We’ve joined Kerstin Holmberg of the Royal Gothenburg YC (GKSS) to tell us about the preparations underway for the ORC International European Championship to be held over 3-8 August.

The site for the regatta, the island of Marstrand, is 47 km north of Gothenburg and one of the legendary venues for sailing in Northern Europe, with a long tradition of sailing and nautical history. The island is also a thriving tourist destination, with many shops, art galleries, bars, cafeterias, restaurants, music and other festivities.

Holmberg is Race Manager for the event, and joins us in Marstrand during Match Cup Sweden.

Kerstin, in general, how are things shaping up for the Europeans next month?
We’re pleased with the interest thusfar, as we’ve had 46 entries by the entry deadline last week. There are teams coming from five countries, with some 360 sailors. This is a nice turnout, and should be a very nice championship-level event.

What will be the format for racing?
We will have two days available for registration and measurement inspections, and a tune-up race. This should be good for both competitors and race managers to be at their best once the competition begins. Then, racing will start with as many as four inshore races on Day One, then as many as two inshore races on Day Two, followed by a short offshore race, then another full day of inshore races on Day Three, and ending on a long offshore race on Day Four which should finish in the early hours of the final day, with a prize giving ceremony to follow. In all, we plan to have 7 inshore races to be scored, in addition to the short and long offshore races.

46 boats are too many to fit on one start line, so how will the fleet be divided into groups on the water?
We are still discussing how to do this, as there are a couple of options: one is to use just boat length to determine where to split the fleet, and this is the traditional method. But another suggestion from some of the sailors has been to index the fleet by dividing each boat’s GPH by their length and use that criteria.

What will this do?
This will give us a rough index of speed for length, which will help separate the higher-performance boats from the lower-performance boats.

With the idea to keep the racing more interesting because you will have similar boat types in each class.
That’s right. And remember we need to have everyone sailing the same course because we need to calculate overall results to determine an overall winner.

And doesn’t the offshore race coincide with another race held at the same time?
Yes, there is a popular 24-hour race called the Gothenburg Offshore Race, which attracts many boats of all sizes and descriptions. We will share the same starting line, but our fleet will start one hour before those in this race.

Besides the usual Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals awarded for the top finishers, are there any other special trophies?
Yes, there is the Corinthian Trophy to be awarded to the best boat where all members in the crew are ISAF Sailor Classification Group 1. This should be attractive to all the non-professional teams in the competition. 

And for those family and friends who are coming to the event and not sailing, will there be much to do?
Absolutely. Marstrand has many nice shops, art galleries, bars, cafeterias, and restaurants, and we plan to have a good social agenda for everybody, including family members. There is also biking, hiking, kayaking, fishing, swimming, and sunbathing in the area, so there is a lot to do. And at the end of the week everyone will be welcome to enjoy and participate in the final prize giving party on this picturesque island.

This will be an unforgettable week of sailing!