The outcome of today’s final two inshore races at the 2024 ORC European Championship have determined three new ORC European Champions: Karl Kwok’s TP 52 BEAU GESTE (HKG) in Class A, Tiit Vihul’s modified X-41 OLYMPIC (EST) in Class B, and Ott Kikkas’s Italia 9.98 SUGAR (EST) in Class C. Each of these teams have been past winners or strong contenders for this title, yet their ultimate success was never completely assured due to competitive pressure from rivals in each class.
Despite dominating Class A throughout most of the series, BEAU GESTE started with a 5th-place finish in the Long Offshore race, a score they would have to carry given that all the offshore races were non-discardable. Helmsman Gavin Brady reckoned this was the most challenging race of the series.
“This race started with a lot of wind and big waves, so we had to learn to not push too hard and risk breaking the boat or the people,” he said. “This was our approach throughout the regatta: to race at a high level but not push too hard.” He went on to say the event was an important preparation for their plans to compete next year in the Admiral’s Cup held in the UK.
Besides Kwok and Brady, the BEAU GESTE team also included Nicolas Heiner, Matt Humphries, Ben Howett, Ryan Houston, Nathan Ellis, David Brooke, Peter Redmond, Sam Bell, Chris Cowan and Ed Davison. The only all-amateur team in Class A was Sampsa Vehkamaki’s 4th-placed Landmark 43 MADAME GRAY (FIN) who thereby won the Corinthian trophy in this class.
Determining the Silver medal team in Class A came down to just 4 seconds in the last race: this was the corrected time margin between two German teams who fought each other hard throughout the week in the 8-entry class. This is a remarkable result after racing a little over an hour on a 7.8-mile course when Johannes Wackerhagen’s Knierim 49 DESNA was able to just keep their time allowance ahead of Jens Kuphal’s Landmark 43 INTERMEZZO. DESNA’s second place in this race and INTERMEZZO’s third put them tied on points, with DESNA winning the tie break.
Class B’s winner also led the class throughout most of the week, but by the end of racing today the final outcome was not assured until discards were applied in the last race, and even then the margin for victory was only 1 point. Tiit Vihul’s team on his modified X-41 OLYMPIC (EST) did well all week, finishing in the top 4, except yesterday’s non-discardable 12th place in the Short Offshore race closed the points gap with their nearest rivals.
Therefore they had to do well today to claim Gold medals in this class, especially after Erik Stannow’s X-41 DIXI 4(DEN) won the first race and closed the gap from 11 to only 2 points going into the final race when the discards were applied. It would all come down to this final race, where DIXI earned a 3rd and OLYMPIC shared 5th place with Jaak Jogi’s X-41 FORTE (EST). This race become their discard and they could now claim the crown.
“In the past we were Corinthian class champions but did not win the title outfight, so we are very happy,” said Vihul. “We were fast and did not make many mistakes, and DIXI was a very strong team, so thanks to them we had to stay very focused for this win.”
Sailing with Vihul was Meelis Pielberg, Tanel Trööp, Raul Vane, Aivar Kaljumäe, Ivo Kais, Kristjan Keert, Triin Sarapuu, Indrek Ulla, and Joel Timm. Being an all-amateur team, OLYMPIC won the Class B Corinthian trophy as well.
Silver medals were awarded to the DIXI 4 team, with Bronze medals going to Per Roman’s JPK 11.80 GARM (SWE).
Class C was a similar situation to Class B: a dominant team that led the standings through most of the regatta but could not slip or risk getting overtaken by close rivals. Yet today’s two-bullet performance by Ott Kikkas’s Italia 9.98 SUGAR(EST) left no doubt they would retain their title as ORC Class C European Champions.
“We were fast all week, so this made it easier for me, even though in the end it was tight,” said Simone Ferrarese, tactician on SUGAR. “This was a great championship event, we look forward to next season.” Sailing on board with Kikkas and Ferrarese was Sandro Montefusco, Paolo Piccione, Marko Uulits, Marjalisa Umb, and Silm Akermann.
Silver medalists and the Corinthian trophy award winners in Class C were Patrik Forsgren’s modified First 36.7 TEAM PRO4U (SWE). Bronze medal winners were Aivar Tuulberg’s Arcona 340 KATARIINA II (EST).
“After such a hard-fought and competitive series that featured all aspects of competitive racing, we congratulate all our 2024 ORC European Champion teams for their achievements,” said Bruno Finzi, Chairman of ORC. “We also want to give a special thanks to all the members of the Race Committee, Jury, Technical Committee, organizers, media team and others who helped make this a very special event for all who attended.”
Complete results for each class can be found at: http://data.orc.org/public/WEV.dll?action=index&eventid=ggkte.
