BEUGEN II and SUGAR are new ORC Sportboat European Champions
After a wait of 6 hours from mid-morning through mid-afternoon, the lack of wind in suitable strength and stability today in the Gulf of Trieste prompted race managers to cancel racing for today at the 2022 ORC Sportboat European Championship hosted by Diporto Nautico Sistiana.
For the 21 participating teams representing five nations (Germany, Estonia, Great Britain, Slovenia and Italy), the program continued ashore with the prize-giving ceremony on the terrace with a beautiful panoramic view of the Gulf of Trieste at the new headquarters of the Diporto Nautica Sistiana.
For scoring the fleet was separated into 11 Division A boats and 10 Division B boats yet raced together with the same start and on the same race course. Six races were held: one 22-mile distance race and five shorter windward/leeward races, with the worst score for each team discarded.
Each team received a photograph of their boat taken by Andrea Carloni and prizes were awarded to the top three finishers in Division A and Division B and, for each of the two divisions, to the top three finishers in the Corinthian (amateur) category.
Winner in Division A is Liam Pardy’s carbon SB4 BEUGEN II from the Royal Southern Yacht Club in Hamble, England. On board with Pardy was helmsman John Pollard, a past Melges 24 world champion and recent SB20 Class silver medallist, and tactician James Grummett, a 49er dinghy sailor.
“First of all I want to say that we sailed in a beautiful place, congratulations to Diporto Nautico Sistiana,” said Pollard. “The light wind made it difficult for us, but we proved to be a ready and very close crew.
“James Grummett races with me in the SB20 class and Liam Pardy built the boat that was used for the first time in the regatta. Built in carbon, it proved to be very fast indeed. In light to medium winds, she is a missile. In 12 knots of wind, in this championship we touched 13 knots of boat speed! The boat is great, we were good at taking her to her best.”
In second place was David Tomasin’s Melges 24 IL GRIGIO (Società Velica Oscar Cosulich) with Francesco Crichiutti at the helm and Luca Coslovich as tactician. This team won the first race of the series but could not thereafter match the better consistency of BEUGEN II.
In third place was Davide Rapotez’s Melges 24 RAFFICA from the Società Triestina Sport del Mare, who was the owner-helmsman of his team. Both IL GRIGIO and RAFFICA were all-amateur Corinthian entries. The third placed Corinthian entry in Division A was ESSETIVI, a Melges 24 representing the Società Triestina della Vela with Isabella Filippo at the helm.
“We are very happy with our result,” declared Filippo. “The coastal race on the first day and the three inshore races held yesterday were the most difficult moments of our championship, yet I am really happy to have achieved the Corinthian third place with my crew.”
Division B was won by Estonian owner Ott Kikkas’s SUGAR and his team on his Corsa 915, repeating last year’s success in Istanbul, Turkey. The Pärnu Yacht Club’s member benefited from the contribution of Olympians Sandro Montefusco at the helm and Matteo Ivaldi as tactician. Sugar’s victory was clear-cut, with four first and two second places among six races sailed.
“I am certainly very happy with the second consecutive European title win,” said Kikkas. “Despite the results I can’t say we won easily, the opponents were well prepared and the wind conditions we sailed in were always tricky. It certainly helped to come here at the end of August to participate in the Italian offshore sailing championship in Monfalcone to get to know the characteristics of the race course.”
In comparison to the victory in Istanbul, Kikkas said “The most beautiful victory is always the last one! The two championships were very different, both in terms of weather conditions and the fleet of participants. That is why I am very happy that we won on both occasions,” says Kikkas, who thanked his team.
SUGAR finished 14 points ahead of the Division B runner-up, Ugo Guarnieri’s Delta 84 CHARDONNAY representing the Diporto Nautico Sistiana and helmed by Marco Gallo and with Matteo Bonin as tactician. CHARDONNAY was the winner of the European title in 2019 held in Portorož, Slovenia, was happy to win the last race of this series.
Third place in Division B was owner/helmsman Lorenzo Bertini’s Platu 25 URSA MINOR, from the Circolo Nautico Senigallia, and winner of the European Division B title in the Corinthian category ahead of Andrea Pietrolucci’s Este 24 MILU’ 4, the Este 24 from Circolo Velico Fiumicino with Luigi Ravioli as tactician. The third place Corinthian finisher was Liam Mirko’s Ufo 22 UAKU from the Yacht Club Čupa, helmed by Mattia Ugrin and assisted by tactician Francesca Russo Cirillo.
“This is a victory for me that makes me particularly happy, because it represents the culmination of a really nice course tackled together with a group of real friends,” said Lorenzo Bertini.
“We had fun throughout the championship and we also sailed well. The result rewards us for having made few mistakes. The Platu 25, then, is a boat that now has a certain age, it’s a a Bruce Farr design, but if sailed well can reward you with good results.
“I then want to give kudos to Diporto Nautico Sistiana who organized this championship very well. The Race Committee always made the right decisions, and ashore the reception of the club was wonderful, as you rarely see around.”
Tune in to the event website for more information, results and photos: http://orcsportboat2022.eu.
The next ORC Sportboat European Championship will be held in September 2023 in Athens, Greece, organized by the Nautical Club Kalamaki.
Final Results
https://data.orc.org/public/WEV.dll?action=series&eventid=spkhu&classid=ORC.
