2025 Garmin ORC World Championship - Windward-leeward racing starts
by Offshore Racing Congress 14 Aug 06:12 BST
8-16 August 2025
Day 3 of the Garmin ORC World Championship 2025 featured inshore racing powered by Amserv Toyota, and the results after four races are starting to identify some clear leaders in each class.
Thanks to favorable weather conditions - a westerly wind between 8 and 10 knots and a calm sea - PRO Sulis (aka Athanasios) Papantoniou decided to conduct three windward-leeward races in each class. Note that the results shown on the results page are provisional pending any protests.
Class C
Patrik Forsgren's GARMIN TEAM PRO4U (First 36.7 mod., SWE) is in the lead, having secured two second and two first places in the early stages of this world championship, which is organized by the Kalevi Yacht Club in collaboration with the ORC. GARMIN TEAM PRO4U was the winner of the Corinthian Division in the 2021 edition of this event, also held here in Tallinn.
"We're just trying to keep it simple and keep doing what we're doing," said Forsgren. "We have a great mix of experienced sailors and young talent from the Offshore Clinic program, and that combination seems to be working well for us this week."
Interview with the skipper Patrik Forsgren and crew member Noa Bergstrand:
Following four points behind the Swedes is Ott Kikkas's SUGAR (Italia 9.98 F, EST), skippered by Sandro Montefusco, with Anders Helmrich's CHEYENNE (Farr 30, SWE) in third, another 5 points back. While SUGAR and GARMIN TEAM PRO4U took victories in Races 1, 3 and 4 of the series, it was Alar Volmer's CHERIE (First 35, EST) who won the first race of the day in Race 2.
"This is my 55th season, and I have a very good team on board - we are all coming from different backgrounds, but we know what we are doing. We had a good start, picked the right corner, caught a nice shift, and the leaders made a mistake somewhere. We didn't even know we had won until we heard afterwards - it was a really pleasant surprise," said Volmer.
Class B
After winning the long offshore race, the Danish crew on Jesper Radich's FORMULA X (XR 41, DEN) today confirmed their skills in short courses as well, placing first in Races 2 and 3 and taking a second in Race 4. This has vaulted them to a 4-point lead over the reigning Class B World Champion, Marcin Sutkowski's WINDWHISPER44 (Grand Soleil 44P, POL).
"We can't slow down - they're looking strong," said Aksel Magdahl of WINDWHISPER 44, "but I don't think they're unbeatable. We have to focus on ourselves, keep sailing our own race, and fight for the podium - and for the win."
Erik Stannow's DIXI 5 (XR 41, DEN) is lying 7 points back in third place, and the first Estonian crew is Tiit Vihul's OLYMPIC (X-41 mod., EST), who finished the day in fourth place and currently leads the Corinthian rankings in this class.
Class 0A
Among the fastest-rated boats in Class 0A, Niklas Zennström's RAN (Carkeek Fast 40+, SWE) overcame its mediocre 6th place finish in the long race to take two firsts and a third today to take the lead by two points over the Long offshore race winner - Maciej Gnatowski's SCAMP THREE (HH 42, POL) - who lies now in second, while Jani Lehti's MERCEDES BENZ (GP 42, FIN) sits in third place another two points back.
"It's been a fantastic day for us - very good starts, strong strategy and tactics," said Witold Karalow of SCAMP THREE. "We finished first on the water in one race, and that shows we can compete with anyone here if we keep up the momentum."
A standout result today came from Mati Sepp's CLEAN ENERGY (E44, EST) who captured an impressive win in the first race of the day, and the best of the Corinthians is Jonas Grander's MATADOR (Elliott 44 CR, SWE) who are currently in sixth place.
The Garmin ORC Worlds Championship 2025 will resume on Thursday at 13:00 PM with inshore races powered by A. Le Coq., with weather conditions expected to be lighter than today. The Race Committee's goal is to complete two more buoy races before the coastal race scheduled for Friday. The event will conclude on Saturday afternoon with one race planned, with the award ceremony scheduled afterwards at the Kalev Yacht Club's clubhouse.
Current rankings after 4 races:
Class A
- RAN (Carkeek 40+, SWE) – Niklas Zennström – 6-3-1-1 – 11 pts
- SCAMP THREE (HH 42, POL) – Maciej Gnatowski – 1-6-2-4 – 13 pts
- MERCEDES BENZ (GP 42, FIN) – Jani Lehti – 2-2-8-3 – 15 pts
Best Corinthian – MATADOR (Elliott 44 CR, SWE) – Jonas Grander – 5-5-3-7 – 20 pts
Class B
- FORMULA X (XR 41, DEN) – Jesper Radich – 1-1-1-2 – 5 pts
- WINDWHISPER44 (Grand Soleil 44P, POL) – Marcin Sutkowski – 4-2-2-1 – 9 pts
- DIXI 5 (XR 41, DEN) – Erik Stannow – 2-4-7-3 – 16 pts
Best Corinthian – OLYMPIC (X-41 mod., EST) – Tiit Vihul – 12-3-4-5 – 24 pts
Class C
- GARMIN TEAM PRO4U (First 36.7 mod., SWE) – Patrik Forsgren – 2-2-1-1 – 6 pts
- SUGAR (Italia 9.98 F, EST) – Sandro Montefusco – 1-4-2-3 – 10 pts
- CHEYENNE (Farr 30, SWE) – Anders Helmrich – 5-3-5-2 – 15 pts
Best Corinthian – GARMIN TEAM PRO4U (First 36.7 mod., SWE) – 2-2-1-1 – 6 pts
The organizer of the Garmin ORC World Championship 2025 is the Kalev Yacht Club, along with Tallinn Olympic Sailing Center, Estonian Sailing Federation and the Offshore Racing Congress. The supporters of the regatta are Garmin, Tallinn City, The Ministry of Culture, SEB Eesti, Piletilevi PLG, Amserv, Pantaenius, Alter Marine, A. Le Coq, Liviko Distillery, Sportland Eesti, Telia Eesti, Coffee Address, Baltic Cruisers, GST Marine Boatshop, and SAR Tallinn.
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