After completing all inspection and registration formalities today, organizers at the 2024 ORC European Championship report that 56 teams in three classes are ready to start off the competition tomorrow with a Long Offshore Race held in local Baltic waters around the Åland Islands and neighboring Swedish coast.

This event is being held with a combination of offshore and inshore racing held daily until 17 August and is organized by the Finnish Offshore Racing Association and Åländska Segelsällskapet (ÅSS) under the authority of the Finnish Sailing Federation under the overall authority of the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC).

“This fleet has done a great job of preparation,” said Technical Committee chair Zoran Grubisa of ORC. “They have all their sails and safety equipment required and are ready to race.”

Besides preparation and registration teams also today had the opportunity to practice on the inshore course racing area in perfect sunny 15-20 knot conditions. This exercise was not only important for competitors but race managers too who refine their teamwork for the process of starting and finishing all the races which lie ahead this week.

Among the 56 entries in this week’s fleet there 30 teams with all-amateur crews: one among 8 entries in Class A, 11 among 23 entries in Class B and 18 among 25 teams in Class C. These teams will be eligible for special Corinthian division trophies awarded at the conclusion of the event.

The Race Committee team led by PRO Eckart Reinke has been working hard to create the best possible courses for tomorrow's Long Offshore Race where each class has their own course. These courses vary from 187 miles for Class A to 165 miles for Class B and 135 miles for Class C. Based on a very windy 25+ knot wind forecast for most of tomorrow, Reinke has decided to delay the start two hours to be at 1500 local time in anticipation of the weather improving later in the day and evening.

And for the first time in a full-crew ORC championship event the ORC’s Weather Routing Scoring (WRS) method will be used to determine the ratings for the fleet. This new method uses the forecasted weather information to determine each boat’s optimal rated speed potential on the course, thereby recognizing how each performs relative to the wind conditions they encounter while racing.

Another innovation is the event’s use of the TracTrac system to not only track the positions of the fleet on their course areas but also determine their standings in corrected time. This will allow observers to see which teams are doing well on their respective race courses and how close they are to their competitors in both elapsed and corrected time.

At the Opening Ceremony Regatta Chair and CEO of the Finnish Offshore Racing Association Noora Westerlund described how the people of Åland have “a fateful connection to the sea. She said “I am going to cherish this moment with the poem on the side of Matti Haupt's Havets Folk statue in Mariehamn. We as sailors share the same passion, the sea is part of our identity. It's about the unbroken chain of generations, the memories and stories of people who lived by the sea.”