Initial Results Released for Long Offshore Race at the 2024 ORC World Championship
by Offshore Racing Congress 1 Oct 16:10 PDT
September 27 – October 5, 2024
After 23 to 30 hours of racing and courses spanning 157 to 203 miles, the fleet has completed its first race of the 2024 ORC World Championship hosted by the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court. These results hold great importance for the 43 competing teams, as they cannot be discarded from the final scores.
The first boat to finish the 177-mile Class A course was the Botin 44 Interlodge IV, owned by Austin and Gwen Fragomen, crossing the finish line off Fort Adams in Newport Harbor at 08:58:31 local time this morning.
“It was an excellent night for racing,” remarked tactician Tony Rey. “We maintained our pace throughout the night; despite the course mostly involving windward-leeward sailing, it included plenty of interesting segments that provided a challenge. We feel fortunate to finish early since the wind seemed to be diminishing, but we’ll see how the results pan out.”
You can find the complete results here.
Since 1969, the Offshore Racing Congress has led the industry in offering a scientific and transparent rating system that promotes fair racing across a diverse range of boat types, from sportboats to superyachts. Since 1999, ORC has organized annual World Championships and other inshore and offshore events sanctioned by World Sailing, with recent editions drawing over 100 entries from various nations globally. The 2024 ORC World Championship will take place in Newport, Rhode Island, hosted by the New York Yacht Club. Registration and measurement began on September 27, with racing commencing on Monday, September 30, and concluding on Saturday, October 5. The ORC World Championship is supported by sponsors such as Helly Hansen, Safe Harbor Marinas, Peters & May, and Hammetts Hotel. It will conclude the Road to the 2024 ORC World Championship series, comprising four regattas in Newport from June through October.
Race tracking details can be accessed here.
Crossing the finish line next at 10:02:06 was the first Class 0 finisher, Peter Askew’s Botin 52 Wizard, leading a close pack of five similar designs that all completed their 203-mile course within minutes of each other. Navigator Peter Isler confirmed the intensity of the competition.
“It was a relentless effort from the team all night,” he stated, “with everyone taking turns at the front.”
Isler noted a crucial maneuver made by Victor Wild’s TP52 Fox during the first offshore mark rounding, located southwest of Montauk.
“They slipped ahead of the pack, were the first on starboard tack, and maintained a slim lead for most of the lengthy 63-mile upwind leg to Buzzards Bay Tower. We managed to catch some shifts in the final miles and ultimately took the lead.”
The subsequent leg, 43 miles downwind toward Cerberus Shoal northeast of Montauk, presented another critical decision: how to navigate around Block Island, located centrally along the way. With Wizard and Jon Desmond’s Pac 52 Final Final competing closely for a narrow advantage, Isler chose to pass the island at the northwest shoal at Buoy 1BI. Fox and David Team’s TP52 Vesper took the same course while Final Final and Andrew Berdon’s 52-foot Summer Storm opted to gybe south of the island.
The northern route paid off for Wizard, emerging ahead of Summer Storm and Final Final by just a few hundred meters as they sailed into the 9.4-mile port tack headsail fetch towards Endeavor Shoal. From there, it was a 29-mile upwind journey back to Newport, where Wizard managed to stay ahead of its competitors, except for Summer Storm, which chose to skirt east to leave Block Island on its port side.
In corrected time, Wizard won its class race by 10:16, with Fox in second place just 15 seconds ahead of Hanno Ziehm’s Marten 49 Moana, which took third place.
Racing was equally competitive in Class A, where after 25 hours, David Fass’ Club Swan 42 Zammermoos clinched victory in the 177-mile race by a mere 40 seconds over Interlodge. Bob Manchester’s J/133 Vamoose secured third place, finishing 12 minutes behind Interlodge. Manchester’s team also topped the three all-amateur Corinthian teams competing in this class of 19 boats.
The first-placed entry in Class B today was the reigning ORC World Champion team from last year’s event in Kiel, Germany: Marcin Sutkowski’s GS 44 Wind Whisper 44.
“Very interesting,” noted navigator Aksel Magdahl when reflecting on the race. “Although the wind was quite steady, there were numerous intriguing tactical decisions to make due to local currents. We kept an eye on the local competitors who were knowledgeable about the area.”
Their awareness paid off, evident in the results. John Brim’s local-based Italia 11.98 Rima98 won the race, correcting to 13:04 over their sister ship, Andrew and Linda Weiss’s Italia 11.98 Christopher Dragon XII. Another contender from Western Long Island Sound—Al Minella’s J/112 The Rocc—placed third, finishing 2:29 behind Christopher Dragon and 7:20 ahead of Wind Whisper in fourth.
It’s noteworthy that this race marked the first application of ORC’s Weather Routing Scoring in an ORC World Championship event. This innovative technique aims to produce the most equitable handicap ratings possible amid varying weather and current conditions during long races.
“Our team has devoted significant effort this year to test this approach, and we are very pleased with the outcomes,” stated Bruno Finzi, Chairman of ORC. “In this race, the predicted routing times were closely aligned with the elapsed times—mostly within a 5 percent margin—which contributed to the fair and tightly contested results.”
Today also heralded the commencement of the 2024 ORC North American Maxi Championship, featuring windward-leeward races held south of Newport in a course area just east of Brenton Reef. In the first race on a 9.4-mile course, Hap Fauth’s Maxi 72 Bella Mente triumphed, winning Race 1 by a slim 20 seconds over Jim Swartz’s Maxi 72 Vesper, with Art Santry’s J/V 66 Temptation coming in third, a minute later.
The second race took place on a longer 11.6-mile route, with Vesper claiming the win by a margin of 1:20 over Bella Mente, while Temptation followed in third, finishing 2:55 behind.
Racing for both the 2024 ORC World Championship and the Maxi North American Championship will continue tomorrow with two windward-leeward races scheduled across all classes. Buoy races are also on the agenda for Thursday and Saturday along with a shorter distance race on Friday. The regatta will culminate with an awards ceremony on Saturday evening.
