4 Months to go until the ORC DH World Championship 2024 - Meet and Greet!
Oslo, Norway - February 8, 2024 - Only 4 months remain until the thrilling voyage through Norway's heart begins, and the ORC Double-Handed World Championship 2024 lineup is truly impressive!
With 64 entries representing 9 nations – including the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey – the competition promises to be fierce. Among the contenders are past champions and podium finishers, including a World Champion from 2023, two European Champions from the same year, along with two European runner-ups and one European bronze medalist.
Meet and greet among the entries 2023 C Class ORC DH World Champion - O’MARYLOU (X-332) Jesus de Miguel & Unai Cilleruelo from Spain.
ORC: How excited are you about coming to Norway?
Jesus de Miguel: We are extremely excited; the team is making a big effort to be there. The opportunity to defend the title is our main objective for this season, apart from racing in the 5 major DH events in Spain: Altea, Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona, Valencia, and Alicante
We are also super excited to get out of our comfort zone in the Med, which implies several challenges. However, my partner Unai Cilleruelo sailed the fjords years ago, which will be a plus for us.
We are dying to see Norway and meet new people from different nationalities and cultures, clubs, and sailing styles…it will be life-enhancing being there at an international event.
ORC: Looking at the entry list, what can you say about your competitors? 3 boats from the ORC 2023 Europeans’ C Class podium are entered
Jesus de Miguel: I closely followed the European DH Championship, and those 3 teams on the podium were very powerful with really good machines. In general, the standard will be really high, we will have to do our best to get a good result.
ORC: Why is the race in Norway particular for you? For sure, you will be amazed by sailing in Norway on Midsummer with white nights
Jesus de Miguel: It is an unknown country to me. Both Unai and I are really happy to have the opportunity to sail there.
Indeed, it will be an incredible experience, such different weather, and those white nights will be something totally new for us. We have a lot of work to do preparing for the championship; navigating there has its particularities, and the weather is completely different from our local sailing area in the Spanish med.
ORC: Why would you encourage teams to participate?
Jesus de Miguel: The ORC DH World Championship in Barcelona last September was fantastic! The club, the organizers, the ORC - everybody made us feel like we were at home. We made some really good friends there, and the camaraderie between the crews was magnificent.
I really encourage people to participate in the next world championship, if somebody has the opportunity to be in the race, I would say “go for it”, these types of events usually are once in a lifetime.
I would like to take advantage of this interview to mention that right now we are actively looking for sponsors, last season was entirely funded by the team and despite the difficulties, we managed to achieve great results. Having been world champions in BCN we can be a great platform for those companies wishing to join us in a very consolidated project.
I would also like to thank and mention the rest of the team: Jorge San Simon (ORC performance consultant), Juan Santa Cruz (meteorologist and routier ) as well and Justo Girona, our CM.
