ORC Worlds: A good kind of problem

Adapting to high demand for the 2021 ORC World Championship is a good kind of problem for organizers from the Kalev Yacht Club and the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) as they plan for the racing on August 6-14 in Tallinn, Estonia.

Currently there are 120 entries from 14 countries divided into three classes, the largest turnout of entries at an ORC World Championship in five years since the 2016 ORC World Championship in Skovshoved, Denmark.

Due to this strong interest, organizers for the Tallinn Worlds have chosen to amend the Notice of Race to accommodate all existing and possibly even more entries since there is a capacity limit of 50 boats on each starting line. Currently Class A has 7 entries, Class B has 38 entries, and Class C has 75 entries, and World Championship titles are awarded in each of these three classes.

The NOR change would allow organizers to divide a class that has at least 60 paid entries by June 1 into two groups within the same class. A plan for heat scoring, if needed for a class being raced in two groups, would be published on July 15.

“With all the events cancelled last year, the demand for championship racing this year is really high,” said ORC Chairman Bruno Finzi. “So, we want to accommodate as many as possible without also compromising the race management quality.”

Having been the site of the 1980 Olympic Sailing events and with sailing and iceboating being major and very successful watersports activities here ever since, the City of Tallinn is a significant supporter of the 2021 ORC World Championship, investing more than €800K in total in this and other sporting events taking place in Tallinn this year.

Deputy Mayor of Tallinn Vadim Belobrovtsev noted that the city has a long tradition of supporting top international sports events. The 2021 ORC Worlds, he said, “Brings great recognition for the city and our sports federations and organizations, which are trusted to host such important and world-class sports event.”

For more information: www.orcworlds2021.com