The 50th Trofeo de vela Conde de Godó - all set for racing
Barcelona, Spain - 87 boats will compete to win in the different categories, including the Women's Cup reserved for female crews.
On Thursday, 25th of May, the ORC A DOS (double handed) will open the 50th Conde de Godó Sailing Trophy with their first coastal race, while the women, the J 70 monotypes and the ORC other boats will make their debut on Friday 26th.
The waters of the Barcelona regatta course will host the 50th edition of the Trofeo de vela Conde de Godó, to be held from the 24th to the 28th of May. Organised by the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona, in collaboration with the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation and the Federació Catalana de Vela, the first day will be devoted to finalising registration formalities, technical controls and safety checks of the boats.
ORC A DOS (DH) a prelude to the DH World Championship
The ORC A DOS (DH) category repeats after its successful debut in the last edition. In addition to the Conde Godó Sailing Trophy, this year the two-handed boats have the added attraction of the imminent ORC Double Handed Barcelona World Championship 2023, which will also be organised by the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona from the 9th to the 15th of September. At the discretion of the organising committee, the ORC A TWO fleet may be divided into different groups, depending on the number of participants and their ratings.
The ORC A TWO will open the sporting programme of this 50th edition on Thursday 25th at 15:00, with the first of two coastal races. The second will start on Saturday 27th, and their final classification does not contemplate the discarding of their worst result. The first coastal race is initially scheduled to be around 160 miles long, with the distance of the second race being reduced to around 60 miles.
The Organising Committee has planned six possible courses, three to the north of Barcelona and three further south, with different lengths to allow for the best development of the competition in different wind and sea conditions.
With the last controls and verifications still to be completed, 23 boats will be sailing in ORC A DOS
ORC format
In the ORC category, it is possible to divide the fleet into up to 6 Classes, according to the performance determined by their rating. The Organising Committee will decide whether to group several of them together if any of them does not reach a minimum of five boats or for a better development of the competition.
The three-day competition program starts on Friday 26th at 14:30, the same as the women and the J 70, but includes fewer races. The ORC classes have up to 7 races scheduled, with a maximum of three races per day, which will be sailed on windward-leeward courses. When they complete the fourth race, they will be able to discard their worst partial result and prevent it from adding to their cumulative score.
The ORC will be the largest fleet with 50 boats, after meeting the latest regulatory requirements.
Mixed Classification
In addition to the previous categories, the 50th Conde de Godó Sailing Trophy will have an additional Mixed classification.
In the ORC fleet, those boats skippered by a woman and with at least 30% of their crew of different gender will be eligible. For the J 70 monotype the requirement is that 40% of the crew must be of different genders, whilst in ORC A Two, boats with two crew members of different genders will be able to compete for this additional classification.
The Regatta Village - Meeting Point ashore
The village set up on the club's esplanade will be the meeting point for the sailors, both at the morning breakfasts prior to casting off for the race course and to discuss the day's races on their return to shore. A daily briefing will be held in the mornings with the weather forecast.
In addition, on Friday 26th the 50th anniversary celebration party will be held from dusk onwards; on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th the America's Cup trophy will be on display for sailors, members and visitors to admire up close, whilst on Sunday 28th, at around 6 p.m., the village will be the setting for the prize-giving ceremony and closing ceremony of the 50th Conde de Godó Sailing Trophy.
