The Kieler Yacht Club and the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) is pleased to announce that the Notice of Race is now published and the official registration and entry process is now open for the 2023 ORC World Championship to be held over 4 - 12 August 2023.

At the end of the Pre-registration period that started on 27 July, 128 yachts from 16 nations were entered in the list of participants. This strong show of interest shows the potential to set a new record in 2023 - the current record number of entries in an ORC World Championship was when 151 offshore yachts from 15 nations competed in the 2014 World Championship here in Kiel.

At the final draw of the pre-registration lottery for a free entry, ORC Vice President and the Head of Organization for the 2023 Worlds Eckhard von der Mosel (shown above) has drawn the winner: Tauno Telvik's Corby 33 KIRA, raced by the OIXIO Sailing Team from Estonia.

The OIXIO team is relatively new and whose members started racing together at the end of 2020 and sailed their first season in 2021. The team was initially made up of employees of the Estonian IT infrastructure company OIXIO with no previous sailing experience except for Tauno having 2 years of dinghy experience more than 15 years ago. They started out in the smallest ORC group in Estonia (ORC IV) on a 1982 Maxi Fenix with the aim of rising to the top within two years.

They fulfilled their goals during the first season and decided to set achievement goals for more championship competitions. Since the old boat did not qualify for inclusion in ORC Class C they moved to a Corby 33 and expanded the team.

2022 was the first season in the tough and competitive Estonian ORC II class, competing against some of the best sailors in the world. Tauno was elected as the 2022 Sailor of the Year in Hiiumaa (2nd largest island in Estonia), and their success came quickly, so they are preparing to add more experienced sailors to the team in preparation for the ORC World Championship in Kiel, their first ORC championship event.

Event schedule for ORC World Championship - 4-12 August 2023:

Friday-Saturday, 4-5 August: Registration & Equipment Inspection
Sunday, 6 August 6: Equipment Inspection, Practice Race & Opening Ceremony
Monday-Tuesday, 7-8 August: Offshore Races
Wednesday-Friday, 9-11 August: Inshore Races
Saturday, 12 August: Final Inshore Race & Prize Giving Ceremony