Penultimate Day at ORC Worlds

Copenhagen, Denmark (July 22, 2016) – The high pressure system that has brought warm sunny conditions to Denmark this week did the same again today at the ORC World Championship 2016, but this time so effectively that it was doubtful any wind would be sufficiently strong and stable enough to race. So, PRO Christian Lerche and his course managers from Royal Danish YC kept boats in their slips postponed until some breeze developed, leaving teams plenty of time to enjoy the hospitality of Skovshoved Harbor.

Eventually the high pressure defeated attempts at a seabreeze, so racing was cancelled for the day. But this only heightens the tension for tomorrow, where one more inshore race for Classes B and C and possibly two more (weather permitting) in Class A will determine the final podium positions and who gets the World Champion crowns in each class.

For Class A the Gold medal winner looks clear: Vadim Yakimenko’s TP 52 Freccia Rossa has only 10 points, with a worse score of 4th in five races. According to ORC championship rules, seven races are needed for a discard, so another two will need to be raced tomorrow to bring runner-up Frederik Alexandersson’s Swan 45 Stell within range, as they are 6 points back, and Erik Berth’s Swan 45SD Tarok VII is another point back on 17 points.

Meanwhile Dennis Gehlein’s GP 42 Silva Neo will wish for two more races to give them a chance to return to the podium where they earned a Bronze medal in the 2014 Worlds in Kiel. To do this they need a scenario for the leaders to implode since they are 12 points back and will need to discard their worse 6 points in an inshore race since they have to keep their 12 points earned in yesterday’s offshore race since this is non-discardable.

And among the Corinthian division entries, Tarok VII looks safe to win, having less than half the points of runner-up Matthias Mier’s Brenta 55 Ember Sea.

In Class B there is a similar situation, with the leader well ahead in points, but a discard already applied. Claus Landmark’s Landmark 43 Santa has had the lead since the end of racing on Tuesday, and with only 9 points and a 7-point lead will have to have an uncharacteristically poor performance tomorrow to get dismissed from the top position. But Landmark has seen this before: in Kiel in 2014 she had the lead into the final day as well, and had to settle for Silver.

Its possible for second-placed Aaro Cantell’s X-41 Normet to be the spoiler for Santa, who may in turn have to keep her sights on third-placed Mati Sepp on his modified X-41 Premium. But Premium will have her hands full as well: only 0.5 points separates this last podium position from 4th-placed Arxes-Tolina BM Yachting, Peter Beck Mikkelsen’s First 40. The top Corinthian in this class is 5th-placed Peter Buhl’s Swan 42 Sirena, 8.5 points ahead of 8th-placed Tilt Vihul’s X-41 Olympic.

In Class C the fight for Gold is at the very top: only 0.5 points separates Jascha Bach’s new Italia 9.98 Bachyachting Racing Team from Michael Mollmann’s X-37 Hansen, so expect a pitched battle between these top two teams. The time allowance between these top two competitors is close, and the corrected time margins between places in this class is measured in seconds, so we expect a major fight tomorrow.

Meanwhile the gap back to third-placed Pro4u/Malin, Patrik Forsgren’s modified Beneteau 36.7 is right now at a margin of 14.5 points, and there is another 11 points to fourth, giving Alain Bornet’s J/109 Jai Alai some hard work to get to the podium tomorrow and claim not only Bronze but the Corinthian title in this class as well.

Tomorrow’s forecast is for another sunny day with light wind, so hopefully there will be sailable conditions to play out this final drama for the event. First Warning Signal is scheduled for 1100 local time.

Racing concludes Saturday, July 23.

Event details – Scoreboard – Entry list – Facebook

Background: Since 1969, ORC has provided the most scientific and transparent VPP-based rating system in the world, used to create fair racing among a broad variety of boat types. Over 10,000 ORC certificates were issued by 39 rating offices around the world in 2015, and ORC organizes the annual ORC World Championship, an inshore and offshore event sanctioned by World Sailing, the international governing body of the sport of sailing

Source: ORC Class