two more races and discards applied A delayed start to wait for wind today still yielded two more windward-leeward inshore races at the 2024 ORC World Championship held at New York Yacht Club Harbour Court. Posted on 4 Oct
ORC World Championship Day 3
Perfect inshore racing day at New York Yacht Club's Harbour Court Today the weather was the star. A rather gloomy forecast of a 6- to 8-knot easterly blossomed into 10 to 12 knots and what many locals called some of the best conditions of the season. Posted on 3 Oct
First results are in for Long Offshore Race
At the 2024 ORC World Championship 2024 After 23 to 30 hours of racing and sailing courses varying in length from 157 to 203 miles, the fleet has now finished, and the results are in for the first race of the 2024 ORC World Championship held at the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court. Posted on 1 Oct
Should you install load sensors on a new yacht?
I spoke to Cyclops Marine's Ben Hazeldine to find out Understanding the rig on your yacht and how it is set up is critical, all the way from when it is brand new. I spoke to Cyclops Marine's Ben Hazeldine to find out more about how their load cells can help with this. Posted on 1 Oct
Doyle_SailWorld_728X90px-02 BOTTOMRS Sailing 2021 - FOOTERZhik - Made for Water