Big Class or Small, Winning in ORC Will Be a Battle
The four classes racing under the ORC rule at the 170th Annual Regatta break into two groups. Class A and Class B feature some of the country’s elite big-boat programs, four 60- and 70-footers in former and four TP52s and a speedy new Botin ORC 45-footer in the latter.
Pro sailors abound in these two classes, and optimal boat speed all the way around the track will be crucial. In Classes C and D, it’s a different story. With 19 and 14 entries, respectively, getting off the line with a clean lane is going to be a supreme challenge. All the boat speed in the world isn’t going to save your race if you start in the cheap seats and your first-beat tactical calls are dictated by a dozen boats sitting on your wind.
“We’ve had this boat two and a half years, and I think this is the most competitive class we’ve seen in ORC, and the tightest rating band,” says Andrew Weiss (above), the skipper of the Italia 11.98 Christopher Dragon XII, which will sail in ORC D. “It’s great. [The time allowances for a one-hour race] are going to be down to between no time on our sistership to a minute an a half. It’s a good pre-cursor for the ORC World Championship in the fall.”
The New York Yacht Club’s Annual Regattawas first sailed on the Hudson River on July 16 and 18, 1846. A similar competition the previous year was called a Trial of Speed. With a few exceptions for world wars and other global crises, the event has been held every year since. For the majority of its existence, the Annual Regatta was raced on waters close to New York City. Since 1988, however, the event has been sailed out of the Harbour Court clubhouse in Newport, R.I., and, in 2004, it settled into the current three-day format, which includes a race around Conanicut Island on Friday, two days of buoy or navigator-course racing on Saturday and Sunday and nightly social activities on the grounds of the historic Harbour Court mansion. The 170th Annual Regatta will feature an historic fleet of more than 150 boats, including the 10-foot 52 Super Series fleet, competing in North America for the first time since 2017. The Annual Regatta is sponsored by Helly Hansen, Safe Harbor Marinas, Peters & May and Hammetts Hotel,
The entry list for the 170th Annual Regatta can be found here.
