Racing starts at ORC Double Handed European Championship

14. Jun 2023

The start of the ORC Double Handed European Championship 2023 © www.sailing.pics

June 14, 2023 - Helsingør, Denmark - With sunny skies and light winds, 31 teams representing 8 European nations today started a 290-mile course to compete in the 2023 ORC Double-Handed European Championship. This event is hosted by the Helsingør Sejlklub in conjunction with the Round Sealand Race Week, which is being sailed for the 77th time this year and is one of Denmark’s largest races with more than 1000 attendees.

The ORC fleet is divided into three classes with results scored for each class and titles awarded in each class based on these results. Class A and Class B have 10 entries each, with 11 entries in Class C. These are summarized in the fleet’s scratch sheets available at this link.

Among the favorites are teams that competed in last year’s inaugural ORC DH World Championship held at the Gotland Runt race in Sweden. This includes ZEUS, a Z30+ sailed by Anders Dahlsjö and Martin Strömberg, the reigning Class A World Champions. There are also boats that have competed in past full-crewed ORC championships and are now here trying DH sailing...such as Karl and Maren Book on their Landmark 43 WHITE SHADOW from Norway.

Skippers Meeting of the ORC Double Handed European Championship 2023 © www.sailing.pics

Several hours into the race, the fleet is still quite close together as they traverse north from the start at Helsingor through the Kattegat Strait separating Denmark and Sweden. The course is complex: not only will the fleet round several marks in the region, but they must avoid numerous restricted areas around the course.