The 2nd edition of the annual ORC DH European Championship crowned three new champions among 29 entries from four nations today after a 195-mile offshore race completed in the northern Adriatic Sea. Organized by Circolo Nautico Santa Margherita (CNSM) in collaboration with the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC), the Italian Sailing Federation (FIV) and UVAI, this race was sailed alongside a larger fleet of 62 teams entered in the 30th edition of La Duecento, an annual offshore race that starts in Caorle to round Grado and Susak island in Croatia before returning to the finish in Caorle.
Three new champions emerged as 2024 European champions in each of three ORC DH classes: Massimo Juris and Pietro Luciano (ITA) competing on their JPK 10.80 COLOMBRE in Class A, Antonio Di Chiara and Walter Svetina (ITA) on their First 40.7 TASMANIA in Class B, and Vladimir Borstnar and Bojan Gale (SLO) sailing their J-99 JOY in Class C.
Starting with light winds, the total fleet of 91 boats encountered varying conditions along the course. Thermal winds along the Istrian coast, accompanied by occasional thunderstorms and lulls in the wind, particularly affected the smaller boats in this fleet while on their upwind leg towards the finish line in Caorle.
All teams were glad to finish this challenging course, starting for the ORC DH Europeans' fleet at about 8 PM on Saturday evening with the father-son team of Mauro and Giovanni Trevisan (ITA) sailing their Millenium 40 Class A entry HAURAKI. Their elapsed time of 44 hours 1 minute 7 seconds gave them the Antal Line Honors Trophy of the event.
The winners of Class A - the Venetian duo of Massimo Juris-Pietro Luciani - need no introduction. "This was a great result for us in a season that started late,” said Juris. “COLOMBRE is a boat that needs wind to sail, and fortunately, we didn't lack wind in this edition. Pietro's presence, taking a break from his oceanic commitments, was crucial for the final result. Sailing together is always a pleasure for us: in this, we find our harmony.
The Trevisan’s HAURAKI, in second place, and the Solaris 36 FURIETTA (ITA), sailed by Riccardo De Roia and Andrea Micalli, in third place, complete the Class A podium. These two entries raced as amateur Corinthian teams.
The Class B winners Antonio Di Chiara and Walter Svetina on TASMANIA are a crew of friends and seasoned sailors, who said, "It was very interesting for us to have the opportunity to compete for a European title participating in a race that we know well and love. This victory comes at the end of a journey that has allowed us to gain experience and harmony. TASMANIA’s optimization and our chosen strategy led us to lead the race and always remain in the leading group, achieving this great result by being not only competitive but also seaworthy."
Second place in Class B goes to Pacifico D’Ettorre, paired with Michele Zambelli (ITA) racing their custom one-off design KEY-GO, with third place awarded to the La Duecento newcomers Andrea Gozo and Angelo Marchesini (ITA) racing on their X-35 OXYGEN. All podium positions in Class B raced as amateur Corinthian teams.
In Class C, the Slovenian crew of the J-99 JOY sailed by Vladimir Borstnar and Bojan Gale emerged victorious. Borstnar shared his thoughts on the win: "It was an interesting race, with more wind than expected throughout the course. From Grado to Susak we sailed south with the spinnaker, and in Quarnaro we encountered gusts of up to 20 knots. We never stopped while our competitors found wind holes on the upwind leg, which helped us achieve the win."
Second place in Class C goes to the local crew of Paolo Striuli and Roberto Scardellato on their IMX-38 BLACK ANGEL, and third place to the modified First 36.7 MARGOT (ITA) sailed by Andrea Emili and Thomas Scolà from Civitanova. These two entries raced as amateur Corinthian teams.
Therefore, the Corinthian (all-amateur) team winners in each class are FURIETTA in Class A, TASMANIA in Class B, and BLACK ANGEL in Class C.
“We congratulate the new ORC European DH champions in each class,” said Bruno Finzi, Chairman of ORC, “and all the teams participating in what was an interesting and challenging race. The ORC Weather Routing Scoring used to calculate results seemed to do a good job of modeling the complex conditions and, we think, provided a more fair set of results than the simplified approach we have relied on in past offshore championship races. We look forward to getting feedback and analysis from this race to help improve and refine the method for future ORC offshore races.”
“It’s super interesting!” said the Class A winner, Pietro Lucian, about using the Weather Routing Scoring method. "It probably needs some fine-tuning yet, but it’s the way to go,” he said confidently about the innovative scoring method.
The ORC DH European Championship awards ceremony took place at the Darsena dell'Orologio on Sunday evening after the technical committee’s post-race checks. The La Duecento winners will be celebrated alongside the participants of the 50th edition of La Cinquecento Trofeo Pellegrini.
The Overall Top 3 winners with Corinthian Top 3 winners by classes:
Class A (11 entries)
1. COLOMBRE (JPK 10.80) - Massimo Juris and Pietro Luciani ITA
2. HAURAKI (Millennium 40 R) - Mauro and Giovanni Trevisan ITA (COR)
3. FURIETTA (Solaris 36 OD) – Andrea Micalli and Riccardo De Roia ITA (COR)
4. SKIP INTRO (Elan 55) – Marco Romano and Paolo Favaro ITA (COR)
Class B (8 entries)
1. TASMANIA (First 40.7) Antonio Di Chiara and Walter Svetina ITA (COR)
2. KEY-GO (One Off) Pacifico D’Ettore and Michele Zambelli ITA (COR)
3. OXYGEN (X-35) Andrea Gozo and Angelo Marchesini ITA (COR)
Class C (10 entries)
1. JOY (J-99) Vladimir Porstnar and Bojan Gale SLO
2. BLACK ANGEL (IMX 38) Paolo Striuli and Roberto Scardellato ITA (COR)
3. MARGOT (First 36.7 mod) Andrea Emili and Thomas Scolà ITA (COR)
4. LADY DAY (Italia 9.98 F) Annis Corrado and Alberto Lonza (COR)