2 Months to go until the ORC DH World Championship 2024 - Meet and Greet!
11 April 2024 - Oslo, Norway - Just two months remain until the start of an exciting voyage through Norway's heart, and the ORC Double-Handed World Championship 2024 lineup is truly impressive! The competition promises to be fierce with 75 entries representing 8 nations – including the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden.
Meet and greet among the entries 2023 ORC A Class DH European Champion: WHITE SHADOW (Landmark 43) Karl Otto & Maren Magda Book (NOR).
ORC: How would you describe your 2023 season?
Karl Otto: 2023 was a great season for us, as we participated in three World Championships and two Europeans, also with some fine results. The DMO World Championship in Italy, for which we got a Wild Card winning the ORC DH Europeans title in Denmark, was a great experience that we hope we get a chance to do one more time. We could have been better prepared, and if we do it one more time, we also know what we are going to do. We came sixth, which was OK but not fantastic.
ORC: How excited you are about racing at the ORC DH Worlds in June to be sailed in Norway?
Karl Otto: We really look forward to the ORC DH Worlds which will be the highlight of 2024 for us. It is our home waters, a race course I have appreciated (and some very few times hated) for racing in 30 years.
In the conditions which are most common it is probably the best combined inshore/offshore course of all. The most common is that the wind in the big picture is from the west, and when it is like this, the high mountains in the middle of South Norway stop all clouds and rain, and there is sunny weather. When it is sunny, we have sea breeze and night breeze creating upwind/downwind along the Norwegian coast and reaching conditions along the Swedish coast.
ORC: For what is the Skaw racecourse in particular?
Karl Otto: If we have nice weather at this time of the year, it will not really be dark, and night sailing without the dark is something everyone should try.
The Skagerak basin is not an area with the tide, but we will experience the current.
ORC: What about the event's timing in June - is this the best time to sail in Norway?
Karl Otto: In June, there is still melting snow in the mountains that search for the ocean, creating up to 2 knots of current in some places. The nice thing, especially with rating sailing is that the whole fleet (class) is going to sail the same course and need to pass the same obstacles and challenges, and the conditions will be more or less the same for everyone no matter what time you pass.
I should probably mention that – yes, I have sailed races in June with north-easterly gale and pouring rain, but only once so we hope for what is the most common. The sea state in Skagerak quickly builds up driven by the wind speed (and countercurrent), and it also quickly calms down when the breeze calms down.
ORC: Why would you encourage teams to participate?
Karl Otto: I hope we will be able to start in Oslo because then we will really have all the possible challenges we can ask for. Flat water and a narrow track to stay on for the first 30-40 miles before it opens up and we will have to think more about the bigger picture regarding strategic choices. But I hope the organizers are responsible as well and move the start out of the narrowest part of the fjord if there is no wind (that sometimes can last for a week in that area). In sea breeze conditions it is a great leg this upwind race out the fjord.
Finishing outside Tønsberg is also a good place to finish. This is so far out of the narrow part of the fjord that there is always some breeze, and we don`t risk parking for hours very close to the finish line, something I believe is important for a long offshore race. Also, we can join the Færder Race competitors, creating a fantastic frame for serious sailing and serious fun!
We are once again ready with White Shadow, which we are borrowing from Torkjel Valland, and will do our best to “defend” last year’s title!
