ORC Worlds Trieste and ORC Europeans Gdansk Notices of Race posted

ORC World Championship 2016 © Max Ranchi / www.maxranchi.com

The Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) is pleased to announce that its two major championship events for 2017 - the ORC Worlds Trieste 2017 and the ORC European Championship Gdansk 2017 - are now open for entry, with Notices of Race posted on each event's respective websites at www.orcworlds2017.com and www.orceuropeans2017.com.

Organization of the ORC Worlds Trieste 2017 is a cooperative effort between Yacht Club Porto San Rocco, in conjunction with Yacht Club Adriaco, Triestina della Vela, Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano, Circolo della Vela Muggia, TPK Circolo Nautico Triestino Sirena and the ORC. Dates for this event are 30 June - 8 July 2017, with the venue being at Porto San Rocco, Muggia, Italy and racing will be held in the Adriatic in the Gulf of Trieste.

Those interested in entering are invited to apply online on the event website. A discount is offered for entries received before 1 February 2017, and entries will be limited to 150 boats.

The ORC European Championship Gdansk 2017 is being run by the Pomeranian Sailing Association in conjunction with the City of Gdansk, Poland. Dates for this regatta are 24-29 July 2017, with the venue being in the Yacht Harbor Gdansk in the scenic historic heart of city. Racing will be in Gdansk Bay on the Baltic near the city's north shore.

Online entries may be made at the pre-registration page at orceuropeans2017.com/zgloszenia-on-line, with discounts on entry fees offered before 31 January 2017. Already there are 42 entries from 10 countries on the pre-entry list.

The format for each event is according to ORC's Green Book standards and include windward/leeward course races in addition to coastal and offshore races. Winners will be crowned in each of three divisions in each event.

Since 1999, there have been 39 ORC World Champion teams from 11 countries, and since 2003 there have been 19 ORC European Champion teams from 7 countries. The most number of entries in a World Championship to date was 150 boats from 19 countries in the 2014 ORC Worlds in Kiel, Germany, and last year in Porto Carras, Greece there were 73 entries from 12 countries, the most attracted thus far to a European Championship.

A complete list of podium finishers and race results from past ORC Worlds and ORC Europeans events can be found in links on the Champions List on the ORC website at www.orc.org/index.asp?id=5.

"Along with our organizing partners we invite sailors from all over the world to come and experience the camaraderie, the competition and the fun at an ORC championship event," says ORC Chairman Bruno Finzi. "The last few years we have seen these regattas grow in size and popularity, with new attendance records set nearly every year. The organizers in Trieste and Gdansk are highly motivated and qualified to deliver the same level of high-quality events, so we very much look forward to working closely with them to have success again in 2017."

Plans are also underway in the organization of the 2017 ORC Sportboat European Championship, to be held in Riga, Latvia over 9-13 August 2017. More details on this important event will be available soon.

ORC extends Season's Greetings to all, and Best Wishes for a safe, prosperous and happy New Year.

For more information on ORC and its rules, classes and events, visit www.orc.org.