Please select your home edition
Edition
A+T Instruments BFD 2024 Leaderboard

Fast offshore start to the ORC World Championship 2024

by Offshore Racing Congress 1 Oct 2024 09:09 BST September 27 - October 5, 2024

After an impressive spinnaker start out of Newport Harbor, the first several hours have shown great progress into first race at the 2024 ORC World Championship held at New York Yacht Club. The three competing classes have been sailing in a relatively steady northeast breeze of 11-16 knots, with close racing thus far among the current leaders in each class, especially in Class 0 where there was just 3 minutes separation in the corrected time standings among the top four teams after 7 hours of racing.

According to the championship rules set forth by co-organizers at the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) the format of this Long Offshore 24-hour race is to demonstrate offshore racing proficiency by testing skills in navigation, strategy, sail selection as well as boat speed on the course.

The fastest boats in the fleet are the 6 entries in Class 0 who are racing on a 203-mile course, and at 1700 local time they had rounded the southernmost mark 20 miles southwest of Montauk Point with about 12 miles completed into their next leg. This is the start of a long 63-mile beat upwind towards Buzzard Tower, a journey that will take them well into the night before rounding and heading west on their next towards Cerberus Shoal in Block Island Sound.

Victor Wild's TP52 FOX had the early lead at this stage, but only 1:18 ahead of Andrew Berdon's TP52 SUMMER STORM, who in turn was only 2:06 ahead of David Team's TP52 after 7 hours of racing.

Class A has the most entries in this fleet, with 19 boats traversing a 177-mile course that also took them first to the same mark south of Montauk and then on the same leg upwind to Buzzard Tower. At 1700 local time Tom Rich's GP 42 SETTLER held the lead by 3:09 over Austin and Gwen Fragomen's Botin 44 INTERLODGE IV and 8:08 over another GP 42, ARMA, owned by the McCloskey, Roseberry, Dubois and Crow syndicate.

However, unlike Class 0 where the leaders have remained close to each other throughout the race, some teams in Class A have split away from the leaders heading north on starboard tack by opting to start this leg by heading due east on port tack. This includes the young team on Bruce Chafee's R/P 42 RIKKI.

Class B is racing on a shorter 157-mile course that is zig-zagging upwind and downwind across Block Island Sound between Buzzard Tower and Cerberus Shoal. At 1700 the pack was just north of Block Island and led by the North East Keelboat Alliance's (NEKA) Ker 11.5 PEACEMAKER in actual time while close behind Marcin Sutkowski's GS 44 Performance WIND WHISPER 44 from Poland held the lead in corrected time. Only 5:45 behind was John Brim's Italia 11.98 RIMA with John Baxter's J/111 FIREBALL only another 2:33 behind RIMA.

Current projections have fleet finishers arriving at the finish at Fort Adams tomorrow late morning through midday, weather permitting.

"We're very pleased with this start to the ORC World Championship," said Regatta Chairman Matt Gallagher. "Very early this morning we made some adjustments to the courses based on new weather information and the Race Committee overcame a logistics hurdle with the position of one of the marks, so both race managers and racers are performing well."

During the race the positions of the teams may be found on the TracTrac system.

For more information on format, entries, schedule, scoring, results and media resources at the 2024 ORC World Championship visit nyyc.org/2024-orc-world-championship.

Related Articles

2025 ORC Double-Handed Worlds concludes
Mia Gioia, Colombre and Altissimus are the new champions in Monfalcone Fifty-five teams representing ten nations gathered in the Gulf of Trieste this week for the ORC Double-Handed World Championship 2025, hosted by Yacht Club Monfalcone at Marina Monfalcone in collaboration with the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC). Posted today at 1:01 pm
10 days till close of Sail Paradise 2025 entries
A fresh onslaught of new arrivals in the 40ft+ range set to challenge defending champion A fresh onslaught of new boat acquisitions and arrivals in the 40ft+ range is set to really test defending champion Glenn Burrell and his RP42 Black Diamond crew this year, with rumours swirling of more to come. Posted on 11 Sep
Pittwater Sail Expo 2025 set for October
From racing to cruising, Australia's biggest sailing showcase The Pittwater Sail Expo 2025 will take place from Friday 24 to Sunday 26 October at the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club (RPAYC), Newport, and promises to be the biggest sailing only showcase in the country. Posted on 11 Sep
Rolex Big Boat Series starts Thursday
Built on Tradition, Powered by Innovation The waters of San Francisco Bay are set to come alive with four action-packed days of racing at the 61st edition of the Rolex Big Boat Series, Thursday, September 11, through Sunday, September 14. Posted on 11 Sep
4th ORC Double-Handed Worlds opening day
Heavy rain, poor visibility, and unstable winds forced organisers to cancel the Short Offshore Race The opening race of the ORC Double-Handed Worlds 2025, hosted by YC Monfalcone in collaboration with the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) and held at Marina Monfalcone, was abandoned today due to severe weather conditions in the Northern Adriatic. Posted on 10 Sep
4th ORC Double-Handed Worlds kicks off
57 teams set to race across Italian, Slovenian, and Croatian Waters The northern gateway to the Mediterranean, Monfalcone has come alive with international offshore racing talent as the 4th edition of the ORC Double-Handed World Championship officially gets under way. Posted on 8 Sep
From vision to reality
The XR 41's journey from sketch to World Champion In 2023 I took part in my first X-Yachts Gold Cup at Aarhus in Denmark. It was a glorious event, balancing fun and competition perfectly, and was a weekend where new friendships were formed with sailors who I continue to chat with regularly. Posted on 2 Sep
From Gut Feel to Fast Numbers
The Data Driven Edge for Your Best Season Yet The season might be ending for some and just beginning for others, but the goal is the same: finding those extra gains that separate leaders from the pack. Now's the time to stop guessing and start repeating the fast settings that deliver results. Posted on 27 Aug
Canakkale Victory Cup 2025
A fleet of 230 sailors contested a demanding 140-nautical mile course Organized under the auspices of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye, with the contributions of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, in cooperation with the Governorship of Çanakkale Posted on 25 Aug
20th Palermo-Montecarlo Regatta overall
The grand finale with presentation of challenge trophies and recognitions to the best crews The twentieth anniversary Palermo-Montecarlo concluded as usual, against the backdrop of the Yacht Club de Monaco, overlooking the Principality's skyline, with the crowded and festive awards ceremony. Posted on 25 Aug