ORC World Championship Update

(Kiel, Germany)- Kieler Yacht Club is hosting 121 yachts for the ORC World Championship from August 4th to 12th in Kiel, Germany. Besides sixty-one German yachts, the larger fleets are from the Baltic States- Estonia (12) and Lithuania (10). Scandinavia is also well-represented with eight entries each from Denmark and Sweden. 

All J/Teams are participating in the largest fleet in the regatta- ORC 3 Division with 70 boats split into two flights on the starting line! A dozen J/Teams participating represent 17% of the class! 

Day One- Stormy & Windy!
The first day of racing started in somewhat stormy conditions, with breezes well into the 25 to 35 kts range, the J/112e teams dominated the standings in both flights of the coastal racing taking place in the Baltic Sea. Most all teams started with reefed mains and #4 jibs. Winning the flights were two Estonian teams- Juss Ojala’s MATILDA IV and Harles Liiv’s SHADOW. Then, taking a 3rd was another Estonian team- Margus Uudam’s NOLA, and two fourth places were recorded by Max Habeck’s Germany team on AQUAPLAY and Karolis Janulionis’s KETURI VEJAI from Lithuania.

Day Two- More wind!
As if the first day didn’t have enough breeze, the second day saw the weather Godz keep pouring it onto the fleet. In another 18.6nm coastal race, the J/112e teams continued to show their domination over the World’s best offshore sailors, competitors that include multiple World and European Champions.

J/112Es are now dominating the podium with a three-boat sweep. Class C is now also led by a two-race winning team: Harles Liiv’s J/112e SHADOW (EST). Max Habeck’s AQUAPLAY (GER) is in second on scores of 4-1, and Ojala’s MATILDA 4 (EST) is in third on scores of 1-4.

“We won the races today and yesterday due to our team being very efficient at shifting gears in the changing conditions,” said Liiv in an interview. “And, today we knew we had to push hard because it’s not easy with our competitors. For example, we put up the spinnaker today in 30 knots of wind because we wanted to make a jump forward knowing our competition was close.” For more ORC World Championship sailing information