Less than one week until the historic 2024 ORC World Championship hosted in the US
by Offshore Racing Congress 24 Sep 09:09 PDT
September 27 – October 5, 2024
ORC World Championship © Rolex / Daniel Forster
In less than one week, and for the first time in 24 years, the ORC World Championship will kick off at the New York Yacht Club in Newport, Rhode Island.
This event, co-organized with the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC), includes competitive inshore and offshore racing featuring 43 yachts from across the US and around the globe, ranging in size from 30 to 52 feet.
Three classes will compete for distinct ORC World Champion titles, including a Maxi Class for yachts measuring 66 to 74 feet that will compete for a North American Champion title. ORC Classes B and C will be merged to award both World Champion and North American titles in those divisions. Additionally, there will be awards for all-amateur Corinthian and all-Female teams.
Events for the ORC World Championship will commence with three days of Registration and Inspections from Friday to Sunday, September 27-29. The Sunday session will include a Practice Race and the Opening Ceremony.
Racing will commence on Monday, September 30, featuring a Long Offshore race lasting 24-36 hours in the Atlantic waters south of the main site at NYYC’s Harbour Court in Newport. The specific course for each class will be disclosed before the race starts, based on the targeted completion times for the entries.
ORC’s cutting-edge Weather Routing Scoring (WRS), utilizing wind and tidal current models developed in collaboration with PredictWind, will be implemented to score both the Long Offshore race and the Short Offshore race scheduled for Friday, October 4. This approach aims to ensure fair outcomes for a diverse fleet of boats that may face different wind and current conditions during the race. The results of both races will be counted in the final scoring.
The Maxis will skip the Long Offshore race but will commence their inshore race series on Tuesday, October 1, as the remaining fleet is finishing and recovering from their long race.
For the ORC classes, inshore racing will begin on Wednesday, October 2, continue on Thursday, and wrap up on Saturday, October 5, the final day of the event. Races will follow a Windward/Leeward format across two separate course areas in Narragansett Bay or Rhode Island Sound. Maxi class participants will compete in inshore or near-shore coastal courses on all their race days.
Inshore and near-shore races will be scored using ORC’s Polar Curve Scoring (PCS), which offers the most precise scoring for VPP-based handicapping. More about PCS can be found at this link.
“We have an engaged and thriving community of offshore-capable racing yachts in the US,” stated Matt Gallagher, Regatta Chairman. “The fleet participating in this event showcases some of the most skilled teams in the sport, making it a fitting challenge for awarding ORC World Champion titles. We’re eager for the racing to begin next week.”
“The US has played a crucial role in ORC’s history; indeed, US Sailing was a founding member of ORC 55 years ago,” mentioned Bruno Finzi, Chairman of ORC. “We are excited to see World Championship-level racing return to the US after many years and wish all teams the very best in their preparations for next week.”
For further details regarding the 2024 ORC World Championship, please visit here.
