Today’s Short Offshore competition at the 2024 ORC EC was the second day in wind conditions of 10-14 knots, ensuring close competition among all three classes of participants. Each had their own course to compete in today: Class A was 46.4 miles, Class B was 39.9 miles and Class C was 30.7 miles. The finish of each course was placed in Mariehamn’s harbor.
As with Monday’s Long Offshore race, this was also very important to the final results of each class, as race points cannot be deducted from each team’s score.
Karl Kwok’s TP 52 BEAU GESTE (HKG) won today’s race in Class A, extending his lead in the class to 9 points over current second place Johannes Wackerhagen’s Knierim 49 DESNA (GER), who in turn is just one point ahead of Jens. Kuphal’s Landmark 43 INTERMEZZO (GER) third. But even with only 8 entries in this class, Kwok’s team will have to sail tomorrow for gold as there are two more coastal races planned, the first of which will be a throw-off.
In Class B today, there was a new team in the winner’s circle: Saulius Pajarskas’ Italia 11.98 RHINO (LTU), followed 2 minutes later by another Lithuanian team competing in the sisterhood, Raimondas Šiugždinis’ ARABELA.
ORC European Championship Mariehamn Aland 2024 ©Pepe Korteniemi
“We had a good day today, we had a very good start and we pushed hard all day,” said Algis Nasvytis of RHINO. “Our crew likes races with a little longer distance, that was our main point today. We still have one day and two races left, we will push as hard as we can to reach our goal.
After today’s race, the B class standings have tightened up as the dominant team – Tiit Vihul’s modified X-41 OLYMPIC (EST) – got a mediocre 10th place today, which cannot be dismissed, while both of their closest rivals in second and third. place – Erik Stannow’s X-41 DIXI 4 (DEN) and Soren Junker’s X-41 NEXUS (DEN) – are also in 10th place, but these are among their disqualifying shore competition results.
And this math is further complicated by the fact that OLYMPIC’s correction points in race 5 are adjusted to the average of their coastal race results. So it is quite likely that the final podium positions in this class will not be decided until the end of tomorrow’s race.
The C-class results have also tightened at the top – Ott Kikkas’ Italia 9.98 SUGAR (EST) – taking 4th place, while their closest competitors finished first – Patrik Forsgren’s modified First 36.7 TEAM PRO4U (SWE) – and second: Aivar Tuulberg’s Arcona 340. KATARIINA II (EST). Only after the eliminations of tomorrow’s first race will it become clear what needs to happen in the second race in order for the final podiums of this class to be determined.
ORC European Championship Mariehamn Aland 2024 ©Pepe Korteniemi
“This was a challenging race,” said PRO4U navigator Sam Stenman. “We had a front that made it tactically difficult. We made a few mistakes that we know about and are analyzing to improve next time. But we are happy to win the race by four minutes, which was what we predicted we would get by going to the archipelago earlier than our competitors. It was also important to get feedback from two team members – Thomas Tennström and Alvina Johansson – who are local to Åland and provided important local knowledge about the choices made in the complex course.
“Today’s race was tricky, out of the ordinary, but a really nice race,” said Lorenzo Bodini of KATARIINA II. “Finishing in this channel is not common in ORC races, so it was interesting. There was an opportunity to go to two different channels and probably we made the wrong choice, but we finished second and we are happy. Tomorrow will be really difficult, 5 points is nothing in this fleet, so we sailed as best we could.
The beach races will continue tomorrow at 11:00 local time, and when the prize giving and closing ceremonies conclude, at 18:00.
ORC European Championship Mariehamn Aland 2024 ©Pepe Korteniemi
RACE 6 Top 3 teams:
Class A
1. BEAUTIFUL ELE TP52 – Karl Kwok (HKG)
2. KATIMA Swan 45 – Jan Oplander (GER)
3. DESNA Knierim 49 – Johannes Wackerhagen (GER)
Class B
1. RHINO Italy 11.98 – Saulius Pajarskas (LTU)
2. ARABELA ITALY 11.98 – Raimondas Šiugždinis (LTU)
3. SHADOW J112E – Harles Liiv (EST)
Class C
1. TEAM PRO4U vs First 36.7 – Patrik Forsgren (SWE)
2. KATARINA II Arcona 340 – Aivar Tuulberg (EST)
3. WARP 5 J-99 – Jan Scholtes (NED)
Overall results after 6 races
Class A
1. BEAUTIFUL ELE TP52 – Karl Kwok (HKG) – 10
2. DESNA Knierim 49 – Johannes Wackerhagen (GER) – 19
3. INTERMEZZO Landmark 43 – Jens Kuphal (GER) – 20
Class B
1. OLYMPIC X-41 mod – Tiit Vihul (EST) – 22
2. DIXI 4 X-41 – Erik SONOW (DEN) – 33
3. NEXUS X-41 – Soren Junker (DEN) – 34
Class C
1. SUGAR 3 Italy 9.98 – Ott Kikkas (EST) – 14
2. TEAM PRO4U vs First 36.7 – Patrik Forsgren (SWE) – 15
3. KATARINA II Arcona 340 – Aivar Tuulberg (EST) – 19
Hosted by ÅSS Marina, the 2024 ORC European Championship is a combination of offshore and inshore competitions, held daily until August 17, organized by Suomen Offshore Racing ry and Åländska Segelsällskapet (ÅSS) under the Finnish Sailing Federation. Offshore Racing Congress (ORC).
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