2023 ORC Mediterranean Championship starts in one week

Sorrento, Italy - One week from today 36 teams from 9 nations around the world will be assembled in the harbor in Sorrento, doing their final preparations to start racing on Friday, 19 May through Sunday, 21 May for the ORC Mediterranean Championship and Campionato Nazionale del Medio e Basso Tirreno. The event is organiszed by Circolo Remo e Vela Italia under the patronage of FIV and in cooperation with Yacht Club Italiano, Reale Yacht Club Canottieri Savoia, the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) and UVAI.

These entries represent high levels of both local and international talent, with some having just finished the week-long ORC European Championship in Malta 10 days ago. These include Karl Kwok’s (HKG) TP 52 BEAU GESTE, who is the new 2023 ORC Class A European Champion, and will be racing among 14 entries from 8 nations (ARG, ESP, FRA, HKG, ITA, SUI, SWE and USA) in this class.

In Class B there will be 10 teams from two nations – ITA and FRA – and only one alumnist from the ORC Europeans in Malta: fifth-placed MORGAN V, Nicola de Gemmis’s Club Swan 42.

Class C will feature 12 yachts from CZE, ESP, and ITA, and three from the ORC European Championship in Malta. These include Class C Silver medalist SCUGNIZZA, Enzo de Blasio’s (ITA) Italia 11.98, Bronze medalist HEBE V, Jakoubek Zdenek’s (CZE) M37, and fifth-placed GUARDAMAGO II, Massimo Piparo’s Italia 11.98.

Prizes will be awarded in three classes – Class A, Class B, and Class C. There is also a complex calculation made to determine an overall winner based on this formulation:

The first yacht overall (Classes A + B + C) will be based on the following formula:

(P – Nr + 1) / [(Ne x Nr) ‐ Nr)

where “P” are the total points scored by the single boat based on the low‐points system, “Nr” is the number of races completed by the class, and “Ne” is the number of entrants scored in the class.

The winner will receive a special prize: an electric Citroen Ami !

The racing program is intended to be a 100% format of 5 Windward/Leeward races held in the waters between Sorrento and Capri, and each morning before racing breakfast will be available for participants offered by Caffe Borbone at the Race Village. Similarly, during each day of racing, there will be a Pasta Party at the race village in Piano di Sorrento, where the final Prizegiving will also be held on Sunday evening, 21 May.