ORC Sportsboat Europeans W O RD S: CEM Y URDUM | IM AGES: K AYIH A N H A SIRCI
Feature | ORC Sportsboat Europeans It was a war of tacks, gybes, and head-scratching rating system mastery at the ORC Sportsboat European Championship in Istanbul, Turkey hosted by Kalamis Sailing Club between 23 and 29 August. Gorgeous weather welcomed sailors from Turkey, Estonia, Bulgaria, and Italy in one of the best sailing spots in the world, between Europe and Asia. It was the first time Turkey hosted an international sportsboat event, which was destined for 2020 but moved to 2021 due to the pandemic.
F
ounded in 2011, Sportsboat Turkey moved under the Turkish Sailing Federation umbrella in 2018 and was recognised as an official national class. Using SMS rating in its first years, they quickly moved over to an ORC Sportsboat rating later. In only three years, Sportsboat has grown to a 30+ boat fleet with
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| OCTOBER 2021 AHOY!
boats ranging from Platu 25s to Farr280s, with Farr25s and J/70s regularly dominating the weekend in-port races. Two of the largest boats in the fleets were the Gp26 and Farr280, however greatly losing out to smaller boats in the rating (as much as giving 10 minutes in a 30-minute race to smaller boats).
The championship started with three days of measuring. Teams brought their sails and boats to Kalamis Sailing Club’s marina, where boats were weighed on the cranes and sails were measured by the ORC measurers. It was intense few days for the ORC measurers with inquisitive sailors asking what each
